Pet rats - the kind you buy at the pet store - can make the most adorable friends. Pookie was our daughter’s pet and a close family member for years.

But rats in the roof, attic, crawl space, walls and landscaping are not so adorable. They wreck havoc and can cause damage to home and health. Wild rats gnaw on wood and wires, and they carry fleas that can spread disease. Bubonic plague is not an issue in Santa Clara County now, but it is in Tahoe and other areas, so it’s a risk to take seriously.

What kind of rats exist here, in The Valley of Hearts Delight?

In Silicon Valley, the predominent type of wild rat is the Roof Rat (also known as the Black Rat or Tree Rat). The Roof Rat’s eat ivy, fruit, pet food, nuts and other goodies found in neighborhoods. They are identifiable because their tail is longer than the head and body together.

A lesser seen rat in the San Jose area is the Norway Rat (also called the Wharf Rat, the Sewer Rat, or the Brown Rat). This rat has a shorter tail and is usually seen in less developed areas, creekbeds, and farm areas, which are rapidly disappearing here in the South Bay.

Recently a neighbor of ours found a dead rat in his yard, and he called The Santa Clara County Vector Control District office to come out and help him identify if there was a problem with rats getting into his home or not, and to shed light on the issue of why this critter recently appeared in his home. The officer came out and performed this service for free, enlightening my neighbor as to access points and providing a helpful brochure about rats and what attracts them.

I’d heard that Italian Cypress trees, juniper and ivy were all bad - that is, that they attracted rats. What I did not realize is how many other things do too.
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If you live in Santa Clara County, once known as ˜The Valley of Hearts Delight, you no doubt appreciate our mild, sub-tropical climate.

Unfortunately, so do the termites.

We have two types of termites here (and other wood-destroying pests too), drywood termites and subterranean termites.

The subterranean termites, or ˜subs as they are called, can be identified by the mud tubes they build from the ground or floor up the side of a wall. As their name implies, they live underground, and build the tubes as they go. Pest Control operators will remove the tubes and treat the area, injecting chemicals underground at spaced intervals, to exterminate them.

Drywood termites, or drywoods, may live anywhere in the the home where theres wood to eat. If they are found only in one area, or perhaps two, a licensed pest control company may do a ˜local treat. The difficulty with local treatments is that drywood termites also may be lurking in places that cannot be seen, such as between the walls. For that reason, the standard recommendation is to fumigate (or ˜tent or ˜fume) the structure.
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