Pack rats in Arizona are more than a nuisance. They are destructive, dangerous, and everywhere! Many believe Javelina are the most destructive because of their size and what they can do to plants, cactus, and property. Pack rats, however, are even more destructive because they can climb over walls, squeeze into spaces in attics, businesses, sheds, grills, foundations, automobiles, and just about anywhere they can be assured there is darkness and protection from their predators. Once established, they gnaw wood, wire, PVC, grill or pool covers, and, basically set up shop. Since they can move into people living areas, they also can bring disease into your home or business in a way that external animals, like Javelina, cannot.
Books have been written by Rodentologists that highlight their success in rat removal in large cities, urban communities, food warehouses, and businesses. None of them, however have apparently tackled writing about and actually dealing with pack rats that live in Arizona. Their primary approach is to educate the business or city maintenance workers to remove or reduce a food source and the expected result is to encourage Norway or brown rats to choose other places to live. Here in Arizona, however, we are surrounded by desert, with unlimited food supplies, shelter material and access to homes, businesses, cactus, and rock outcroppings, and much of the food source and protective material is natural. There is no way to get rid of all the pack rats which live all around us, so, they just keep coming.
The stories from homeowners and businesses that trap and remove pack rats include repeated nesting and destruction from pack rats that occupy the nests, attics, grills, storage spaces, and the roots of cactus within days of the removal of one rat. 1st Response Wildlife is called by dozens of business owners, Property Management Companies, and homeowners to consult with them about a pack rat problem. The key to understanding pack rats and determining what to do about them is to first recognize the damage they can do, then identify where they are living, consider their lifestyle, the conditions that exist in a given location where there is a pack rat problem, and how it can be addressed long term.
Pest Control companies provide a service to try and keep the numbers of pack rats low but, they really are not in the business of educating the public and addressing the larger pack rat problems that are present when pack rats invade a home, business, or the plants around the property. True, some number of pack rats will be trapped or even poisoned by a Pest Control service but, once a pack rat finds entry to a home or business, a more specific and long term strategy to get the rats out of the home or business must be employed. Again, 1st Response Wildlife works with Pest Control companies to augment their services, actually go into attics, roofs, and homes or businesses and work to immediately remove and make those areas unattractive for future pack rats.
Pack rats, except when they have and are raising their young, are primarily solitary dwellers. This means that, unless young are present, there is usually just one pack rat in a nest. This also means that when the young move on from their mother, they must find their own place to live. As this happens, and a relatively safe place is found-either an empty nest left by another pack rat, or a new, relatively safe location, the pack rat sets about creating their own abode. They collect material which, in many cases, includes protective Cholla cactus sections that makes it more difficult for the animals, raptors, and reptiles that feed on them to enter their nest. Snakes-rattlesnakes, king snakes, and gopher snakes, along with Ringtails, Gila Monsters, and Owls, are not easily deterred by those barriers in the wild, however. Pack rats will, in any event, keep trying to keep as many of their predators away from their "runs," as possible. Below is an example of what a pack rat has done to create a Cholla-lined pathway to its hole which makes it difficult for a bobcat or coyote, feral cat, or even a curious dog to walk up to the hole because of the risk of getting cactus in its feet.
When a pack rat is trapped from a nest, it leaves behind its scent, droppings, urine smell, and its nesting material and, before long, another pack rat moves in and begins to add material to that nest. Nesting material can be comprised of just about anything. Here is an example of twigs, mesquite and Palo Verde pods.
Here is more nesting material, rocks, and sticks-filled with natural food-pods from desert trees
Here is a pack rat nest in the base of an Agave.
Here is an example of a pack rat nest that is almost hidden in a pool edge garden of Lantana,
Close by, the nesting material, which includes Cholla cactus sections has spilled out of the Hesperaloe parviflora, with the nesting activity becoming more obvious as winter approaches because of the added material brought in to ensure insulation.
Close by, for protection at night and partially during the day, a pack rat has created entrance and exit holes in a pool cover that gives it shelter from raptors, dogs, and bobcats, while having easy entrance and exits when it is foraging for food and shelter material.
