As of late September 2026, my rat-proofing routine in Port St. Lucie has always been a ground-level job: a new sweep under the garage door, a look along the slab for gaps, a screen over the low vents. It’s the instinct I brought down from Jersey. Rats come from the ground, like ants or roaches, so you seal the ground and call it done.
Here in Florida, that instinct points at the wrong half of the house. In all those years I never once took the ladder out to look at the palm fronds brushing the roof or the vents up under the soffits.
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What UF/IFAS says
A UF/IFAS entomologist’s list of invasive household pests is direct about which rat matters here: “In Florida, the roof rat is the primary suburban pest rat, though it often goes unnoticed.” The same list says roof rats take up residence in attics, soffits, hollow walls and outdoor buildings.
Why the ground floor isn’t the point
UF/IFAS Extension’s rodent publication says roof rats thrive in attics, roof spaces, palm trees and ornamental shrubbery; they are climbers and prefer to nest off the ground. Another UF/IFAS publication says rats such as the roof rat can jump three feet in the air vertically and more than four feet horizontally, so a gap up high is not out of reach…