[ikarcuaso]

Roof rats were breeding in our crawl space when we first moved in. We hired Clark Pest Ctrl to set traps, block access points, etc. For awhile, we were trapping those fuchers pretty frequently. Most times, we wouldn't know it until it smelled, but Clark was good about coming out ASAP to get the dead ones. Once, one got caught in a trap above the ceiling in the lower level of our home, at like 2:00 A.M. The bastard was "crying" and "screaming" for over 30 minutes, and we could hear it banging around trying to get free. Very creepy.

After a few months or so, this massive, pregnant female and what we believe was the alpha male were trapped and taken away at the same time. Both were much larger than anything caught previously. We haven't had an issue since - been about three or four years now.

A big help, we believe, was also trimming any tree branches away from the perimeter of our roof, to eliminate that access. I do this at least twice a year. We haven't really had our crawl space professionally cleaned, however. Clark did pick up any dead bodies they happened to see down there. You definitely want to get rid of the rodents as well as eliminate their access before doing a cleaning like that, IMO. Good luck.