Rodents like rats and mice can get inside your home and become a serious issue. Rodents can contaminate your food supply, spread germs and disease inside your home, cause damage to your drywall or wiring, and they also tend to tear up insulation when building their nests. You may not realize you have an issue right away, and by the time you call Seattle & Everett rodent control professional the damage is already done.
This article will answer many of your rodent questions, and help you better understand why and how these rodents infiltrate your home. It will also explain a few key steps you can take to help control or stop the infiltration of rodents into your house so that you aren’t stuck calling for pest control services every few months.
Two Common Rodents to Look Out For
While you may think that any number of rodent species are attempting to infiltrate your property, rodent control experts say that in most cases there are just two types that are seeking for a way inside. The house mouse or Mus musculus and the Norway rat or Rattus Norvegicus.
The House Mouse
As the name implies, the house mouse is the pest most commonly found in your home. While these rodents are not very dangerous or aggressive, they can be a bit of a nuisance because of the destruction that they cause. Seattle rodent control technicians warn that these little creatures can make quite a mess chewing and gnawing on your walls, baseboards, and even some of your possessions.
It is generally pretty easy to identify this particular rodent. They are quite small, usually, less than 10 centimeters long, and they range in color and can be brown, grey, or black. This is a very curious rodent, and it can often be found scurrying around your home, especially at night, looking for things to eat. Pest control experts say that you are likely to find the mouse’s droppings, tiny rod-like pellets before you see other signs of the rodent.
The Norway Rat
Another name for the Norway rat a.k.a. the brown rat is the pests that are commonly seen scurrying around in the subways of New York City. They are larger and nastier than their rodent counterpart, the house mouse, and they are an extremely adaptable species. While house mice are rarely aggressive, a Norway rat will bite humans if they feel cornered or threatened. If you suspect you have a rat living in your home, it is a good idea to call for rodent control right away as they can carry Weil’s disease, viral hemorrhagic fever cryptosporidiosis, as well as several other diseases.
Brown rats can grow to be up to 10 inches long, and they tend to weigh around 12 ounces. Their fur is usually a dark brown or gray color, and it appears coarser and dirtier than a mouse’s fur. They tend to have poor eyesight, which is why animal control experts say that rats will stick to a familiar foraging routine. Norway rats burrow, and you may find bundles of dirt, trash, or balls of newspaper that indicate a nest is present.
Indicators that a Rodent May Be Living in Your Home
There are several signs that you may encounter if a pest has taken up residence in your home. You will want to be on the lookout for one or more of the following:
- Holes gnawed into your insulation, books, papers, or food items
- Scraps of food left in strange places like the corners of rooms, inside cabinets, or even inside shoes
- Rodent droppings or hairs
- Tiny pathways in the dust or grease marks along the baseboards
- Piles of nesting materials
- Scratching or skittering noises coming from inside the walls, under the floors, or in the ceilings
- Musty odors or rank smells
- Seeing rodents like mice or rats inside your home
Foods the Rodents are After
House mice like to feed on the items that are likely to be in your pantries such as grains, cereals, and oats. They will also eat plants and vegetables, but a really hungry mouse will eat almost anything it can get its tiny paws on.
Rats, on the other hand, are opportunistic feeders, and they will eat anything and everything. They will happily chow down on your pantry items, your pet’s food, and even your garbage. Whatever food item they can easily find is good enough for this particular rodent.
Tips for Keeping Rodents Out of Your Home
We’ve already established the cleanliness issues of having rodents inside your house, but these pests need to be controlled for other reasons as well. Mice and rats often chew on electrical wiring inside your home, which can be a dangerous situation that can cause a house fire. To better keep these rodents out of your house, you should adhere to the following tips which many Seattle rodent control and pest control experts agree upon:
- Seal any holes or cracks that lead from the exterior of your home to the interior. This can be holes around the pipes going into your house that supply water. Pest control experts warn that mice can squeeze through the tiniest of spaces.
- Put screen vents over your chimney
- Install door sweeps on all of your exterior doors
- Repair any window screens that have holes or are otherwise damaged
- Don’t let garbage pile up as that is like a buffet to a hungry rodent
- Put all of your food in airtight containers, including pet food
- If you have a basement, replace the weather stripping around the windows regularly and make sure the mortar isn’t cracked or loose
- Make sure the crawl spaces under the home and the attic are clean, dry, and well-ventilated
- Use caution when bringing boxes into the home as rodents have been known to piggyback inside the house using a package
- Keep your firewood pile at least 20 feet away from the house
- Make sure all the shrubbery and landscaping around your home is well-maintained and cut often
There are things you can do to minimize the risk of pests like rodents overtaking your home, but if you spot any of the signs that a mouse or rat is inside your house, call for Seattle rodent control right away.
Eagle Pest Eliminators is your Seattle rodent control expert, and we will happily remove any pests from inside your home. Call us for all your Seattle Pest Control and Everett Pest Control needs.
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