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Do Roof Rats Attack Fruit Trees?

Roof rats don’t really discriminate when it comes to fruit – they will happily eat all of them. The roof rat is a nocturnal rodent that has evolved to climb up trees, poles and buildings in order to reach food sources and shelter. From these trees, they will often leap on a home’s exterior, and then enter the attic. They can also climb the home, which makes exclusion and prevention methods harder to implement, because they have to be implemented across the entire building, rather than just the foundation. Let’s take a look at how you can protect your home and your fruit trees against.

Introduction to the roof rat

The roof rat is native to Southeast Asia, and it can grow to be 16 inches in length, when you include the tail. A female roof rat can give birth to as many as 40 baby rats each year, which means that a small population of roof rats can very rapidly explode during an infestation.

Protecting the fruit trees on your property

If there is a roof rat population in the vicinity, it will find its way to your orchard, and the only thing you can do to prevent them from doing any damage is to have some preventive measures in place. These prevention methods can include traps and poisons placed around the orchard to ensure that the rats will die before they ever get the chance to reach the tree.

The best way to go about implementing these methods is to work with a pest control pro, who will know the exact placement needed for maximum efficiency and the types of poisons and traps which are safe and can get the job done well. There may also be state and local regulations that have to be respected whenever a pest control method is implemented outdoors, and a professional will know how to work with these regulations.

The problem with DIY control options in this situation is that the population might not be removed completely and the rats will simply regrow their numbers, or that the control options are implemented in an unsafe manner.

If you are looking for pest control services, we can help you out. Contact us today, for more information about our pricing and the way in which we approach roof rat infestations, and we will gladly answer any questions you may have.

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