Imagine, you’ve had a long and tiring day; you take a nice shower and feel relaxed. Your comfortable-looking bed is stretching its arms wide open and calling you to cuddle it and hit the sack. When you do, you hear a continuous squeaking & squealing sound and it just spoils your sleep.
Sorry, we didn’t want you to get feisty, we know how much you love your sleep. We’re just telling you what almost 1/3rd of the U.S households deal with- rats! Not mouse, mind you! We’re talking about rats and they’re very different from mice in many other aspects than size.
Most of you have rats as pets and we’re not judging you. If you like it, keep them. But even you know that you dislike rats making weird noises sometimes and it irritates you. Proud owners of rats, you can still read on, you might be missing what your pet rat is trying to convey to you.
Now, you may have dealt with the most gruesome of creatures in your life, but when it comes to these little nocturnal devils and the damage that they can inflict on you and your property, it will shrivel your spine.
Rat noises and what they mean!
Do rats make noise?! Of course, they do! You may first want to consider what exactly do different rat noises mean! Believe us when we say this, that rats sure are a theatrical rodent. What range and what great pitch, only if they were as timid as Jerry the mouse, they’d make a great soprano.
Next, let’s tell you more about what kind of noises do rats make! Researchers have studied different rat noise audios and have come up with behavioral characteristics of rats that go along with that. Did you know that baby rats sound like a purring cat at the time they’re happy?! Let’s look at what different rat noises mean.
- Squeaking noises-They are playful.
- Squealing noises– They are in distress.
- Chirping noises– They are feeling affectionate.
- Chattering noises – They are quite content.
- Grunting noises/bruxing – A jubilant and happy rat noise.
Rat noises can be a matter of concern sometimes as they make weird noises when they suffer from genetically transferred respiratory disease. Always a danger for you, whether it’s your pet or not. If you are the owner, make sure you focus on the noises your pet rats make.
Remember, a fancy pet-rat and a wild rat are different, just like a wolf and a pet dog are worlds apart. Nevertheless, rats are quite social animals and are highly intelligent social animals (or rodents).
Having said that, you don’t necessarily have to bear these noises, if they are not your pets. If you’re having rat trouble and these mischievous rodents are giving you a headache, you can surely deal with them.
But as the old proverb goes, ‘it’s good to keep your friends close and your enemies closer’, it’s our responsibility to tell you what exactly you’re dealing with. Be smart or you might face what happened to Graham Best when he had rat trouble.
Do not be fooled by their looks and size, or you may be caught with your pants down. These are some things you should know about rats before you go out all guns blazing to face them.
- They reproduce at a blistering pace, every 21 days to be precise.
- They are pretty darn clever than you think.
- They have different diets as per the species, can’t bribe every one of them with cheese.
- They are much larger than mice.
- Their movement is very nimble and quick.
How to deal with rat noises?
Yes! We know that you wish it was like old German folklore where a Pied Piper led the rats out of the city of Hamelin through the streets. If you are more prudent and pragmatic then we recommend that you take the matter into your own hands.
Knowing for a fact that you can’t mentally or monetarily afford a pied piper, we present you three ways in which you can deal with rat noises. These methods depend upon how tender your heart is towards these cute rodents. If you don’t have the nerves of steel to kill them, then you might as well chase them away. Look at these methods we have for you.
- Ignoring the sounds – for the tender-hearted.
- ‘Dealing’ with the sources of these sounds – for stone-cold killers.
- Keeping rats out of your home – for the anti-social.
Let us tell you what these methods can do for you and how you can implicate them.
1. Ignoring the sounds of rats – for the tender-hearted.
We knew you would chicken out at the thought of killing rats. But don’t worry, we’re just messing with you. You are not alone to choose this method. Kudos to your good heart, sire! This method is for those who want to live in harmony with these rodents (either pets or not), is quite simple, but will involve you using quite a few measures to ignore the noises that rats make.
White noise devices are devices that will generate a continuous low-level static noise that will not irritate you at all. It is one of the best methods to mask the noise of rats. It is so soothing that many people have said to have enhanced sleep.
To overlap the mischievous and irritating noises of rats you can play music or some other audio. The choice of music can be yours, Jazz, Country, RnB, Soul or Rock! If you like to sleep while listening to metal songs, we don’t mind that!
