It is hard to align oneself on the side of the everyday rattus rattus or others of their kind. I sort of lost respect for rats "back on the farm" in rural upstate New York. One day as I went to remove a dead rat from a trap, all that was sticking out of the hole in the floor was the poor rat's head and the trap. Upon removing the rat & trap I was mortified to discover that "his" (actually rather hard to tell what sex it was) cohorts had eaten the rest of its body! As a home inspector I find evidence of these critters in many homes. BUYERS HATE RATS! In fact I have known rats to "kill-a-deal" quicker than asbestos and mold! Good pest control operators will treat the property for rodents and will find and repair openings that allow them into the home. Without making repairs to where they are getting in would amount to job security for the PCO.
Over time, as rats (any mammal---including humans) move along walls and floors in the home they will leave their "body grease" from their bodies/hair. This can build up into a dark shadow-like discoloration that is very distinctive. (You know the look---where the kid's hand-prints show up on the doorway to their room.) If you go back and forth between the pictures below, you can clearly see the grease marks in the pictures at the left, and the grease marks highlighted in green in the pictures on the right. Marks this dark represent MANY YEARS of rat activity in the home.
This next picture shows where the rats were able to get drinking water from the leaking faucet over the laundry sink.
Now don't you feel better about rats already?
Charles Buell
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