No. You are not crazy. (Especially if you live in Cave Creek, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley or North Phoenix.) Those noises you have been hearing at 3 a.m. are not the product of your active imagination and no, your house is not “settling.” As it turns out, you have packrats and when you realize the damage they are capable of creating, you will see that you had good reason to be afraid.
Although they are not the ugliest of all of rodent species, these nocturnal critters are extremely intelligent and industrious making them potentially more insidious and destructive than their mousy relatives. This rat may be handsome, but no amount of charm and good looks could make the list of horrors he brings palatable to any homeowner. The white throated wood rat (commonly referred to as the packrat), as you will soon learn, is possibly the most dangerous of all residential pests.
In truth, it all begins with the packrat’s nest. Whether this nest is built in your yard, attic or crawl space, it can pose a serious threat to your property. When a packrats builds a nest in a residential yard, it can grow to a tremendous size in both height and weight. Several feet high, weighing in at hundreds of pounds, these nests can house multiple generations of territorial packrats. When a packrat builds a nest in an attic or crawl space, this area can fill up with literally thousands of pounds worth of waste and debris. As packrats delight in collecting all sorts of items, it is obvious that they would bring them back to their nest. What you may find once this has gone on for years, is an attic full of rat droppings, yard waste, rotting trash, and even small shiny items such as jewelry. Items you may have stored in your attic or crawl space are likely to be discovered and enjoyed by these little explorers and for your purposes as a human, sadly rendered useless.
Insulated areas are ideal homes for packrats who use insulation as nesting material. In a relatively short period of time, an attic full of insulation may be matted down by the effects of rodent traffic and sticky tar-like urine. This sort of “wear and tear” on insulation will have a dramatic impact on its performance in its ability to help warm or cool the structure and can be tremendously expensive to replace and in most cases, impossible to clean.In those same areas where insulation is often destroyed, packrats often go after an unfortunate favorite snack: wiring. Although most are not aware of it, cottonseed and linseed oil are used in wiring, making it irresistible to rodents. When wiring has been gnawed at by packrats or any other rodent in an area where it is exposed, the potential for fire is present. This situation requires the assistance of not only wildlife or pest management professional, but also a seasoned, licensed electrician.
The mere presence of packrats in the home or on one’s property necessitates the mention of the insects and disease they bring with them. Kissing bugs (also known as the cone nosed beetle, Mexican bed bug or assassin bug) prefer packrat nests as their breeding ground. The bite of this bug may make a person quite ill and can be described as more painful than a scorpion or bee sting, while some may be bitten and never realize that it has happened. Packrats themselves may carry fleas which have been known to spread bubonic plague which has been reported in Arizona in recent years with one notable human fatality in the Grand Canyon area. Additionally, both botulism and salmonella are spread via packrat droppings while Arena virus (also known as Whitewater Arroyo virus) and hanta virus have been detected in Arizona’s packrats in an extensive CDC study.
Truly, the scope of potential damage caused by packrats is astounding. When you have a packrat infestation, you have a real and dangerous situation on your hands with both safety and health concerns. Happily, there are permanent, customized solutions available to prevent such devastation from taking place as well as remediation (clean-up) services for situations in which the damage has already been done. Such services are available from skilled, licensed professionals in the wildlife and pest management industry. For more information on packrats and how to prevent or eradicate an infestation, call 480-874-1368.
Scientific Names:In Arizona 28 species in 4 families: Mormoopidae, Phyllostomidae, Vespertilionidae, Molossidae
Description of Bats:There are close to 1,000 species of bats in the world today. Forty-six species are known to reside in North America and of those, twenty-eight occur in Arizona. Bats in the Southwestern United States range in size from the tiny western Pipistrelle (Pipistrellushesperus), weighing in at about two-tenths of an ounce with an eight-inch wingspan, to the Western Mastiff Bat (Eumopsperotis), which boasts a wingspan of about two feet and a weight of 2.1 ounces.
Bats Range and Reproduction:Bats are extremely prolific and may be found nearly every habitable climate in the world. They will roost in caves, attics, under exfoliating bark, bridges, in mines or any other protected area available. Female bats generally have one pup per year. To give birth to two is rare, and a very few species bear three or four. The pups are born feet first, a unique presentation among mammals. The mother bat hangs by her thumbs, curls her feet and tail membrane upward and inward to make a basket or cradle to catch her baby in.
Health Information: Although bats can contract and transmit rabies, it is not as common as with other mammals, like skunks. Rather than becoming aggressive when rabid, bats are weak and unable to fly. Any bat found on the ground is a sick bat. Do not touch it. It may bite in defense if you do. If necessary, use gloves to move it away from children and pets. Interestingly, antibodies found in healthy bats suggest that bats sometimes recover from rabies.
In Arizona, species of bats have tested positive for histoplasmosis – an infectious fungus that is carried by bats that spreads in bat guano. Individuals who stir up guano in an attempt to clean areas out may come into contact with spores and become ill as a result. Most cases are mild, however those with weak immune systems may have difficulty recovering.
Important Facts on Bats:
Bats are an amazing and important part of our ecosystem. Humans depend on bats for crop pollination and insect control.
