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DISEASES AND DAMAGES THAT RATS PRODUCE. Rats have been living close to the man ever since the beginning of the times. Aristotle as well as Alexander the Great demonstrated rats' knowledge. At the moment rats can be found in almost every corner of the world, travelling close to the man crossing the oceans in boats, resisting high and low temperatures; they can live anywhere, in the field, in the gardens, in rubbish, drains and with humans inside their own house.
Rats and mice are climbing experts. These animals eat most of the types of food that humans consume, but preferring the sweety substances, the milk, the cheese, the meat, the fat, the fruits and cereal grains, choosing the best ones if they have the chance. Also the rats are fond of alcoholic drinks. In some well known wine warehouses in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain) they offer a peculiar show to their visitors: drunk mice leaving their hiding places to drink sweet sherry. Rats and mice produce physical damages in the walls, wood beams, pipes and electrical cables, being a great danger for libraries, because they destroy everything. They are ten times more destructive with the food that the food they consume.
A good bait or attraction inside the mice traps is to place a small portion of cheese. Moreover, we have to mention that rats are the animals that transmit the greatest number of diseases, directly and indirectly, to human beings and animals. These diseases can be transmitted by three methods: indirectly by means of rats' own vectors like fleas, lice and mites; directly by their excrements, urine, saliva, hairs, etc. and by direct contact with rats or bites. There are diseases that rodents can transmit by touching the infected matters. The more important thing for preventing diseases is to have extreme care with the house cleaning, kitchen utensils, etc., to eliminate any food sources inside the house or to put them in airtight containers, to eliminate the rats' urine and faeces, but before you should sprinkle around with an antivirus treatment to inactivate any virus, and to avoid using the broom that renews the concentrated dust.
Totally avoiding the accumulation of leftovers and waste contributes to rats elimination. To avoid rats nesting inside our houses is also important to put the garbage inside plastic or metal buckets and to take them outside our house; to cover or seal with wire netting or cement each and every hole greater than 0.5 cm.; when necessary, place the woodstore at 30 meters or more away from the house, placing the wood at about 30 cm. high from the ground. In the garden is important not to keep residuous, such as abandoned vehicles, used tires and other items that can be used for nests; keep cut the lawn, the bushes and the grand trees around the house.
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