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Winter Brings an Increase in Rat Infestations

Ratwall is on the frontline in the fight to stop rats invading our homes

If you are a fan of the massive hit TV series Game of Thrones you will know the significance of the phrase “Winter is Coming!” and – just as in the mythical world of Game of Thrones that sentence portends an invasion – so it does in real life here in the UK – not White Walkers thankfully but rats!

To further work on the Game of Thrones theme – in the TV series it’s a massive Ice Wall that has been holding back the enemy, and in the fight against the rat invasion it’s another wall that is helping to keep the enemy at bay – Ratwall!

As winter approaches and the temperature drops, the risk of having rats infest your home dramatically increases. Not only does your house offer them warmth and shelter but it is overflowing with the two main things a rat craves – food and water.

The number of rats here in Britain has been estimated at between 10 and 15 million, the vast majority of these are the brown rat or Rattus Norvegicus. Whilst most will be living out in the countryside, on and around farms for example, many also thrive in urban habitats and live quite happily in our towns and cities.

What this means to the home owner is that wherever you live, it is really important that you protect your house from rats.

One interesting fact about rats is that they are creatures of habit and will follow the same tracks time and again. If you prevent rats from gaining entry to your home they will, in all likelihood, choose somewhere else.

As rats need to drink lots of water each day, they will favour environments where there is plenty of it, which is why, especially in towns and cities, they live in the sewers. Rats are expert swimmers and climbers – and drainage pipes pose no difficulties for them. It follows that the most obvious way to start rat proofing your home is to block any route in through the drains.

Another important thing to remember is that rats are very difficult to get rid of once they have set up home in your house. The traditional method of dealing with a rat infestation is poison, but it is now widely believed that many are now able to survive this and pass on their immunity to their offspring, creating what has been called the ‘super rat’.

It is estimated that if just two rats get into you house and start reproducing, within a year you will have a colony as large as 1250. If you continue to do nothing, this will have grown to over THREE QUARTERS OF A MILLION by the end of the next year!

With this frightening statistic in mind, it is much better to prevent rats from entering your home in the first place rather than trying to cure an infestation once it has happened.

Keep Rats Out With Ratwall

One particularly effective method is to fit a rat blocker into your drainage system. This will effectively block their access through one of their favoured entry methods yet still allow water to flush unhindered out into the main sewers.

The Metex ‘Ratwall’ system is perfect for the job. It protects the home from rats by creating a barrier in the drain, stopping the rat in its tracks. By blocking a rat’s route through the drain you force it to find another means of entry, or someone else’s unprotected drain.

Ratwall is not just effective in rat proofing your own house, but also if you live in a block of flats or a terrace where several outlets feed into a common main drain Ratwall can do an excellent job here too.

It goes without saying that it’s important that you protect your home from rats at any time, but it is more important than ever during colder spells to take remedial action before it is too late.

To see how easy it is to rat proof your home, take a look at our Ratwall Knowledge Base or you can call 0800 130 3646 for further technical assistance.