Wearing earplugs or earphones can be a non-violent way to deal with rat noises. You could easily buy cushioned earplugs from a nearby pharmacy or use your headphones/earphones to listen to music.
For some people, even meditation or a few breathing exercises can help in soothing and calming the mind while ignoring the noises generated by rats.
2. ‘Dealing’ with these rats – for the stone-cold killers.
No, no! Put your gun down, Yosemite Sam! You don’t always need a gun to kill. There are lesser blood shedding ways to ‘deal’ with a rat. One that does not involve you shooting a small and furry moving target. Remember what we told you about rats being so darn clever that you would’ve never expected them to be, this is when we prove it to you!
Before you call for help and lay traps all over the house and make your house smell like a big block of Swiss cheese, just make sure that it is actually rats that you’re dealing with. Animals and rodents like raccoons and squirrels can also have a similar noise.
If you doubt that you have rats at home, you can smell a musk that is generally from a rodent (mammal). Look around the house for dark, coffee-bean size droppings to be sure. (We know you’ve got other things to do rather than this!)
In order to deal with rats, your best bargain would be to seek consultancy from a professional exterminator. Great! That is one of the best and cleanest way to get rid of them. You might feel like John Rambo with a Tommy-gun and decide to go about on your own.
But, let us warn you, it may not be as easy as the professionals make it look like. Now, pay them their fee and let them do their job their way. Although, sometimes even the professionals may not be able to help you out.
Setting out traps is another easy and cheap way to deal with these little devilish rodents. You can either use a glue-based rat trap or a spring mechanism-based rat trap. Both of them will pin the rat down and then make it easy to dispose of them to a place far, far away.
The traps should be placed in narrow places using foods like bacon, peanut butter, and raisin bread to lure the rats into the traps.
Rats can reproduce in 21 days and it doesn’t matter how many you trap, there might be some left in your house. For getting rid of them permanently, you need a sterner solution. Something that will get your hands all bloody- well not literally.
When you decide to take the duty of exterminating rats onto yourself, make sure that you only use approved rat poisons and baits. Also, make sure to follow the guidelines and safety measures that are mentioned.
If you do not wish to kill the rats, but just keep them out of your house, remember one chemical – ammonia. Ammonia is a humane deterrent that will keep the rats away from your beloved house.
You can soak cloth wads, cotton balls and keep them at the entry points of the rats. They will never enter your house or make a dream house of their own in your attic.
3. Keeping rats out of your home – for the anti-social.
Prevention is better than cure, and once you have already minimized the entry of rats into your homes, then there’s a possibility that you may never have to follow all these mitigation strategies that we have discussed above. Simple, if there are no rats in your house, there are no more rat noises.
Getting a pet cat is one sure way to keep the rats out. Cats are rats’ worst enemy! (Wow! That is a great tongue twister. Try it sometime.) Cats are an excellent hunter just like their close relatives’ tigers. They will pounce on any rat that even dares to cross paths with them.
It may not be the perfect solution as cats might keep the rats quiet and from making noises, but while doing so would make a lot of noise themselves. So it’s a risky business to pet a cat!
Many of you won’t notice the numerous entry points for rats in your home. These potential entry points can be sealed with the help of cork, wood, steel, and planks. Although, you might want to consider getting some professional help to help you locate the access points in your home.
Last, but not the least, hygiene and cleanliness play a really important role in keeping the rats out. Make sure you throw out all the trash and get rid of clutters & waste so that the rats have nothing to feed onto and nothing to linger around.
Which one do you use?!
There is not one method that will give you guaranteed results. May we add that rats are highly nocturnal rodents and will be most active at night. So, whatever method you’re using, be it poisoning, trapping or deterring, you may want to activate them during night-time.
May we suggest you follow exactly to what extent is the rat noise troubling you. If it is unbearable, you may have more than one rat. When dealing with a huge bunch of rats, you have to resort to stern methods like extermination or poisoning, there’s no easy way out.
But if the noises are within your tolerance level, may we suggest you to use traps to get rid of the rats as the number is obviously lesser. Simple preventive strategies, or ice-cold killer tactics, when dealing with rat noises, always remember that they may not be effective as a one-off. Get your guards up, and get ready to deal with that rat noise.
Wait a minute, what is that we hear?! Let us see if we’ve got rat noise problems of our own or not! You can recapitulate whatever we’ve brought to you.