Did you know Charlotte has become one of the rattiest cities in America? Without intervention, it will only get worse. Rats can begin reproducing as early as 3 months old and female rats can have up to 84 offspring per year. When you do to the math, you can see why their population can quickly get out of control. It’s even estimated in some areas that the rat population outnumbers the human population! 29% of Americans have experienced a rodent problem, don’t let one of them be you. 45% of infestations take place in the Fall and Winter so now is the time to start protecting yourself.

Rats teeth never stop growing so they are almost constantly chewing in an attempt to grind them down. Often, the result of this chewing is millions in property damage annually, including the estimated source of 20 to 25 percent of house fires of unknown cause in the United States. Rats teeth are stronger than copper and iron and their jaws can exert up to 12 tons per square inch – that’s up to SIX TIMES more than a Great White Shark. A motivated rat can chew through a lot more than drywall and electrical wires. What on your property is as risk?

Leave catching a bug (and any other pest) to us. Rats carry at least 60 communicable diseases like Typhus, Meningitis, Leptospirosis, and Hantavirus. These illnesses are often spread through their bites but urine, feces, and fur are also key sources of contamination.

In the US, the economic cost of rat damage has been estimated at $19 billion/year; many times greater than any other invasive animal species. Furthermore, invasive rodents increase malnutrition and threaten food security through contamination, damage and consumption of food stocks and crops, as well as affect economic activities and productivity. (e.g., damage to seaport infrastructure and trade. (Diagne, Christophe et al. “Economic costs of invasive rodents worldwide: the tip of the iceberg.” PeerJ vol. 11 e14935. 24 Mar. 2023, doi:10.7717/peerj.14935))

Our data shows a direct correlation between the Light Rail and rodent activity. Why? Well, the same things that make the rail appealing to you also make it appealing to rats. It’s easy for rodents to travel this path and it provides what they need to survive – food, water, and shelter. It’s up to all of us to mitigate these conducive conditions, making the city better for you… and not the rats.

While SMART service is often performed in conjunction with traditional pest control practices, there are distinct differences between the two: SMART, our digital pest, control utilizes monitoring technology to send our technicians signals in response to any and all pest activity. This technology is non-toxic, non-invasive, and scalable to your needs. On its own, traditional pest control relies on pesticides to discourage pests from entering your property. And, without digital monitoring, traditional pest detection is reliant on physical readings–keeping us from being able to detect pests before they become an issue.

This solution isn’t just for homes. SMART can be installed in properties of all types – residential, commercial, and even at a city level!