Failing to have rats removed from a house despite knowing that the dreaded rodents are nesting in hidden nooks and crannies can lead to many problems, some of which most people would never consider. For example, allowing rats to freely nest within your home will likely lead to a build-up of both rat corpses and copious droppings behind walls and beneath floorboards. Of course, you can see how ignoring a rat infestation within your home can cause problems associated with public health, the environment, and repeated pest issues. In one woman’s case, all three of these risks became serious problems after she took it upon herself to apply rat poison to her home in an effort to eradicate a rat infestation without professional guidance. This method may have been foolhardy, but it worked, as all of the rats that had been nesting in her ceiling died. Unfortunately, her DIY pest control method ultimately did not bear fruit, as the rat poison caused the rats to flee into an inaccessible area of her ceiling’s structure. As a result, the woman’s home became fouled with the stench of rotting rat corpses, as well as their feces. If this was not bad enough, the rat infestation led directly to a fly infestation of enormous proportions. Not surprisingly, the rat corpses had attracted what was estimated to be well over one million individual flies of several different species into the house. The swarm of filthy carrion flies was thick enough to transmit disease-causing bacteria to anyone unlucky enough to make contact with the insects.
Of the millions of insects swarming within the home, most were as large as dimes, and some bore bright colors. One blue-colored species found on the site was the aptly named Calliphora vomitoria. Another species present within the swarm was the Calliphora vicina, or the urban bluebottle fly, as they are often called. Several more flies of green color represented the Lucilia group of flesh-eating flies. This group of flies are used for cleaning dead flesh out of severe flesh wounds in medical settings. Eventually, the woman’s home was cleared of all flies and rat corpses by a licensed professional.
Do you become paranoid about contracting dangerous bacteria after eating food that you knew had been exposed to flies, such as during outdoor events?