Bristol's Rat Problems

The Truth About The Rats In Bristol

Why Is Our Rat Control Different?

We "SOLVE" and avoid the traditional cycle of Bait - Stink - Flies - Repeat! Customers across Bristol are now enjoying the tranquillity of a rodent-free home because we check everything.

"UNIQUE INSPECTIONS". Drains, wall cavities, roof voids, cellars and rats in kitchens, etc, are all considered in our unique rodent inspection process. Everything we do is focused on solving your rodent problem and not just treating it. Better still, in some cases solutions are free!

Call Today - 0117 369 2709

What Diseases Do Rats Transmit?

Rat borne diseases and parasites represent a significant public health threat.

Those Most At Risk Include Children, Pregnant Women, The Elderly, and people Convalescing.

• Salmonella - Severe and sometimes fatal food poisoning.
• Tularemia - If bitten by a rat this bacteria can attack your immune system and lungs.
• Leptospirosis - Weil's disease - a notifiable disease, leading to multi-organ failure and death.
• E.coli 0157 - This frightening disease from rat faeces causes renal failure and intestinal bleeding.
• Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis - Viral Meningitis that starts innocently like the flu.
• Plague - Very rare in this country, but cannot be excluded from thought.

How Rats Spread Diseases And Parasites

The Most Common Routes Of Transmission Include:

• Biting - you, your children, family, pets, or livestock
• Urine & Droppings - Infecting your groceries and work surfaces with urine and over 30 droppings each per night
• Being eaten - by your pets
• Contaminating - pets and your pets food and water
• Spreading - blood-sucking parasites like fleas and mites
• Contaminating - water supplies especially where they fall into water tanks

What Do Brown Rats Look Like?

Key Features Of The Common Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus):

Diseases Include: Bubonic plague, Typhus, and Weil's disease are among the best known.

• Life Span: 1 - 2 Years
• Length (body only): 15 - 25 cm (body only) - up to 45cm including tail
• Weight: over 500g when mature
• Colour: brown, charcoal
• Sexual Maturity: 4 - 6 Weeks
• Gestation Period: 21 days
• Number of litters: 8 per year
• Number of young: 6 - 12 per litter
• Diet: They are Omnivores, feeding on almost anything.
• Daily food: 25 - 50g
• Daily water intake: 100ml per 100g

Where Do Rats Come From?

Research suggests that Brown Rats in the UK originated in northern China over a million years ago. These rats also developed a relationship with human populations, a relationship that has endured for thousands of years. The Introduction into the UK and Bristol is believed to have occurred via ships from the far east in the 1600s, but this is hard to substantiate. Brown rats are now found in almost every corner of the globe except the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

How Are Rats Controlled?

Rats are controlled and eliminated in two ways. The first and most popular method is to control populations with lethal control methods.

The second and least popular method is exclusion and environmental control. So what's the difference?

The most popular methods of lethal control include Trapping (cages, snap-traps, glue boards), Poisoning (bait, liquid feeds, contact poisons), Shooting (air-weapon, fire-arms, shot-gun).

The most popular methods of environmental control include Proofing/Exclusion (preventing rats from entering an area) or Line of sight (ensuring all sources of cover, concealment, and encouragement are eliminated). Successful control demands that a variety of these methods are married together.

Only by using a combined and integrated methodology will it be possible to control rats successfully in the longer term. However, the fact remains that adjoining properties might not share your proactive stance, and in time the rodent population will return. It might be in five minutes or five years, but eventually, they will return - and you must be ready for them!

Eliminating rats can be a complex task, but commonly the best scenario is to always focus on controlling the rodent population as close to its source as possible.

Drain faults and building faults are by far the most common routes of rat entry into our homes.

Structural repairs and proofing by experts like ourselves can solve a rat problem for good.

Poison and traps have their place but repairs and proofing are always preferable because they solve the problem and don't just subdue it for a few weeks or months.

Bristol Rat Control - 0117 369 2709