How did my toilet seat get scratched??
Well, welcome to mischievous RATS!! Believe it or not, this one was from a rat getting in and out of a toilet, and accessing the dry sewer lines to get in and out of the house.
Here are a few tricks to stop this from happening to your vacation home.
1) Make sure to have a friend, home watch company, or someone flush your toilets and run water down all your drains at least once a month in the desert area. Our sewer lines dry out quickly when they are not used. It will also help with sewer gas smell in the house while it is closed up.
2) Don't leave any type of food out. Especially protein based foods. I have been told by numerous pest control companies that rats can smell protein. They will search it out, and do whatever they can to get to it! Dog food is a big target for rodents.
3) Cellophane wrap the toilets. This will work 90% of the time. But it is not guaranteed. If the rat decides he wants in or out, he will chew right through it!
4) When it comes to rats, and chewing, they will chew through anything! They don't like wire mesh, steel wool, or chicken coop wire. But they will try. If you have openings on your roof (sewer gas vent pipes), drain lines/ gutters for rainfall that are built into the structure, they can chew through them and access the structure of the home. Chewing through drywall, plywood, firebreak studs, pvc piping, and water lines is pretty simple once they are in. Make sure to keep metal wire mesh over these types of openings to keep them out.
There are numerous companies that are familiar with trapping and rodent proofing your home. Let me know if you need help with finding a reputable one. Or, if you are like my wife, and would sell the house before ever returning home to catch the rats, let me know, and I will sell it for you! LOL
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