My Mom recently said she thought she had rats in her house. I went down cellar and noticed rat droppings hanging down from the fiberglass insulation. I could also see holes in the fiberglass where they burrowed through to keep warm.

At first I thought it may be one or two rats that came in to keep warm for the winter. However, the house never had rats for years. Further inspection revealed something terrifying. There were so many rat droppings that the fiberglass ripped and fell onto the cellar floor from the weight. I have never seen anything like it before. Each pile must have weighed a pound. It was then I realized she had an infestation at one point. They aren't there now because it's the summer.

My sister owned a bunny at one point and I heard that there droppings can attract rats.

Did the rats come on their own or did the bunny droppings attract them?

I know rats can crawl through small places; where is the most likely point of entry?

Do we have to call an exterminator and what about the damaged fiberglass? I assume no on will want to go near it for fear of disease.

The first thing to do is to determine if they are rats or mice. Look at this link:

Difference between Rats and Mice (http://www.ratbehavior.org/RatsMice.htm)

Secondly, you need to find out if they're still there. Get a painter's mask so you won't breathe anything dangerous and clean up all the fiberglass and droppings. Check those places the following day. If there's new droppings, you still have them.

If you still have them, you can try trapping or poison to get rid of the ones there and rodent-proofing the building to keep new ones out. Exterminators will do it for you, and they are professionals and guarantee their work (or call someone else), but they do charge for their time and expertise.

Thank you very much for your response. This was very helpful.

Thank you very much for your response. This was very helpful.

You can rate answers by clicking on the button within the answer balloon. You're quite welcome. Help somebody else to pay me back.