You sound like you have not had roof rats, palm rats in your attic. I have.
The species is Rattus rattus rattus or simply Rattus rattus it is technically a black rat. It eats fruits and seeds. Yes, they can live in trees. No those Latin names are not a joke, that is the species. No, I not making some blanket statement about where they can live or what they eat. See the link that is on the bottom of this post
I did not have them in FL but a neighboring state. They climbed a two story home to nest in the attic. I trapped them and poisoned them. The food source was bird feed. I removed the traps, I can give you 100% confirmation that these were rats and the only way they could access my home was via the roof.
No more bird feed and no more rats.
If you have any questions for someone that has actual experience and not just an opinion ask away.
Black rat - Wikipedia