Pack Rat Bites and Treatment

Pack Rats and Your Health

Across the country, woodrats are a minor pest. Their numbers seldom climb high enough to hurt crops in any meaningful way. Still, their bulky stick nests and the droppings around them are unpleasant to live near, and nobody wants them sharing a shed, barn or attic. Most nuisance cases can be handled by the property owner with good cleanup and exclusion.

Like other wild rodents, woodrats carry parasites, and their nests can hold fleas, ticks and kissing bugs. In parts of the western United States they are among the rodents that can carry plague and tularemia. Their role in spreading disease to people is small, but never pick up a dead or sick woodrat with bare hands. Use gloves, or a shovel and a plastic bag.

Do Pack Rats Bite?

Rarely. Woodrats are shy, mostly nocturnal animals that avoid people. Bites almost always happen when someone tries to catch or handle one, reaches into a nest, or corners an animal in a shed or vehicle. Like all rodents, they have sharp front teeth, so a bite can puncture the skin and bleed.

First aid for a rodent bite

• Wash the wound right away with soap and running water for several minutes.
• Apply an antiseptic and cover it with a clean bandage.
• Call a doctor, even for a small bite. Rodent bites can become infected, and your doctor may want to check that your tetanus shot is up to date.

Watch for the next few weeks for fever, rash, joint pain, or redness and swelling spreading from the wound, and get medical care if any appear. These can be signs of infection, including rat-bite fever, a bacterial illness linked to rodent bites and scratches.

About plague: In the United States, plague circulates among wild rodents in the rural West. It is not a known concern in Florida wildlife. Here, the more practical issue is that fleas and mites from a nest can bite people and pets once their rodent host is gone.

Pets: Keep dogs and cats away from woodrats and their nests, and call your vet if a pet is bitten. For Florida’s more common rodents, see the rats page.