At a recent inspection I was reminded of the fact that Rats are barely human. We all know what rats human beings can be, but actual rats are rarely to be outdone by human rat wannabe’s.
Rats bite!
Rats bite everything and anything—–they are required to—-otherwise their teeth would grow around into their skulls leading to a nasty death—-no matter how well deserved. Humans have a long history of hating rats and I am sure the feeling is mutual—-except the rat is much more evolved in that they still see his enemy as food. While some cultures do see rats as food—-this delicacy is not widespread—-and I am grateful for that. I am more than willing to let this plentiful source of protein go to waste.
Back to my recent inspection.
I noticed that many of the vent screens in the crawl space were points of entry for these creatures of the night and they had apparently eaten through the hardware cloth screening of many of the crawl space vents.
Now I have heard of them eating through wire screening and even concrete, but this amount of damage seemed excessive. I finally realized that this hardware cloth was plastic! No wonder they had such an easy time of it—-this realization returned them safely back to the realm of being more like humans. I can’t stand the thought of competing with something that can eat through wire and concrete. I am still trying to figure out why anyone would think that plastic would make an acceptable screening material against any kind of rodent—-even humans could bite though the stuff.
On a recent inspection I did find where they had eaten through cement board siding—makes my teeth hurt just thinking about it.
Alert: My more squeamish readers might want to skip the next paragraph (even though I know you won’t).
I once had a barn in Cato, New York—near Syracuse—-where I had lots of rats due to some stored grain. I started trapping them and caught perhaps 30 during the course of the winter. One morning I checked the traps and found a large rat with his head still in the trap—-the rest of his body out of sight inside the hole in the floor. (Now this is where Edgar Allen Poe or the Marque de Sade would toss their cookies—-but probably not Vlad Tepez. Trust me when I tell you, if this makes you squeamish, you do NOT want to Google Vlad Tepez—-proof of who the real rats are.) When I picked up the trap to dispose of the poor critter I discovered much to my horror that his buddies had eaten everything below the floor level.
This was pretty much the final straw of whatever respect I had left for these creatures.
Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle
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Rats of the “pack” variety are quite common in the Southwest and they, along with their smaller cousins: field mice, have been discovered to sometimes be carriers for Hanta Virus, a very nasty disease that has been judged to be 85% fatal by the Arizona Department of Health Services. The way this ailment is passed from the critter to people is when critter urine and/or feces becomes thoroughly dry and mixes with dry soil and then, when it is disturbed, rises as dust and is inhaled by (for instance) a home inspector or dancing Native American. TMI? Just be careful . . . wearing a respirator is fine, but not nearly sufficient if any dust gets on your clothing or gear.
Cole for sure. White Footed Deer Mice are the primary vector here in the NW—and they are very rare except in rural settings with lots of woods around. They don’t like city living much I guess 🙂
Deer mice are credited with being the favorite host for the type of tick that often carries Lyme Disease, which I have (acquired in the Northeast) and will have forever. It ain’t pretty!
I find that (in spite of State licensing) new, computerized and digital photoized inspectors who charge less and are worth it have transformed “home inspection” in a way that Realtors really like. How about where you are?
Cole, did you mean to say “charge more” for inspections? Some realtors like it—the better ones for sure. My reports have gotten longer and longer that is for sure.