And is it rare or common?

And while I'm on the rat subject,
If we're going up in an attic with rat scat all over, what sort of ventilator mask would be needed? We have the little disposable masks that are good for drywall dust, but I have doubts about them. I've heard scary tales about rat crap. Makes me nervous.

It is really common to find it in my area. There is a certain type of little finch bird that lives around here that loves to peck at the screens covering the "bird holes" in freeze blocking. Then they build nests inside the attics. The rats come after the eggs and then take up residence. I've seen brand new houses with chewed up insulation on cables. Dust mask is not good enough, wear a real resparator, and gloves.

Squirrels will do that too.

-Hal

Rats like to chew but a certain target will be a cable that gets in their way. If they want to get through a bored hole and a cable is there they will open up the hole. It really seems to be a radial chew, making a nice round hole through the whole circumference but they will certainly take the wire down to the conductors and beyond.
(had it happen in my boat)
They also just pick a wire and chew it but that still may just be in the way of where they are going.
Rats are just a fact of life around here. They are "country rats" (Roof rats rattus rattus AKA fruit rats, tree rats or the chamber of commerce name "palmetto squirrel") but there are plenty of them.
I really don't see much difference between them and the fuzzy tail squirrels.
The big Norway and brown rats more likely what you see in the big city.

Mice will chew the insulation also. Here's some information on hantavirus which can be found in rodent droppings: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hanta/hps/

Ya know I don't think they 'eat' it, they do however make nests out of it for sure. It's kind of funny when you find a NM sheath lined nest in the fiber-glass.

And personaly I do not think it is grounds for a full-blown resiparator, IMO a simple dust mask is sufficiant. It is only dander and funk dust. And the bio-hazard threat is not as high as one might think - but gloves and washing your hands is definately a good idea.

I once found one in a wall as skelital remains, it apparently locked on as it got through the insulation - it was a funny find. I remember saying 'your problem is right here' as I wacked my hammer through the rock, as I had to open the wall anyway to replace the cable, and out comes the rat dangling by his teeth.

... Ive seen the damage they can do,..and yes,... squirrels love to "nibble" on the jacket.. As an attic rat myself, tho', I've never gotten used to the taste...I much prefer the older cloth covered version as opposed to the new vinyl stuff, as it tends to get stuck betwixt my teeth...

What about charging extra for working conditions? Those old home's that were built back in the early ninteen hundreds. Guaranteed to have all sorts of vermin in the attics and crawl spaces.

Yes I know, sometimes electrical work is not pretty. I'm way used to that. Sometimes, when I am literally crawling and squeazing my way under a house and around all sorts of dead 'carcasses' makes me wonder if I should charge more.

I charge more when I encounter fecal matter in attics and elsewhere. One job had several bushels of raccoon droppings removed from the attic, plenty stank!!! and in the end, the business with the client smelled bad too. Go back to the Business discussion and in my thread Contract Clauses... there is a clause contributed by Sixer thst sddresses the above, I refer to it as the poo-poo clause.

I used to work in old movie theaters, and I'll never forget the smell, especially when of the little bast#$rds would cuddle up next to a hot light fixture and drop dead.

Here's a bit of wisdom: alway, but ALWAYS keep your mouth closed when you pop up a T-bar ceiling panel...did I mention ALWAYS?!

Thanks for suggestions.

The link for the CDC had a good tip for working in or around rat scat. Bring up a spray bottle with diluted bleach and spray the stuff. It keeps it from getting airborne.

Attic Rat, you would be great on Dirty Jobs
http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/dirtyjobs/splash.html?dcitc=w99-502-ah-0079

The flip side of rats is snakes. When you turn up a 4' snake skin in the attic you understand who your "company" is. The good news is these are usually a black racer or rat snake (great climbers) around here and harmless ... if you don't fall through the ceiling when you see him.

Rats over here certainly have a taste for our "Twin & earth" -- Similar to Romex but without the paper wrapping inside.

I remember one place a few years ago in which the stench upon opening an old section of attic was terrible. It turned out to be what was left of a huge rat, the remains of its jaws still clamped around a chewed up 240V cable which had obviously been the cause of the rodent's sudden demise. Yuck!


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 10-12-2006).]

The old cable wrap from the 50's looks like shiny sardine skin to me. I still wouldn't chew on it.

I wonder why my invention of lamp cord that looks and smells like red licorice never took off?

Alright then Almost fried, I'll go and take a look at the 'poo poo' clause. Sounds like something I need to adopt. Thanx

gfretwell, Years ago I had a guy under a floor - I would tap on the fllor at the location, then he'd call on the readio to tell me where to drill, then he would push the wire up. Then he tells me that near where the last outlet we were installing was a 4-5' rattlesnake. Long story short it was hibernating, and while we were drilling it woke up, he got out of hole real quick and we called Animal Control - who told us to wait for Spring 'cause they definately weren't going down there to get it. The customer waited ~5 months to get those outlets on, because the last one, was the first one in the run. The customer had to set traps where it might come out, and we wouldn't go back until she had the snake in a cage.