San Antonio's mature tree canopy, alley dumpsters, and aging housing stock are perfect rat habitat. Most rat calls we get inside the loop and in older suburbs are roof rats; rural and commercial calls are more often Norway rats.
Roof rats vs. Norway rats
Roof rats are smaller, sleeker, with a tail longer than the body. They climb. They live in attics, palm trees, and dense ivy. Norway rats are larger and bulkier, with a shorter tail. They burrow. They live in slab penetrations, dumpster pads, woodpiles, and around water sources. The trapping and exclusion strategy is completely different.
Where they get in
Rats squeeze through any opening larger than a quarter. Common entry points: roof return vents, gable vents missing screen, gaps where utility lines enter the wall, garage door corner gaps, foundation cracks, and weep holes. We seal these with rodent-rated materials — copper mesh, hardware cloth, and steel — not foam, which they chew through in a night.
Trapping the right way
Snap traps in attic runways and along wall edges work better than bait stations for active interior populations. Bait stations have a place outdoors as a perimeter program, but interior rodenticide use can leave dead rats in walls. We trap until the activity stops, then exclude.
Why one-time service rarely sticks
If you don't seal the entry points, the population that's been pressuring the house from the alley will refill the attic within weeks. Exclusion is the long-term fix. We pair the initial knockdown with a written exclusion plan and quarterly perimeter monitoring.
Trap, then seal, then monitor. A rat job that ends after the trapping phase is half a job — and you'll be calling us again in 60 days.