More damage to the pool cover.
Automobiles and trucks are also a favorite nesting area for pack rats. There are untold numbers of Arizona residents who have left a car/truck outside and discovered, to their dismay, that trying to start it after a period of time results in no response from the engine, or discovering, after lifting the hood, a whole collection of material has filled the engine area. It may cost thousands of dollars in rewiring and also it is a very time consuming job of removing cactus, pods, and any other material-all the while trying not to get stuck by cactus or other material that is in between wires, battery or engine parts. The really frustrating part of this situation is that removing the material and trapping the rat which has done the damage does not guarantee that another rat will not take up residence immediately and start bringing in material again, chewing on wires, and leaving its droppings. (1st Response Wildlife has worked with a number of these situations to help vehicle owners come up with a strategy to reduce a repeat pack rat infestation.)
Three ideas that many try to prevent pack rat nesting in an outside vehicle are; 1. Leaving the hood up over night with a light in the engine-since pack rats do not like a lot of light and; 2. Buying a gadget called Rid-a-rat that is sold by many hardware stores. This device has wires that connect to the car battery and then has a light which has a magnet on the back which directs the vehicle owner to attach it to the firewall. Some swear by this device and others, like the owner of this truck below, where a Rid-a-rat was installed, would tell you that they absolutely do not work, and; 3. There are a number of companies that advertise an electronic device that had an ultra-high sound that a person cannot hear but, supposedly, it is a deterrent for rodents. Again, research and homeowner’s experience, do not substantiate any significant success with these devices.
And then, of course, there are the homeowners who find that pack rats can climb and, especially, as winter approaches, any easy entrance to an attic, laundry room, shed, or grill, provides an excellent warm and safe-from-predator home for winter habitat and a great location for birthing and raising a whole new family of pack rats-just in time for spring.
1st Response Wildlife worked with a homeowner who heard noises under the roof and in the attic and, when water started dripping and the inspection of the attic showed significant pack rat droppings, further inspection showed pack rats had chewed PVC water pipes and made a home in the ceiling-ruining the ceiling. Below, you can see an example of PVC with rat gnawing (in other parts of the water pipe, the pack rats chewed all the way through and the water ruined the ceiling, drywall, piping and the whole area had to be cleaned out in order to be replaced.)
This is the insulation filled with rat feces and nesting material.
Here is the ceiling with the insulation, drywall and insulation removed.
The bottom-line of this whole discussion is that pack rats are here to stay. They are destructive in many different ways, live as happily in the desert as in and around your house and it is only by understanding their behavior, habitat, and the potential damage they can cause when they get into the wrong places that a business, Property Management Company, or homeowner, can protect their property and vehicles from pack rats choosing the wrong place to call home. 1st Response Wildlife has helped dozens of homeowners, businesses, and Property Management Companies with their pack rat problems. 1st Response Wildlife believes that everyone with a pack rat problem needs to get involved in discussing and agreeing on the best way to remove the rats but, everyone should also be involved in looking at the longer term value of participating in a plan to keep future pack rat damage from occurring.
If you have pack rats in and around your property, hear gnawing noises at night in your walls or attics, discover droppings in a closet, shed, grill, or nesting material in a garage, attic, or somewhere it should not be, please consider giving 1st Response Wildlife a call.
Thanks for considering 1st Response Wildlife
Josh's Cell (24/7 Hours): 520-260-9517
Josh Waling is a humane Licensed Animal Trapper who catches and releases wildlife, removing animals including bobcats (lince), snakes, rattlesnakes (serpiente de cascabel), raccoons (mapache), pack rats, gila monsters (monstruos de gila), rabbits (canejo), owls, bats, hawks, ducks, squirrels (ardilla), peacocks, coatimundi (gato solo), skunks (mofeta), exotics, and domestic cats and dogs. He delivers service that is professional and fast and he is available 24/7. Give him a call the next time you hear unusual noises in the attic or crawl spaces in your home or if you see wildlife eating your vegetation, creating nests, and raising their young too close to your pets or children or have an exotic sighting in your neighborhood. 520-260-9517 Thanks!
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