Rats
Rattus spp.
Highly adaptable rodents that infiltrate structures and pose serious health and safety risks.
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Rats
Overview
Relentless gnawers that contaminate food, damage structures, and spread disease. Professional elimination is the only reliable solution in British Columbia.
Our licensed technicians provide rat control across Vancouver, Surrey, and the Lower Mainland. If you have rats in your home or business, we can arrange a visit.
A Hidden Threat Inside Your Walls
Rats are a common pest problem across the Lower Mainland. They can
- Get through surprisingly small gaps
- Chew on electrical wires
- Get into food
- Their droppings and urine spread contamination.
You may notice more rat activity in Greater Vancouver during the fall. This is because rats start looking for warm places to hide as weather changes. Acting early can stop the problem from becoming harder to manage.
Rats are not the only rodents RainCity handles. If it turns out to be mice or squirrels getting into your property, we treat them the same way, starting with an inspection and sealing the entry points they use.
Rat Control Across Vancouver, Surrey and the Lower Mainland
Older homes in Vancouver can have small gaps around the foundation, roof, or other parts of the house. These are easy entry points for rats. You’ll find this in older areas such as East Van, Kitsilano, Strathcona, Mount Pleasant and around Commercial Drive. See our Vancouver pest control page for more on how we handle all types of pests across the city.
Surrey’s mix of established neighbourhoods and newer commercial areas means rats show up differently. From apartment buildings in Newton to warehouses around Cloverdale and Campbell Heights, they can be anywhere. South of Surrey, White Rock’s older homes near West Beach and Semiahmoo attract rats looking for shelter close to the water. The same coastal conditions bring rodents inland through the rest of the Lower Mainland. Visit our White Rock pest control page to see how we handle rat control.
Raincity
Risk Index
Our Risk Index breaks down each pest's threat level so you know exactly what you're dealing with and how urgently to act.
Risks: Rats
Property
Damage
9 / 10
Nuisance
Level
7 / 10
Health
Threat
8 / 10Structural & Material
Noise & Disruption
Bite & Disease Exposure
What This Means For You
Rats don’t just make a mess. They chew on wires and pipes which can lead to expensive repairs.
You may also come across droppings or notice a strong odour around the property, which can spread germs.
There is also a health concern. Rats can cause Leptospirosis, hantavirus, and Salmonella.
Know Your Pest
Rats Knowledge, Prevention Tips & Home Protection Advice.
Facts: Rats
Heavy-bodied with blunt snouts, coarse brown or grey fur, scaly tail roughly equal to body length, large hind feet, small ears.
Rats will eat just about anything they can find. Pet food, fallen fruit, and other food left outside can quickly attract them.
Rapid. A single pair can result in 1,000+ offspring in a year.
Summer
Spring
Fall
Winter
In BC, fall and winter are peak entry seasons as rats seek warmth. A single pair can produce 1,000+ offspring in one year. It’s best to deal with them before the numbers start to grow.
Take a look around the outside of the property for small gaps. Seal anything bigger than about 6 mm with steel wool and caulk. Also, keep compost bins closed and clear away any fallen fruit. Both can attract rats.
Tamper Resistant Bait Stations & Exclusion (locked stations keep bait away from pets and kids)
Consumer snap traps and poisons address individual rats but rarely eliminate the colony. Without exclusion work, new rats will continue to enter through unidentified entry points.
RainCity combines a full property inspection to identify entry points, professional grade tamper resistant bait stations and structural exclusion to close the access routes we find.
Integrated approach combining tamper-resistant bait stations, snap trap placement in key activity zones and physical exclusion of all identified entry points.
The aim is to clear the active colony within 1–2 treatment visits, with full exclusion to help prevent re-entry.
Signs of Activity
Early detection prevents small issues from becoming full infestations. Watch for signs in hidden or undisturbed areas.
Droppings
Dark and capsule shaped droppings, roughly 12 to 18mm long, found along baseboards, in cupboards or near food sources.
Gnaw Marks
Rough chew marks on food packaging, wooden beams, plastic pipes or electrical wiring insulation.
Scratching Sounds
Nocturnal scratching, scurrying or squeaking sounds coming from inside walls, ceilings or under floors.
Grease Trails
Dark smear marks along walls and baseboards caused by the oils in rat fur repeatedly travelling the same routes.
Burrows or Nesting Material
Shredded insulation, paper or fabric gathered into nests found in dark, undisturbed areas such as attics or under decking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Find expert answers to our most common questions and discover how we keep your home or business pest-free.
They can squeeze through any gap larger than 6mm. Common entry points include gaps around pipes, damaged vents, uncapped chimneys, and openings under garage doors.
Yes because their bite can transmit disease. Pets can get sick if they eat a rat that has consumed rodenticide. Tamper-resistant bait stations keep the bait itself out of reach of pets.
Rats breed quickly. A female rat can have several litters a year, with up to a dozen pups each. What starts as a couple of rats can quickly turn into a much bigger problem.
No. Once rats establish a food and shelter source they will not leave voluntarily. Active intervention and exclusion work are required to permanently resolve an infestation.
The cost depends on the property and what we find during the inspection. We’ll let you know the price upfront, before any work is done. The quote is free and there’s no obligation to hire us.
In most cases, you’ll start seeing less rat activity within the first few weeks. We will set traps or bait stations and seal up any openings we find. After that, we can come back to check the property for any new activity.
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