Even Rats are Abandoning the Heat in Search of Cooler Climes in Homes

The sweltering heat that hits the Southland every summer not only drives people in search of a cool spot, it also drives rats into people’s homes.

The unwelcomed little visitors in turn drive people--who would never dream that they would have rats in their homes--to desperately call private exterminators and county health officials for help.

Pest control firms say business annually increases during the spring and summer months, both from people who are spotting the rats for the first time, and others who call every year to get rid of the pesky rodents.

Rat exterminators say that the so-called roof rats or tree rats venture from their usual year-round homes in ivy ground cover, bushy shrubs and full, mature trees and into homes in search of food and water. The rats, ironically, are more common on the Westside, where many expensive homes have lush landscapes and swimming pools, ideal conditions for rats.

The roof rat, or more properly Rattus rattus, is a grayish-brown rodent weighing less than a pound and measuring about a foot long from head to tail. The better known rodent is the large brown rat or Norway rat--Rattus norvegicus--found primarily on the East Coast. Also known as the sewer rat, it is often depicted in movies scampering around garbage and sewers.

Roof rats feed mainly on fruits and vegetables and have developed a taste for dog food and birdseed. Trees, electrical wires and pipes act as highways for the rodents, who enter homes through holes as small as a quarter. The rats are usually detected by the sound of scampering on roofs, in attics or in walls.

Rats also chew on wood and often electrical wires, not for nourishment, but to keep their teeth from growing, according to private exterminators.

“Rats have to keep chewing or their teeth will probably grow back into their brains and kill them,” said Ken Hanson, manager of Terminex pest control in Santa Monica.

A spokeswoman for Hydrex Pest Control in Van Nuys said her company has seen an increase in business this summer, primarily on the Westside. The company annually increases its summer crew from three to five, although part of that is because the summer months also breed more fleas and ants.

Other pest control firms and county health officials say this summer’s return of the rodents is normal to slightly below normal.

A private exterminator will charge about $300 for a 2,000-square-foot home, but the cost could be as high as $3,000 for a larger home with a serious problem, according to exterminators.

Alan Harwood, chief of the Los Angeles County Health Department’s Vector Control Program, said his office has noticed a slight decrease in the number of complaints it receives about rats.

In fiscal year 1987-88, there were about 30,000 calls, Harwood said. Last fiscal year, there were about 25,000. He said he expects complaints for this fiscal year to be in the low 20,000s, although he could not offer an explanation for the decline.

“I’m sure we didn’t get rid of all the rats,” Harwood said. “We’re never going to get rid of all the rats.”

The county provides free rat poison for do-it-yourselfers or free home inspections. After inspecting a home, one of 12 county inspectors may advise setting traps, but the county does not provide them.

Recently, county inspector Erica Balsam responded to a call from an elderly woman in Silver Lake who had spotted a rat in her kitchen. The woman said she had called a private exterminator, but they told her they could not come out for four days because they were backed up.

After calling the police, she reached the county vector control program, who sent Balsam within two hours.

Although Balsam does not personally get rid of the rodents, on this call she spotted the rat and chased it outside. She was able to find the hole where the rat entered, a worn-out wire screen below the kitchen sink.

Balsam explained how to patch the hole and left a small bag of rat poison.

“I’m scared of rats,” the resident said. “I don’t know what I would have done if I had to wait until Monday for the exterminators.”

Balsam then checked on a home where rats had previously been seen. Black, soot-like markings were on a pipe on an outside wall. Balsam said the markings came from the oily skin of rats scampering on the pipe. She instructed the owner to remove dog food from the yard and cut back trees from the building.

The owner told Balsam the rats had not been seen or heard in a few days. She seemed pleased.

“It’s OK for the rats to be outside in the trees,” she said, “but when they start coming in the house, then it’s not OK.”