You may have read the recent article of rat populations increasing in the city and for some this may be a personal experience with rats already moved in and settled in peoples' homes.

Will they leave on their own? The simple answer is no.  

Waiting it out in the hope that they leave will likely result in more rodents in your structure – by direct entry as they lay down pheromone trails communicating to others of an open access point or through reproduction.

Each female rat can produce up to 84 babies per year! 

As rodents need to keep gnawing to keep their teeth worn down, you may also be on the hook for damages to your structure and end up with a nasty surprise when your plumbing springs a leak or electrical wires are chewed through. 

Other considerations associated with rodent activity in your structure include accumulated nesting materials posing a fire hazard, structural damage from constant gnawing, water ingress from access points and persistent critter activity keeping you awake or affecting your mental wellbeing.
 
The only way to get rodents out of a structure is through professional pest proofing and targeted humane removal. Once sealed up, rats will require one-way doors to allow them to exit and once on the outside they can’t get back in. Mice however are a lot more apprehensive about engaging in a one-way door, and so once the building has been pest proofed the only way to remove those locked inside is through a targeted poison-free trapping program to account for every individual removed.
 
Not sure which rodent you have in your house? See our pages on each of these species for more information in how to get rid of them.

The sooner, the better.