Rodents cause a host of problems in homes and businesses. Their droppings and urine contaminate food, causing illness, and their fur and dander can exacerbate allergies and asthma.
Rodent prevention starts with identifying and sealing entry points. Look for gaps around windows, doors and utility lines as well as woodpiles, overgrown weeds and trash piles. Read on Rodent Retreat for more details.
Rodents are attracted to the food and water inside your home, yard or garden. They also seek shelter and nesting areas. They can spread a variety of diseases and damage your property, chewing through wood, wires and more. Effective rodent control protects your family, pets and neighbors from the dozens of diseases they carry and prevents damage to your property and valuables.
Signs of rodent infestation are varied, depending on the species that is invading your property. Mice leave fine tracks that are around 1 to 1.5 inches long, while rats leave larger prints. Tail drag marks and gnaw marks are additional signs that rodents have been active in the area. The droppings of different species of rodents are distinct from each other, and their urine leaves a distinctive trail that glows under UV blacklights.
The sound of scurrying and scratching in your ceiling at night is a clear indication that rodents are in the area. Rats and mice can squeeze through gaps 1/4 inch or wider, so it is important to close any cracks you see around the perimeter of your home.
Cleaning up food scraps, storing items in airtight containers and removing clutter from indoor and outdoor areas will help discourage rodents. The removal of water sources and travel pathways will also deter these pests. Keeping garbage and trash bins tightly closed and regularly emptying them can reduce rodent populations as well.
Rats and mice are opportunistic feeders, seeking out crumbs and other food in any accessible places. They have excellent senses of smell and can feel minute shifts in air pressure, which helps them locate potential entry points into your house or business.
Identifying the rodents can help you determine the best rodent control methods to use. A professional pest control expert can help with this.
Rodents can gnaw through wood and electrical wiring, which can cause fires, damage your home, or even short circuits. In addition, rodents can contaminate your food and spread disease. Rodents should be eliminated quickly. A combination of prevention, sanitation and exclusion will ensure that the problem is addressed and controlled before it becomes a serious safety and health concern.
Preventing Rodents
Rodents can be a problem at any time of year, but especially in the fall when they seek shelter from the cold. They can cause extensive damage in your home and lead to health problems for you and your family, such as allergies, asthma, and contaminated food. Rodents can also damage businesses and warehouses, resulting in costly repairs and lost inventory. Prevention methods like sealing entry points and keeping a clean kitchen can help prevent rodent infestations.
Bad sanitation practices attract rats and mice, so it is important to regularly sweep and vacuum the interior of your house. Trash should be promptly disposed of in lidded containers, and food should not be left out in open bowls, as this will attract rodents. Store grains, seeds, and pet foods in sealed containers as well. Make sure garbage cans are tightly closed and any outdoor compost bins are securely locked. Remove piles of wood, twigs, and brush to eliminate rodent hiding places.
Inspect the exterior of your house regularly for any cracks and holes that can serve as an entry point. Seal any that you find with caulk. You can also add door sweeps to doors that have a gap underneath, and replace any window screens that are damaged. Checking for gaps around plumbing, heating, and electrical lines can be especially helpful, as these are common places where rats and mice enter homes.
Signs of a rodent infestation include gnaw marks on wires and pipes (new gnaw marks are lighter in color, while older ones will darken), shredded paper or fabric in hidden areas, and greasy rub marks on walls or baseboards. You may also hear scurrying in attics or wall voids, or see mouse droppings in kitchen cabinets and drawers.
Rodents spread diseases such as Hantavirus, Salmonella, Leptospirosis, and Plague. They can also contaminate food and kitchen surfaces with their urine, feces, and fur. They can also destroy business products, leading to lost revenue for restaurants and businesses, as well as damaging equipment and inventory for factories and warehouses. Proper pest control can help prevent and eradicate these rodents, so be proactive and contact a professional.
Trapping Rodents
Rodents enter homes and business in search of food, shelter, and warmth. They chew through wires, creating fire hazards and increasing the risk of structural damage. They also leave feces and urine that trigger allergies and asthma, and can carry diseases like salmonella, hantavirus, leptospirosis, typhus, and more.
Homeowners and business owners can control rodent populations through bait and trapping, but these methods do not address the root cause of the infestation. Store-bought traps can also be ineffective, as rats and mice are intelligent creatures that quickly learn to manipulate and evade trap mechanisms, or even find ways to steal the bait without triggering the trap.
If you have a serious rodent problem, it’s time to call in a professional. A qualified rodent expert can perform rodent exclusion, sealing all possible entry points into your building. This may include removing vegetation close to your roof, sealing holes or cracks in your exterior walls, soffits, and roof, and addressing conditions that promote moisture, such as puddles and rotting debris.
A professional can also help you with prevention, by recommending changes in your daily habits that will stop rodents from accessing the food and water they need to survive. Rodents are opportunistic feeders, so storing food in airtight containers and cleaning under appliances will keep them away. Emptying trash bins frequently and keeping them away from the building will reduce the amount of garbage that attracts rodents, too.
Live traps can be an effective and humane approach to controlling a rodent infestation. They work by placing a trap with bait in an area that rodents frequent, such as behind your garage door or in the gap between a wall and the fence. To increase the effectiveness of these traps, they should be positioned so that rodents cannot reach over them to escape, which can be difficult if there are tall objects nearby, such as bricks or fence posts.
After trapping a rodent, it’s important to handle them safely to prevent contamination or disease transmission. The best way to do this is to use disposable gloves and wear respiratory protection when handling dead rodents.
Removing Rodents
Rodents can cause serious damage to your home and personal property. They can chew through wires, causing electrical fires; burrow holes inside walls and foundations; damage insulation; and destroy furniture, clothing, stored items, and crops. Indoors, rodent droppings and urine can trigger allergies, asthma, and other respiratory problems.
Rodents also carry diseases that can be spread to humans and pets. They can transmit Lyme disease, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Salmonella, rat-bite fever, Colorado tick fever, and spotted fever rickettsiosis.
Prevention is the best way to control rodents. Keep food and water sources away from the house: store food in airtight containers; remove accessible pet food bowls at night; and clean up spills and crumbs immediately. Eliminate attractive nesting areas by regularly pruning shrubbery and trees; removing brush piles; and storing unused equipment and firewood well away from the house. Standing water can attract rodents and serve as a breeding ground, so promptly remove any pools.
Regular inspections of the interior and exterior of your home will help to identify rodent entry points, which can be sealed with caulk or steel wool. Look for signs of rodent activity: droppings, gnaw marks, rub marks, and burrows. Keep in mind that rats can squeeze through openings as small as a quarter inch; mice can fit through openings the size of a dime.
Outdoor rodents can ruin your landscaping and cause structural damage to your house and outbuildings, as well as disrupt utilities and plumbing lines. They may chew through tree branches and roots, and can even gnaw into buried wires in the yard. Commercial facilities can lose customers, suffer loss of inventory and product recalls, and have to pay costly damages due to rodent infestation.
Preventing rodents can eliminate their destructive activities and protect your home and business. A combination of trapping and preventative measures will give you the best chance of keeping rodents out. A professional technician can advise you on the proper traps to use and how to place them, so you can keep your home pest-free. They can also recommend preventative measures like repellents, such as peppermint oil.