Rats in Florida are a year-round problem, thriving in warm weather, nesting in attics and crawlspaces, and causing costly damage to homes. Knowing how to identify them early and take the right steps to get rid of them is critical to protecting your home.
In Florida, roof rats dominate residential areas while Norway rats tunnel through foundations. From chewed wires and contaminated food to strange scratching in your attic, the signs are serious. If left untreated, infestations can lead to fires, illness, and recurring structural problems.
Hoffer Pest Solutions has helped countless Florida homeowners eliminate rat infestations using safe, proven, and humane methods. Whether you’ve seen a rat or just suspect something is wrong, our technicians can inspect, seal entry points, and provide lasting solutions to keep your home protected.
If you’re just here for the facts, we’ll walk you through exactly what you need to know, including what rats look like, where they hide, how to keep them out, and what works when it comes to removal.
Keep reading for the full guide.
Why Rats Are a Persistent Problem in Florida
Florida’s warm, humid climate may be perfect for beach days, but it also creates ideal conditions for rats to breed year-round. Unlike colder regions where rodent activity slows in winter, Florida’s rats remain active through every season, constantly seeking food, shelter, and nesting spots.
What makes matters worse is how well rats adapt to both urban and suburban environments. Whether you live in a high-rise condo in Miami or a quiet neighborhood near Fort Lauderdale, rats can find ways to infiltrate your home. Garbage bins, unpicked fruit, pet food left out overnight, all of these are magnets for rodents. Even bird feeders and compost piles can turn your yard into a rodent buffet.
Recent development and suburban sprawl across the state also push rats out of natural habitats and into homes. And when heavy rains or flooding hit, common during hurricane season, rats are often driven indoors, entering through crawlspaces, garage gaps, or rooftop openings in search of dry shelter.
But rats pose serious health and safety risks. Rodents are known carriers of leptospirosis, hantavirus, and salmonella. And when they chew through electrical wiring in attics or walls, the risk of house fires becomes alarmingly real. These issues are frequent, preventable hazards that demand immediate attention.
Meet the Rats That Live in Florida Homes
Roof Rats (a.k.a. Fruit Rats or Palm Rats)
Slim, agile, and natural climbers, roof rats are the most common culprits behind attic infestations across South Florida. They thrive in neighborhoods with fruit trees like mango, citrus, and avocado, using branches to leap onto rooftops. Once inside, they nest in insulation, soffits, and wall voids. If you've heard late-night scratching above the ceiling, this species is often the reason.
Norway Rats
Unlike their roof-dwelling cousins, Norway rats are burrowers. Heavier and more muscular, they tunnel beneath patios, slabs, sheds, and foundation walls. Common in Central Florida, these rats are notorious for undermining structures, creating dirt mounds near entry points, and chewing through wood and plastic to expand their nests.
House Mice and Lesser-Known Rodents
Though much smaller, house mice are just as destructive, and reproduce at a faster rate. They squeeze through holes no wider than a pencil and often nest in kitchens, pantries, and utility closets. Then there are cotton rats and deer mice. Cotton rats are drawn to overgrown gardens and thick vegetation and are occasionally spotted in suburban homes, especially after heavy rain. Deer mice prefer quiet areas like attics or unused vacation homes and carry serious health risks, including hantavirus. Homeowners often mistake signs of these rodents for insect damage, until they find droppings or gnawed fruit.
How to Know If You Have Rats in Your Home
Some infestations are obvious.
The first red flag many Florida homeowners notice is a strange scratching or thumping sound in their ceiling or walls, especially at night when rats are most active. This noise might come from roof rats moving between insulation layers or mice navigating wall voids.
Visual clues usually follow. Droppings, dark and cylindrical, appear in drawers, under sinks, in pantries, or near pet food storage. Chewed wires in your attic or damage to your AC tubing may reveal hidden nests. If your car won’t start and it’s been parked in the garage for a few days, rats may have chewed through engine wiring.
Outside, you might find half-eaten fruit in your trees or citrus gnawed open and scattered in your yard. These signs often go unnoticed until a larger pattern emerges.
Another overlooked source? Holiday decorations. Many homeowners store lights, garlands, and inflatables in sheds or garages, perfect nesting sites for rodents. Bringing those boxes inside unknowingly invites rats right back into the house.
Where Rats Hide and Why It's Hard to Find Them
One of the most frustrating parts of dealing with a rat problem in Florida is how elusive they can be. Rats are excellent at hiding, and by the time you notice visible signs, they’ve likely already settled in.
