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Rats And Heavy Rain | Super Interesting Facts |

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Do you know what happens to rats when there is rain? Do they come out or go hide? To answer those questions I decided to write this article “Rats and heavy rain”. So hang on here for minutes to read interesting facts about rats and heavy rain.

rats and heavy rain

Rats and heavy rain: Does heavy rain bring rats out?

Rats sneak indoors as they go in search of safer places during rainfall. Rainfall does have a greater impact on the rats natural habitats, and it will make them drive out of those places. However, once the rain falls, it will make them go in search of places which are warm and safer.

Since they go in search of shelter, they would most probably end up invading your house as they can find warmth in these places. Obviously, nobody prefers to have these nasty unwanted creatures in your home and whenever you spot any , you will need to get rid of them as soon as possible.

Rats could be so annoying as they could bring so many different diseases which can be transmitted to humans and result in outbreaks. For example, they could cause diseases such as rat bite fever, hantavirus, viral hemorrhagic etc. Not only that but also, they can chew on the electrical wires and lead to malfunctions. 

They can fall from massive heights and still manage to survive. So, you need some expertise to overcome this menace.

Do rats care about rain?

They do care about rain. In fact, they would prefer to have warmth , dryness and shelter whenever rainfall takes place. They want to go and occupy a comfy place during these unformattable times. Hence why they end up invading your space and try to find shelter to protect you from the rain.

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rat and heavy rain

Where do rats go when it floods?

Usually, they would go to safer, warm and dry places whenever there is rain or flood. The reason for that is because the  flood water could destroy the places where they live. Hence, they prefer to go for safer places. Rats can swim well for distances. They may use damaged pipework , plumbing or cracks as the entry points to your space.

They would find the debris in the damaged household and in the construction sites as perfect nesting places. Hence if you are confident that there are no rats in your space, you need to still  keep an eye on the surroundings as they could enter your premises through those. 

Further it is very likely that rat food will also be affected by rain. Hence they would tend to go places where they can obtain required  food as well. In addition to regular homes, they would occupy places such as sheds, barns. Further, if there are sites which are damaged by floods, they would feel welcome in those places also. Rats can easily access these sites.

What happens to rats in rain?

Rain could simply damage the food sources and the living spaces of the rats. That forces them to look out for food and for shelter as well.  Moreover, they would prefer to go for higher grounds. For example, they would prefer to occupy attics during these times. 

If we consider farms, rats will tend to move into stables, barns  and even swine houses.  Additionally, they would go for debris in construction  properties as well. They would be great lodging places for rats. If there is loosened soil around your space, rats would find them as perfect burrowing sites for them. Further, if there are carelessly discarded food and beverage items, rats are attractive for those as well. Those things would attract the rats. 

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Are rats scared of rain?

Rats tend to leave their living places when there is rain as they simply do not want to get wet. Further it would remove the food items available for their consumption. Hence, they would prefer warmer and dry places where they feel protected. Moreover they tend to relocate as they need to gain essential food. 

In addition to that they are tempted to look for nesting places as they simply cannot nest in places where there is rainfall. If we consider the rats such as Norway rats, wild mice, they would prefer to live in underground burrows and they are more prone towards flooding. 

Once there is a heavy rainfall, it would inundate their burrows and make them flee from those places and look for alternate places. On the other hand, there are roof rats which do not get affected by the rainfall as they would usually live in trees and in higher elevated locations. So, it is very unlikely that rain would force them to flee from those places.

However, if we take pack rates into consideration, they will build their middens on the ground level and rainfall would badly affect those as they are quite sensitive for floods. However, as a whole, rats would be more likely to leave their burrows due to rainfall and it would force them to look for places where there is warmth and shelter along with food sources.

Credit to : National Geographic

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I'm Dr. Chamika and I'm a Researcher in Water quality, Aquatic organisms, and Environmental chemistry. Our highly qualified team is trying to educate you in various aspects of the day to day life in many ways. Their mission is to help others to enjoy their life to the fullest.