Interesting, disgusting facts about pests to give you nightmares! Sorry to let you know but besides the obvious ickiness of having a pest infestation in your home, you may be horrified to know about the following.

Rats

• Rodents are rated as only second to the human race in terms of their destructive abilities.
• Rats Can Never Stop Chewing Because If They Stop Chewing They Die - In case you were wondering how or why rats never stop chewing the answer is simple: teeth. A rat can live for up to seven years and for that entire time their teeth are in a continuous state of growth. In order to keep them healthy and sharp, and, of course, to avoid certain death caused by overgrown teeth, rats must chew on anything and everything they find.
• They host diseases, including the spread of various Salmonella species through their droppings.
• Thirty rats are born during each second of the day, compared with just one human baby.
• Rat’s Teeth Are Strong Enough To Cut Through Concrete
• They Love Biting Sleeping Humans - According to Dr. Curt P. Richter, rats thoroughly enjoy biting humans - especially while they are sleeping. Their favorite body parts to go for are, brace yourself, the face and hands. Their favorite people to go after? People who have previously been bitten by rats. This is the ultimate definition of a predator. They’re looking for the weak, the scared, the sleeping, and the previously bitten humans of the world.

Cockroaches

• Cockroaches are known to carry 33 types of bacteria, 6 parasitic worms and trigger asthma attacks.
• Unless you’re a pest control professional, you’re going to have a tough time getting rid of a cockroach infestation. Certain species of cockroaches can go without air for 45 minutes, can remain active for a month without food, and can survive being submerged in water for half an hour.
• Cockroaches will eat your children while they sleep. The American cockroach, sometimes called the ‘water bug,’ has been documented feeding on toenails, eyelashes, eyebrows, and hair of sleeping children. If that’s not a reason to practice preventive pest control methods, we don’t know what is.
• They Can Live Without a Head - Unlike most living things, cockroaches’ vital organs are self-sufficient. Rather than relying on a brain to maintain homeostasis, their organs can do it themselves. This is why they can survive without a head for up to a week. In fact, they could survive headless indefinitely, but without a head they have no way to intake water, so they eventually die of thirst

Fleas

• Fleas are best known for spreading the Bubonic Plague.
• They also transmit the bacterial disease murine typhus to humans through infected rats.
• Their saliva is an allergen that can cause allergic reactions in pets and humans.
• Fleas can also transfer tapeworms and cause anemia in pets.
• One flea can create an infestation: A single female flea can lay 40-50 eggs a day, Dr. Dryden says. So once a flea is in your home, the population can explode quickly and be hard to get rid of.
• Fleas Inhabit Every Continent on Earth - Fleas have a cosmopolitan geographic distribution. They can be found on all the world’s continents and on most oceanic islands.

Termites

• Termites cause thousands of rands in damage to property.
• The weight of all termites in the world outweigh the weight of all humans 10 to 1.
• Termite queens will lay up to 30 000 eggs a day, and live for many years.
• For every human, it’s estimated there are 1,000 pounds of termites.
• Colonies can contain thousands or even millions of members. One of the largest reported colonies contained an estimated three million termites.
• Workers and soldiers are almost always blind.
• Soldiers communicate with the colony via tapping especially when they detect danger.
• Think you have insomnia? Termites never sleep. They work 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Protein content of termites is more than that of beef making them a delicacy in some countries. Dinner, anyone?
• They build up, not out. A termite mound in Africa was estimated to be 42 feet tall or the height of a two story house!
• Termite mud tubes have been observed as long as 12 feet long!