Roof rats are known for their climbing skills. They access homes through soffits, roof edges, attic vents, and chimneys, often using overhanging tree limbs as bridges. Many homeowners are shocked to find out just how small of a gap rats need to enter; even a half-inch opening is enough. Stucco walls and tile roofs, common in Florida architecture, only help them gain traction.
Norway rats prefer ground-level access. These burrowers dig under patios, AC pads, and shed foundations. They’re often found in thick mulch beds or areas with poor drainage, places you wouldn’t expect to inspect for rodents.
We’ve also encountered infestations in unexpected areas. Gaps in garage doors and around plumbing lines are frequent access points. And once inside, rats will nest in rarely accessed places: car engine compartments, attic insulation, storage sheds, or even behind popcorn ceilings. In one case, we found extensive damage inside a client’s HVAC closet where roof rats had chewed through tubing and wiring.
Solar panel installations add another layer of complexity. The shaded space beneath panels offers warmth and protection, creating a hidden runway for rats to move freely between entry points without being detected. Condo owners aren’t off the hook either, shared plumbing chases and utility runs allow rats to travel from unit to unit without ever stepping outside.
Why You Should Take Rat Activity Seriously
Rats are dangerous. Their presence in your home can lead to serious health and safety consequences if ignored.
Rodents are well-known carriers of disease. Leptospirosis and salmonella are just a few of the illnesses spread through rat urine, droppings, or contaminated surfaces. If you have pets or small children, the risks are even higher.
From a safety standpoint, the most immediate threat comes from rats chewing through electrical wiring. It’s more common than many realize. In attics, behind walls, and even inside vehicles, exposed wires can lead to short circuits, or worse, house fires.
Many Florida homeowners also deal with rats damaging air conditioning units. When nesting near condensers or inside wall-mounted units, rodents often chew through tubing or insulation, resulting in thousands of dollars in repair costs. In garages, they’ll climb under the hood and chew through engine wires, sometimes repeatedly, even after expensive fixes.
Don’t assume spray foam insulation will stop them either. Rats have been known to chew straight through it, creating hidden tunnels that allow them to move between rooms or from exterior walls into living areas. And when rats die inside these inaccessible areas? The resulting odor can last for weeks and is notoriously difficult to eliminate.
What starts as an odd scratching sound in the ceiling can quickly snowball into a full-blown infestation, one that compromises your family’s health, your home’s safety, and your peace of mind.
What Attracts Rats to Florida Homes
In many Florida neighborhoods, fruit trees are the first attractant. Unpicked or fallen citrus, mangoes, or avocados provide a high-sugar food source for roof rats, who will happily nest in the same trees they feed from. If branches extend close to your roofline, the risk of entry increases tenfold.
Next is pet food, both indoor and outdoor. Leaving a dog bowl on the patio or even an automatic feeder in the garage creates an irresistible lure. We’ve visited countless homes where pet food, bird seed, or chicken feed was the underlying cause of a rodent problem.
Garbage is another major factor. Rats can smell food scraps from surprisingly long distances. Loose lids, torn garbage bags, and improperly sealed recycling bins provide the perfect opportunity for them to snack, and stick around.
Dense landscaping also plays a role. Overgrown hedges, stacked firewood, brush piles, and thick mulch beds give rats the shelter they need to nest out of sight. Mulch, in particular, can serve as both cover and insulation, making it one of the most overlooked contributors to infestations.
Lastly, those trees you love for shade might be working against you. Overhanging branches act as highways for roof rats. Without regular trimming, rats can leap directly from tree limbs to roof vents or gables, bypassing your home’s defenses entirely.
Prevention starts with awareness, and small changes to your landscape, storage habits, and entry points can make a big difference in whether or not rats decide to move in.
Can You Get Rid of Rats on Your Own?
Common DIY Approaches
For homeowners looking to tackle a rodent problem themselves, there are a few go-to strategies that can work, if the infestation is small and caught early.
Snap traps and electronic traps are the most common tools. When placed along known rat pathways like attic beams or garage baseboards, and baited with peanut butter, rice, or dried cereal, these traps can help reduce visible activity. Some folks have even tried homemade bucket traps, which work on gravity-based drop mechanisms and can be effective in controlled environments like sheds or workshops.
These methods might offer short-term relief. But they rarely address the root problem, and that’s where most DIY efforts fall short.
Why Most DIY Efforts Fail Long-Term
Rats are cautious, intelligent, and highly adaptive. Over time, they can become trap-shy, especially if a trap injures (but doesn’t kill) a member of the colony. Worse, the rats you see are often just a fraction of the population. Trapping a few doesn’t eliminate the nest, nor does it stop new ones from entering.
