Rat control in Tilburg: recognising the signs
Around homes it is nearly always the brown rat. It is much larger than a mouse, with a blunt snout and a thick tail that is shorter than its body. Rats are shy and mostly active at dusk, so you usually notice what they leave behind before you see one.
- droppings of one to two centimetres, often in small clusters
- burrows with smooth entrances under paving, the shed floor or the compost heap
- dark, greasy smear marks along walls and beams they use as regular runs
- heavy gnawing on wood, plastic pipes or bin bags
- loud scratching or thumping in a ceiling or the crawl space
The sewer as a motorway
Brown rats are at home in the sewer. Wherever a drainpipe has cracked, an old connection has not been capped or a gully is broken, they find a way up: into the crawl space, under the kitchen floor or even through the toilet. That is why we do not stop at the rats we find, but look for where they are getting in.
If the drains are suspect, we recommend a camera inspection by a drainage specialist to show exactly where the break is. A rat valve (rattenklep or rioolklep) fitted in the drain can also stop rats coming up from the main sewer into your own pipes.
What draws rats into your garden
Rats come for food, water and shelter. In an ordinary town garden, that often means things nobody gives a second thought:
- birdseed dropped on the ground and chicken feed in an open tray
- a compost heap that gets cooked kitchen scraps
- bin bags left beside the container
- log piles, dense shrubs and clutter against the fence
Removing those sources makes a garden far less interesting to a rat. It is also the foundation of any rat control meant to last: without food and cover, rats move on or never settle in the first place.
How we deal with rats
During the inspection we look indoors and out for runs, burrows and possible entry points. Our approach follows the same IPM principles as all our pest control in Tilburg: investigate first, then proof, then carry out targeted control.
Holes in the walls and around pipes are sealed with materials a rat cannot chew through, such as metal mesh and plates. Along the runs we place locked bait stations with professional rodenticides, which only a certified pest controller may use. Indoors we often choose traps, so no dead rat is left decaying inside a wall. At follow-up visits we check the stations, remove any animals caught and wrap up once all activity has stopped.
Rats in public spaces, and what to avoid
Seen rats in a public place, for example near a playground, in a park or along the water? Report it to the gemeente Tilburg. On your own property, in the shed or indoors, we can step in.
Do not put down poison you have bought yourself. It can end up with pets, hedgehogs or birds, and a rat that dies in the cavity wall will cause a stench. Filling in a burrow without tackling the cause achieves little either: the rat simply digs a new entrance. If it is smaller rodents in the kitchen cupboards, read more about mouse control.
