Pest experts issue rat warning following years of mice plagues in NSW

While Tamworth endured a mouse plague the last two years, this time around it's believed rats will be the ones marking their territory in town.

Statewide Pest Solutions director Mardi Bruyn said the company was already receiving up to five calls a day for rat treatments.

"In town, because of the population density, the rats are running wild at the moment," she said.

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"People are contacting us thinking that it's possums in their roof voids, but it's actually rats."

While Ms Bruyn said she couldn't pinpoint an exact reason why it was rats this year rather than mice, she said it could be to do with the recent rainfall.

"It's going to be a very wet winter so with that means more crops, people are also harvesting at the moment as well, so the seeds are on the ground," she said.

"When their harvesting it's breaking up the soil and that's why they're coming out now, because of the vibrations in the soil."

And with rats capable of growing much larger than mice, treating them is likely to be more expensive for households.

"The problem that we're finding is that rats eat a lot more bait, so people will need to get their treatments done a little bit more frequently," Ms Bruyn said.

While it might cost more to deal with the problem,, Ms Bruyn said leaving it would be more costly with rats able to chew through electrical wires and air conditioner tubing.

"Put mesh on any down pipes, seal all your doors and seal up as many entry points as you can," she said.

"A rat can even get through a one centimetre gap because they can squash their bones down."

Rats have even been found camping in peoples car engines in a bid to stay warm.

"Lift your bonnet once a week to check for rat droppings," Ms Bruyn said.

While we're unlikely to see the peak of rats until the Spring, now is the time to take action to avoid damage.

"In Spring time when it does warm up nearly every service we do would be a spider spray, or a rodent treatment," Ms Bruyn said.

"It will be almost 40 jobs a day just doing that."

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