Roof Rat Burrows

Unlike other rat species roof rats are also good climbers and build nests above ground not underground in burrows.

Roof rat burrows.

As they can gnaw at and chew through metal pipes and plastic they can damage the structure of your house which might take a lot of effort and financial investment to fix. Major cities like chicago have started utilizing this approach by filling the entrance of the burrow with dry ice. If residents find a rat burrow near the home it most likely belongs to a norway rat not a roof rat. It is therefore advisable to get rid of roof rats as soon as you become aware of their presence.

You ll also notice fresh dirt just out of the entrance in a fan shape created when the rodents excavate dirt from the hole. The entrance will be roughly 2 4 inches in diameter and smooth and compacted from the rodents going in and out of the burrow. Rats create underground pathways or burrows from their nest to food sources and to escape predators. Suffocation agents for rats.

These burrows are often located under bushes or other types of dense vegetation. The norway rat digs tunnels to nest because it prefers to be on ground level. Check along walls and grass for runways. They prefer to build nests among tree branches or use utility lines to access a roof or attic.

However in a hot dry environment roof rats burrow in shallow cavities beneath concrete slabs sidewalks or tree roots. The last way to kill a rat is to use the protection of the burrow against it. Rat burrows usually contain a main entrance and 1 or 2 exit holes away from the main entrance. Outdoors you can find roof rats nesting in trees shrubs wood piles and dense vegetation.