So You've Caught One Illinois Rat: Are There More?

Rats are social Peoria creatures that prefer to live with a group. We often refer to them as packs. A single family of rat can be composed of a dominant male together with a few female rats. They can also have few babies that they will keep in the nest. The dark and crawl areas of your home provide the rat with an excellent shelter where they can nurture the babies.



How Many Rats Are There?

If you found a single rat in your Illinois home, it is highly likely that there are more of them hiding in the dark. Rats will usually be active at night that makes it difficult to discover them. If you encounter them at daylight, it is possible that the colony is large that forces them to remain active at daytime. 

Peoria Rats Have Astounding Ability to Multiply

Even on the off chance that it is just a pair of rat, it will not be too long until this becomes a grim situation. One male and female rat can turn into 50 rats in a matter of one year. This is the simplest scenario. Understand that there are usually hundreds of rats that are members of the pack. Let’s just say that there are 10 rats in your house, wherein 5 of them are females. You will still possibly deal with around 250 rats in just a year. We are not yet considering the babies that have become sexually mature. While not all baby rats will be able to reach maturity, it still only takes 3-4 weeks before they become sexually active.

Attracting Rats

You should not ignore the Illinois rats found outside your house. Once there is something inside the house that captured their interest, they will immediately move inside. During winter season, it will not be surprising for them to relocate their den in our attic since it offers them a place of warmth and comfort. This allows them to continue their reproduction even during the cold weather.

Pheromones

One Illinois rat will be leaving chemical markings known as pheromones. This can be picked up by the other rats that will encourage them to move in. It will only take a short time before they start breeding. One female rat will have at least 5-6 litters of rats per year. One litter can have 10-15 baby rats. Once they successfully give birth, the rats will be ready to become pregnant once more. They can be pregnant while they are nursing their newly born babies. 

Discarding a few Peoria rats in your house will not be effective if you cannot find the solution intended for the source of the problem. The males and females can continue reproducing throughout the year. Therefore, you will often have to use multiple live traps to capture them. Before you start trapping them, be sure that your house is properly sealed. Check all the holes and access point of the rats and cover them with the appropriate materials. Otherwise, it will not be too long until a new pack of rats replace them.



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