Bats are never to be killed. Exclusion, trapping and removal methods are highly successful and effective in keeping Bats out of homes and businesses.
Arizonans rely on Bats to help perpetuate the natural beauty of our state by aiding in the pollination of saguaro and other cactus varieties.
Scientific Name:Neotomaalbigula,Neotomastephensi, and Neotomamexicana
Description of Packrats:Packrats are grey to brown in coloration with a size of up to 13 inches in length. Packrats such as the white-throated woodratNeotomaalbigula have a light-colored underbelly, white feet, and a thickly-haired tail. Packrats differ from roof rats in that they have shorter, thicker tails and a white underbelly. Packrats are by far the most attractive rats in the state if a rat could ever be considered elegant.
Packrats Range and Reproduction: Packrats are widely distributed throughout the United States and Canada. In Arizona they occupy the Sonoran and upper Sonoran deserts and scrublands (N. albigula) in great abundance. Packrats (N. albigula and N. stephensi) are also found in the pinion juniper woodland and up into the ponderosa pine ecosystem (N.mexicana). Breeding generally occurs in the spring.Woodrats produce 1 to 4 young perlitter and may produce more than 1 litter per year in the southern, warmer climates.
Health Information:The elaborate nests of Packrats are breeding grounds for kissing bugs (aka cone-nosed beetle, Mexican bed bug, assassin bug,) whosebite is painless but can make a person very sick, and while some people can be bitten and not even know it, others will tell you that a kissing bug’s bite is worse than a scorpion’s. Pack rats harbor fleas, which have been proven to carry bubonic plague and has affected and killed several Arizona residents in recent years. Botulism and salmonellaare spread via Packrat droppings.Arenavirus(Whitewater Arroyo virus), has also been detected in Arizona packrats.
Important Facts about Packrats:
Pack rats are some of Arizona’s most abundant native rats. Packrats are famous for their distinct nesting behavior where they construct nests or middens similar to a beaver lodge in construction but smaller in size.
Packrats are opportunists and will construct nests from, sticks, rocks, cactus, pinecones, and other various debris. Packrats use established nests for generations and under the right conditions these nests have been reported to grow to be thousands of pounds in weight.
In a residential settings packrats will gather rotting trash, pet waste, children’s toys, and landscaping trimmings. Packrats are curious animals and will collect shiny objects such as jewelry and eating utensils.
Packrats can destroy an attic’s insulation in only a few years with sticky tar-like urine, droppings, and nests.
Wiring is a favorite target of the packrat due to a sweet linseed or cottonseed oil ingredient, and as a result of this, an infestation may pose the threat of fire.
For years, neighborhoods in Gilbert, Arizona have had problems with feral cat colonies. These situations usually begin with careless pet owners neglecting spaying and neutering laws. It seems that the economy and rapid increase in home vacancies due to the numerous forclosures have exacerbated the growing feral cat problem. It appears that families, having suffered forclosure, have been forced to leave pets behind to fend for themselves. Meanwhile, many other Arizona residents are finding a marked increase feral cat populations throughout the greater Phoenix area.
Feral cats have been recently reported living on people’s rooftops, in trash piles and in back yards throughout Phoenix and surrounding areas. While this may seem like a wonderful solution to the area’s roof rat and general rodent woes, it only presents a new list of problems and concerns. Should you encounter a feral cat on your property, there are a few things you should know:
1. Animal control will not assist a home owner to deal with a feral cat. Maricopa County has absolutely no funding to catch and kill cats.
2. Cats roam to look for food and to mate. Spayed and neutered cats in a colony won’t roam more than 300 feet from their food source. Unaltered animals will roam much further.
3. It is against the law to relocate cats. If you remove, catch, and then dump a cat at another location you could be charged for abandonment of that cat, and the owner of the property where you dropped it could sue you criminally, civilly, or both.
4. If you capture a feral cat and take it to be euthanized at the County shelter it will cost you $95.
5. Cats can begin reproducing as young as five to six months of age and usually have two litters a year, with six kittens in each litter. This means that a single pair of cats can become over 2000 cats in two years.
6. There is no need to fear feral cats. Generally, these cats will never let anyone get near enough to grab them so the risk of a bite is minimal. What may concern you, however, is the prevalence of FIV in feral cat population. If you have a pet cat, you should strictly limit exposure to feral cats to prevent the spread of this virus. Humans will not catch the virus.
To avoid the problem entirely, home and business owners can call a wildlife management company such as Rodent Proof L.L.C. Companies such as Rodent Proof L.L.C. will live trap and remove feral cats from an area so that one might avoid the hassles and fees associated with taking care of the problem on their own. If you notice a colony of feral cats in your area, you should abstain from feeding them. Any cats you feed belong to you in the eyes of the law – regardless of where they are fed. Whether they are fed on your porch, at the back door of a restaurant, or at a lumber yard, all cats you either feed, take to the vet, spay or neuter, and vaccinate are YOUR cats. Choose the most humane and sane solution to a feral cat problem in the Phoenix area: the wildlife management professionals at Rodent Proof L.L.C.
Pest Control & Exterminating in Phoenix