Central Florida’s citrus groves have been attracting visitors for decades. Unfortunately, some of those visitors have long overstayed their welcome. One chief offender in particular is the roof rat. It arrived here centuries ago and has since formed several subspecies. The one that loves Central Florida’s citrus groves the most is aptly named the citrus rat.
But don’t let the citrus rat’s name lure you into complacency. The quick-footed rodents do not confine themselves to citrus groves. They are very much at home nesting inside of Tampa homes and attics are some of their favorite places. Plus, the female members of the subspecies tend to breed a full 12 months out of the year. As such, the demand for rodent control in Tampa tends to remain high year round.
Citrus rats differ from their roof loving kin in appearance. They carry the agouti gene whereas other roof rats tend to sport solid color fur but there have been exceptions. Furthermore, they have pointed muzzles, ears that reach the eyes when folded over and scaly tails four inches or more in length. Their forelegs are of average length but their hind legs are rather short. And as for their weight, most tend to tip the scales around 11 ounces or less.
They’ll climb into the attics of Tampa homes as long as there are structures nearby that they can use as a ladder of sorts. If those makeshift ladders aren’t present, they’re perfectly happy to look for ground floor entrances into Central Florida homes too. Once inside, these pesky omnivores will eat a lot as well as leave fleas, urine and feces behind.
Keeping that in mind, property owners plagued by citrus rats or other roof loving rodents should contact us. We have been providing eco-responsible, rodent control services in Tampa for 26 years and we back everything we do up with a personal guarantee.
