Normally, in non-drought times though rats don't try to move in from the forest except in the winter time when they want more insulation around them. However, this year, food is so scarce that dog feces (if you have dogs next door or in your own home) is something they can live on. So, if you have a water source like a dog dish or bird bath outside and you have dog feces (any little bit of it) in your back yard that you haven't found yet, then rats can live there with you this summer. They prefer places like you attic at night or your basement or underneath your floors if you have pier block construction in the crawl space which doesn't get as hot during the day. Then at night (when you have your pets inside usually) they will saunter out to feed on your dogs water dish or bird bath and any of your dog's feces that you might have missed when cleaning up.
So, beware that though rats don't want to live in your house with you, they are very happy to live in your walls, attic or under your floors in your crawl spaces. So, be careful about this especially now in the drought.
Another thing to realize is that spiders and other insects are going to try to move into your homes too during the drought. They will come up out of your drains to your bath tub or sinks. Usually, they come down from vents in the roof to your drains or up from underground places under your home.
They too, are having trouble finding enough water or food. However, normally in your home they aren't going to find flying insects because most of you have screens to keep them out mostly. So, any webs they put up you will soon find and bring down. However, what my family does is we keep Daddy Long legs alive and don't send them outside. The two spiders you cannot let live around humans are Black Widows and Brown Recluse here in the western U.S. These two sometimes kill people with their bites or cause permanent or temporary severe health problems to people. So, any time you see a brown recluse or Black widow kill them to protect your family or friends from death or illness.
We leave at least one big Daddy longlegs alive at a time in our bedroom and bathroom area because they cannot bite through human skin. Because if they could people would all be dead now because they are the most poisonous spider in the western United States. But, they also will kill EVERY other kind of spider in your home and eat them. Also, like the preying Mantis the female Daddy Longlegs eats the male daddy longlegs after they mate for strength to grow the babies. If you see a female covered with eggs it is good to get her out of your home because that can be really a bother with 1000 baby daddy long legs all over the place in your home. However, one adult male or adult non-pregnant female can keep you from getting any spider bites at all in your home. So, if you can, leave one to protect you from all the other more dangerous biting spiders that might make their way into your homes.
Here are some photos of Daddy Long legs spiders (However, at least two of these are called Mosquito Hawks or Mosquito eaters which are not Daddy Long Legs spiders but just eat mosquitos instead. (They have wings and Daddy long legs do not).
- Some species, especially Pholcus phalangioides, are commonly called daddy long-legs spider, granddaddy long-legs spider, carpenter spider, daddy long-legger, ...
- Oct 14, 2014 · “We know from a very well preserved fossil of a daddy longlegs from Scotland that they are at least 400 million years old,” Clouse says. “This fossil ...
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