If I see One Rat, Are More Hiding?

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No one wants to have a rat in their home. They are pretty disgusting little creatures that get into just about everything that they can find. They will tear up your boxes of food to feed themselves, and will leave their waste just about everywhere. Your books and clothing can be torn up to make a place for them to sleep, and they will generally make a real issue for you and your home. This is something that you simply do not want to deal with.



The main concern that people have is that they worry that if they have seen the one bat that there could be others around in their home. They want to know is if one is a sign that there are likely others there. While you may not like to hear this, the fact of the matter is that this may be true. In fact, it is likely that it is true.

While most rodents live on their own, rats like to live in large groups that are called colonies. What this means is that a group of them likely came to your home or other property and set up their residence there. This means that you likely have many, many rats.

The longer that they have lived on your property, the more likely that this number will increase. Rats can have babies several times in a year, which means that a couple of rats can turn into dozens by the end of the year. Maybe even hundreds, since the average rat litter is between six and 12. Think about how quickly their population can rise.

In many locations, the rat population is weeded out by a host of different causes. This can be illnesses, predators, or a lack of food. However, at your home, these may not be issues at all. Your only predator to the rats is your cat, and you probably keep your property nice and clean, so there are not really any illnesses that they can get. On top of that, you probably throw lots of things away that they can eat for food, and there may even be small bugs around that they can add to their diet as well.

Because of the fact that the three primary factors that slow down the growth of a rat colony are not likely to be found at your home, then this means that the chances that they will be prospering in large groups is much larger than you may have thought. Some people have found hundreds of rats that made a home in their attic and you simply cannot imagine the mess that they made there.

As a good precaution, if you have found one mouse in your home or other property, you should assume that there are many other ones that are present. Take action to remove the group instead of thinking that you just have one to combat. The chances are that you will be happy that you made the decision to be proactive. For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How much does rat removal cost? - get the lowdown on prices.
How to get rid of rats - my main rat removal info guide.
Example rat trapping photographs - get do-it-yourself ideas.
Rat job blog - learn from great examples of rat jobs I've done.
What animals do rats kill?