Rodents contaminate areas that are hard to see with their urine, feces, and nesting material. They also spread dangerous diseases that can affect human beings.
Rodent Removal Texas can wiggle into your home through the tiniest of spaces. Make it difficult for them to get in by eliminating entry points. Install door sweeps, keep windows closed, and remove food and water sources.
Rats have long been associated with spreading the most devastating plagues in history, but their presence can also be a health hazard and a serious nuisance. They chew on a variety of materials including wood, wires, and drywall, and they leave behind feces and urine that can spread diseases such as hantavirus, leptospirosis, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, Salmonella, and tuberculosis.
If you think you have a rat infestation, call for emergency rat removal as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the more rats will reproduce and the more damage they will cause.
The rat extermination cost will vary depending on the severity of the infestation and the methods used. A professional will assess the problem and provide a quote. Emergency rat extermination services include trapping and baiting, as well as sanitation measures to reduce re-infestation.
Prevention measures include reducing food sources, water sources, and places for rodents to shelter. Keep trash stored in rodent-proof containers with tight-fitting lids and bring it to the curb only on the day of pickup. Keep compost piles away from the house and trim bushes and shrubbery that might serve as rodent nesting sites.
Indoors, inspect floor level cabinets, pantries, and closets for signs of rodents. Look for runways, which are discolored greasy trails where rodents have traveled. Also check in attics and crawl spaces, as rats can squeeze through gaps 1/4 inch wide. Outdoors, inspect the foundation and lawn for entry points. Seal cracks and crevices with caulk or steel wool. Install pipe collars around outside pipes where they enter the wall and use grating over drains to prevent rodents from entering basements.
If you prefer not to kill rodents, consider humane traps that can be released back into the wild when full. However, be sure to monitor traps regularly, at least hourly, as releasing live rats into the wild poses an additional risk of disease transmission and may increase re-infestation. Maintain sanitation by storing food in rodent-proof containers, keeping kitchen floors clean, and removing piles of paper or fabric that can attract rodents for nesting material.
Mice
House mice (Mus musculus) are the most common rodents to invade homes and cause damage. These small critters can transmit diseases and create fire hazards by chewing on wires. Luckily, there are ways to prevent a mouse infestation and keep them out for good.
The most effective way to prevent rodents from entering your home is to seal entry points. Mice can fit through a hole as big as 1/4 inch, so use caulk to block any entry points you find around your foundation, siding or entrance doors. You should also eliminate sources of food and water, including garbage, compost bins, and bird feeders. Keep food in sealed containers, and store wood and paper products such as shredded paper, cardboard and fabric in mouse-resistant containers.
Mice are opportunistic and will nest wherever they can, often in dark and secluded areas such as attics, crawl spaces and behind appliances. They breed rapidly, and it doesn’t take long before you have a full-blown rat or mouse infestation on your hands.
If you do have a rodent problem, you may need to look for traps and poisons to get rid of them. The most popular type of trap is a snap trap, which can be baited with anything from cheese to peanut butter. You can also use glue traps, which are essentially flat pads with glue that mice or rats run over and get stuck on. However, these traps are considered inhumane and are typically only used as a last resort.
Other pest control methods include removing bushes and overgrown shrubs that can provide rodents with cover, and fixing leaky pipes. These measures will not prevent rodents from breeding, but they can make it harder for them to spread diseases and cause damage.
The best rodent control method is prevention, but even the most careful homeowner can have a problem. If you’ve tried preventative measures and still have an active mouse infestation, it’s time to call a professional. These experienced pest exterminators can help you with trapping and poison, as well as preventing future infestations by sealing entries points and eliminating rodent attractions.
Squirrels
Squirrels are one of the most common types of nuisance wildlife that people encounter in urban and suburban areas. While these rodents are cute and fun to watch in the trees and bushes around homes, they can cause significant damage if they get too close to houses or other buildings on property where they don’t belong. They can chew on electrical wires, roofs, and walls, create nests in attics or other places inside of homes, destroy landscaped gardens and lawns, eat birds’ eggs, and even carry diseases like rabies.
Squirrel poop and urine can also carry bacteria like Salmonella, which can lead to food poisoning in humans and other animals. Besides the damage they can do to buildings, trees, and bushes, squirrels are known carriers of zoonotic diseases that can be passed from animal to human through bites or external parasites. This includes rabies, which is why squirrels must be trapped and removed from residential and commercial buildings when they show up in these places.
A homeowner can attempt to trap squirrels themselves by using a number of home-based methods that include setting traps, placing fox urine or mothball repellents, and putting up bird scare devices or noisemakers. However, the best way to rid a property of squirrels is to hire a professional wildlife control expert that has experience dealing with squirrel infestations. Professionals will use live trapping techniques, perform exclusion services to seal off entry points, and can offer advice for preventing squirrels from returning in the future.
The most common squirrel problem is found in the attic of homes, where they can chew holes in the roof and vents, sabotaged insulation, and break down shingles. They can also gnaw through plywood and other materials to gain entry into the attic. They are notorious for destroying insulation, which can cost homeowners a lot of money in heating and cooling bills.
To stop squirrels from entering the attic of a house, a homeowner should install chimney caps and vent covers and trim branches that are too close to the house. They can also use one-way doors to block the entrance of a squirrel and prevent it from getting back inside the house. They can also ask a pest control company to use foams such as Pur Black NF Foam to fill and seal any gaps.
Other Rodents
Other rodents such as squirrels, chipmunks and beavers have important roles in maintaining healthy grasslands and forests by feeding predators and scavengers. However, when they get into homes and gardens they become pests that threaten the health and safety of people and their pets. Like rats and mice, these other rodents are carriers of disease pathogens and can contaminate food, water, buildings, and equipment.
Rodents are also a significant economic nuisance and cause property damage by chewing electrical wiring, damaging structures, and burrowing beneath homes and sheds. In addition, their droppings are a significant source of dust that can aggravate respiratory conditions. If you suspect rodent activity, look for droppings, tracks, rub marks, gnawing, scurrying sounds, urine spots, nesting materials, discarded rodent carcasses, and the presence of fleas and other insects associated with rodents.
Rats, mice, and squirrels are the rodents most often encountered in and around residential properties. Other types of rodents include woodrats (Neotoma spp), bamboo rats, capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), agoutis (Dasyprocta spp), and coypu or nutrias (Myocastor coypus). Despite their beneficial conservation role in the wild, these and other species can be considered pests when they enter and damage homes and businesses.
The best way to keep rodents away from your home is to prevent them from having access to the food, water, and shelter they need. Store foods in sealed containers and clean up crumbs and spills promptly. Eliminate places for rodents to hide by removing brush, weeds, and other debris from your yard. Also, caulk and seal all entry points into your house, including under sinks and behind stovepipes.