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Can rats hurt you?
Although they probably don’t mean to, rats can actually be very dangerous to human life. As well as
being rather vicious little creatures who will attack when cornered (although confrontation is unlikely),
they have very sharp claws, long and sharp teeth, and a nasty habit of carrying some pretty gruesome diseases.
Whether you come in contact with the rat or not, it can still hurt you. The worst of it is, you probably won't
even know about it.
If you are pregnant, or you have a pregnant / breastfeeding woman living in your home / building, rats are one of the most
dangerous intruders. Toxoplasmosis is a disease that is commonly associated with rats, and this can cause stillbirth and
miscarriages, as well as number of birth defects. It is believed that over twenty percent of the population of the USA could
be infected with the parasite, and for those who are fit and healthy, there are usually no symptoms to speak of.
If you have a cat, you are at a particularly high risk of contracting toxoplasmosis, and this is because domesticated cards are the
worst culprits in terms of carriers. Rats can carry the parasite, and when household cats (and dogs) attack those rats, the parasite
is passed on. When you then go to clean out your cat’s litter tray, for example, you could potentially spread the parasite far
and wide.
Not just pregnant and breastfeeding women at risk from a rat infestation, those who are elderly, minors, and also those suffering with
existing medical conditions can also be at a higher risk of contracting deadly diseases. If you have a weakened immune system already,
for example, you definitely won’t want to come in contact with the toxoplasmosis parasite, and leptospirosis will also be another grave
cause of concern. Once again, in healthy and fit adult humans, the bacteria (Leptospira) won't cause too many problems, but in someone
who is already sick, the disease can cause infections with nasty symptoms. Antibiotics treatment is necessary, and in some cases, the
disease can progress in severity to then be known as Weil’s disease. With internal bleeding, organ failure, and in the worst cases,
fatalities, these are definitely diseases you will want to stay well clear of.
Learn whether or not rats hibernate.
These are all common diseases carried by rats, and other wild animals and rodents too. That’s before you even start to think about things
such as fleas, ticks, mites, and other parasites, which can affect your household pets just as much as they can affect humans. Lyme disease
is one concern, particularly with ticks, and flea infestation is NEVER pleasant. Those bites you receive from your new jumping friends can
scar if you pick at them, and those scars really will last you a lifetime.
Rats can hurt you, and in many more ways than you probably first gave them credit for. We’re not even taking into account the fire risk these
rodents pose when they chew through electrical cables in your attic, leaving bare electric cables exposed right next to highly flammable attic
insulation material. Or the flooding risk when they chew through plastic plumbing pipes. Or the very serious car trouble you’ll have if the rats
manage to get into the engine compartments and chew through your brake cables ... There’s a serious moral to this story - rats are dangerous. The
quicker you get them out of your home, the better.
For more rat information, visit our rat removal tips page, or for more specific how-to instructions, read the how to get rid of rats page with 6 step-by-step instructions.
If you have a problem with rats above your ceiling in your house, read my rats in the attic guide. The most important part of rat control is sealing shut entry holes into the building, but after
you've done that, you'll want to know how to kill rats humanely to complete the rat control job. If you need to hire professional help in your city, click on my directory of over
200 rat removal companies servicing 95% of the USA. we can help your with your rat problem!
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