Poison bait can introduce a different problem. While rodenticides might kill some rats, they often retreat into crawlspaces, insulation, or wall voids to die, creating a persistent odor that’s difficult to locate and even harder to neutralize. For families with kids or pets, unsecured bait also poses a major safety risk.
Another oversight is failing to identify and seal all entry points. We’ve seen many well-intentioned DIY jobs where homeowners patch holes at ground level but miss soffit gaps or broken vent covers near the roofline. The rats leave for a day, then come right back.
And in Florida, where rats stay active 12 months a year, entry points can reopen due to shifting building materials, high humidity, or storm damage. DIY simply can’t keep up with the seasonal nature of rodent prevention.
What Really Works: Professional Rat Control in Florida
Getting rid of rats is about ending the infestation and making sure it doesn’t return. That’s where calling professional help makes all the difference.
A licensed pest control starts with a comprehensive inspection of your home, identifying the specific species, tracking active entry points, and locating hidden nests. From there, a customized plan is created based on your home’s layout and risk level.
We use exclusion methods like galvanized steel mesh, vent guards, and rodent-proof sealing materials to physically prevent re-entry. No shortcuts. Every vulnerable gap, from the roofline to foundation, is secured.
Traps and tamper-proof bait stations are installed strategically and monitored regularly, with placement that prioritizes both safety and effectiveness, especially in homes with children or pets.
Beyond removal, a good pest control partner also handles odor management and attic sanitation, critical if rats have died inside walls or left droppings and urine in insulation. And in Florida’s environment, long-term success comes from ongoing monitoring. We return to inspect, reinforce, and adjust as needed to ensure your home stays protected.
Rodent control is a process. One that requires experience, precision, and a commitment to keeping your family safe.
Why Florida Homeowners Trust Hoffer Pest Solutions
Hoffer Pest Solutions have been protecting South Florida homes for over 40 years. Rodents are one of the most persistent threats to the comfort, safety, and structure of your home, and we treat them as seriously as you do.
Our technicians live and work in the same communities we serve. That means we understand the region’s unique challenges, its weather, its architecture, its native wildlife, and how all of these elements impact rodent behavior. From the seasonal roof rat surges in Broward County to hidden burrows in suburban Palm Beach gardens, we’ve seen, and solved, it all.
We offer same-day inspections and emergency service because we know how urgent rat issues can be. And once we’re on the job, our team doesn’t just set traps and walk away. We inspect every corner, seal every gap, and install safe, tamper-resistant baiting systems to ensure the job is done right.
Most importantly, we stand behind our work. Every service comes with our satisfaction guarantee and includes follow-up visits to monitor activity and reinforce exclusion points. We believe in proactive protection, not patchwork fixes, so you can trust your home stays rat-free long after we leave.
When you choose Hoffer, you're choosing a family-owned company that treats your home like our own, with care, respect, and proven results.
Ready to Take Back Your Home from Rats?
If you’ve seen droppings, heard scratching at night, or noticed chewed wires in your attic or garage, it’s time to act. Rodents never go away on their own, and every day they’re inside is another day of potential damage, disease risk, and added expense.
Let Hoffer Pest Solutions step in with care, fast response, and long-term protection you can count on. Contact us today to schedule your inspection and same-day rat removal service. Your home deserves nothing less.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What’s the most common rat species here?
In Florida, roof rats, also called fruit rats or palm rats, are the most widespread. They thrive in South Florida’s tree-lined neighborhoods and often make their way indoors via attic vents, rooflines, and overhanging branches. Their agility and nesting preferences make them especially difficult to catch without professional help.
Can rats climb stucco or tile roofs?
Yes. In fact, the textured surfaces of stucco walls and tile roofing actually help roof rats gain traction. Combined with nearby trees or power lines, these architectural features make it easy for rats to access roof gaps, soffits, or chimneys, especially in homes with aging or damaged exterior components.
What animals eat rats in Florida?
Natural predators like owls, hawks, snakes, and even stray cats do prey on rats. However, relying on them for control isn’t practical. They don’t target rats exclusively, and infestations can quickly outpace any natural population control. For homeowners, effective rodent management comes from exclusion, not hoping nature handles it.
Do solar panels make rat infestations worse?
They can. The shaded, protected space under solar panels creates the perfect nesting environment for roof rats. Once underneath, rats often move into attic spaces or chew through roofing components. For homes with panels installed, exclusion mesh or pest screening is a must to keep infestations from developing.
Can I rely on peppermint oil or mothballs to keep rats away?
Peppermint oil and mothballs may provide a temporary deterrent, especially in enclosed areas. But rats adapt quickly. These methods do nothing to stop entry, reproduction, or nesting. Long-term results require sealing entry points and actively removing the existing population.