Meet the roof rat
Central Florida's signature rodent is the roof rat: a good climber that travels along oak branches, power lines, and fences, then slips into attics through gaps you'd never notice. They're active year-round here, but attic invasions spike in the cooler months (roughly November through February) when they seek warmth — and after storms flood their outdoor nests.
How they get in
A rat needs a hole about the size of a quarter; a mouse needs a dime. Common entries in Ocoee homes: gaps where the roof meets the soffit, unscreened attic vents, loose flashing, gaps around AC lines entering the house, garage doors that don't seal, and crawl space vents with torn screens. The oak canopy over so many local neighborhoods is effectively a rat highway to every roof it touches.
The signs
Scratching or scampering in the attic or walls at night. Droppings like dark grains of rice (roof rats) along attic beams or in the garage. Gnaw marks on wood, wiring, or stored boxes. A musky, stale smell in closed-up spaces. And the giveaway: fruit trees stripped overnight — roof rats love citrus, and Ocoee's backyard citrus keeps them well fed.
Why exclusion beats trapping alone
Traps remove the rats inside. They do nothing about the quarter-sized hole the next ones walk through. Real rodent control is a sequence: remove (trapping), seal (exclusion — steel mesh, metal flashing, sealed penetrations, trimmed branches), and sanitize (droppings carry disease; insulation soaked with urine often needs replacing). Skip the sealing step and you're trapping forever.
Hearing scratching overhead? Our rodent control and exclusion page walks through the full process.