Rodent Control Measures: How To get Rid Of Mice And Rats?

Rodents are not only the nuisance, but also can damage your properties, contaminate your foods and spread diseases at a faster rate. Hence, getting rid of typical rodents, rats and mice is most crucial than anything. Now, let us run through the types of rodents, its dangers and rodent control measures. Hope after reading this article, you will be able to handle and get rid of such harmful rodents from your house or farm or even cars.

Rodent Control Measures – The Complete Guide

What are Rodents – A Quick Overview

When it’s about reviewing rodents, we generally talk about ‘commensal rodents’. Rodent generally means ‘to gnaw’. Especially, commensal rodents live in close association with humans and closely associated with human foods, water and shelter. Rodents are good jumpers, climbers, swimmers, burrowers and gnawers.

In general there three typical types of commensal rodents: roof rats, Norway rats, and house mouse. All these variants of rodents are incomparable in carrying diseases like plague, salmonellosis, leptospirosis, etc. Diy pest control programs for home are essential for every homemaker.

Signs to Identify that, Rodents are In

How to know if you have rodents? Are you unsure that you have got rodents inside your home? With the below signs, you can understand that rats and mice conquers your house and its holdings. If you come across any of the below, then you will have to act getting rid of rats and mice, immediately.

• Damaged or partially eaten food items
• Damaged furniture, plywood, rubber or any fabric with the sign of gnawing
• Rodent droppings in the corners or hidden spaces
• Gnawing sounds during night time
• Burrows in your garden areas
• Electrical cables, fences, or any other utility cables are injured

Mostly, above all accompanies with the existence of rodents in your house or farm, garden or into the cars or car sheds.

Why much Concern about Rodents?

You cannot be idle if you got to know that rodents occupy your house. Since, it can bring severe damages to you, your health and house holdings. Here are the few nuisances that such rodents can indulge.

• Carries severe millions dollar diseases like typhus fever, etc.
• Contaminates food with its hair, droppings, that results in food poisoning
• Spreads nasty odors irritating you
• Brings fleas and ticks to harm your pets too
• Injures your house holding like furniture, wires, or anything
• Becomes nuisance with unpleasant sounds during nights

All the above reasons are not just simple as it seems. Those are serious annoyance to you. You will have to take severe rodent control measures to get rid of rats and mice sooner.

Before getting into the rodent control measures, let me give you some clue about entry points of such rats and mice to your house. Only by blocking those entries you can completely get rid of it.

Common Rodent Entry Points & Harborage Locations

Let me pin point few entry points through which rodents can get in to your house. And also harborage spots where those rodents can stay cool. Most importantly, don’t let rats and mice to resident on your properties anymore.

Getting comfy food and shelter, then the numbers can be easily multiplied faster. The condition will get worse. You will have to call for professional rodent control or pest control services. Here are those areas you have to manage to stop rodent’s entry or settle down.

• Tree climbs near roofs, window openings or doors
• Kitchen chimney sparks
• Open meter boxes
• Wiring and cable vents
• Gaps under roofing or metal flashing
• Open ventilation vents
• Opening in roof tiles
• Gap around the outdoor garage
• Uncovered trash cans
• Toilet outlet channels
• Holes around kitchen sinks

Fundamental Ideas to Get Rid of Rodents

Basically, these commensal rodents depend upon three important factors for its surveillance: Food, water and shelter (harborage). If you can take care of these, then it is almost simple to get rid of rat rid of mice and rats easily. With proper cleaning, trapping the rodents that are already in and sealing up the entry points can get you complete rodent free living space.

#1 Stop feeding rodents

First of all, you have to eliminate the sources of food to those rodents. Possibly, the bird seed left out and ripen fruits in your trees. Then, use metal containers with tight shield to store food if you have any pets. Make sure you are emptying your trash bins often and covering when not in use. Store your food items in tightly-closed containers.

#2 Destroy rats or rodents, anything you catch!

By the way, how to catch a rat? How to kill rats? You will see that in next section. For now, use any of rodent control products destroy the rodents that have already entered your house. You can either use mouse traps, rodenticides, etc.

#3 Eliminate its shelters

Once you have washed out and disposed all the rats from your house, then you will have prevent further rodents entry. Hence, close all the openings. This may not be possible. Then, possibly reduce the openings size to be less than ¼ inch. Repair the damaged vents, gaps in the roofing joints, hole in the roof tiles, etc. Don’t stack wooden pieces on the ground near your house; better avoid thick vegetation that can be a comfortable place for rodents to stay. Then trim the tree branches if it falls on your roof or it grows near your window openings.

Only if you are done with these, you can get rid of rodents completely. If you fail to seal up your openings, then the rodents keep entering your house and you will have keep hunting.

Various Rodent Control Methods You Can Try

Already, we have seen the steps to get rid of rodents as a whole (in the above section).  In which, the second thing is about destroying rats or mice that you have. Let’s see different rodent control measures, or rodent control methods; to catch a rat or mice or to kill them.

#1 Trapping

Trapping is the most commonly used rodent control measures or ideas for indoor. There are different sizes of rodent traps available. The smaller one would be for mice trapping and other bit larger one for rats. Choosing the right trap size is crucial for trapping rodents.

Inspect and identify the areas where rodents are active. Place the specific trap (for rats or mice) and remember the spot. Since, to prevent odor issues once rodents are caught. The place where you place rodent traps must be accessible to dispose the caught rodents.

Furthermore, there are multiple types of rodent traps available in the market. It includes snap trap, electronic trap, live-animal trap, multiple-catch mouse trap, and glue trap. Each has its unique capability for different varieties of rats and mice.

#2 Rodent Baits

To illustrate, using some chemicals to eliminate rodent food and harborage refers to rodents baiting. Rats or any rodents will revisit the place if its finds some food over there. Therefore understanding this, you may use some rat poisons or rodenticides that have anti-coagulant agents to kill it. Unfortunately, this method is not highly recommendable. Since, children or any of your pets can taste the poisoned food items and that is too dangerous.

If you are not confident about the chemicals to use, or feeling uncomfortable to use rodent baits (having children or other pets that are more sensitive to such toxic agents), then go for professional rodent control professionals.

#3 Natural Predators

Living organisms like snakes, owls that eat rats and mice are the natural predators. Sheltering snakes is not safe and nearly impossible to do so. But, you can install nest boxes for owls and night hawks to stay in and around your area. But make sure you are not using any baits over there, if you are nesting owls or hawks.

Tips if you Hire A Professional Rodent or Pest Control Service

Here are the few ideas to remember of you are about to hire any professional pest control or rodent control services to handle. In the first place, make sure the hiring agent or individual are doing all these –

• Thorough inspection to ensure rodents activities and infestations
• Provides pictographic report or text to explain
• Prescribes the proper chemical baits or trap size based on the needs
• Suggests sealing up the vents and openings to stop rodent’s entry
• Completely removed the baits used

Before calling or hiring a rodent control service, know about their services. They will do complete rodent control or mice removal service or only inspects and provide consultation to get rid of rats and mice.

Finally, Rodent-free House Or Farms

Rodent problems might seem to be immaterial. But, you are wrong. It can bring severe diseases contaminating your food, damage your house holding by gnawing, or even disturbs you often with unpleasant sounds.

Not only for house rodent control, even your farms, pets or birds shelter, in cars or car sheds, anywhere; the rodent control measures or steps are similar. Eliminate its food and shelter, clean up or destroy the rodents and prevent furthermore rodent entry. Make sure you disposed the trapped rats or any rodents, and removed the poisoned food items or rat baits.

And finally, try these rodent control measures and tips: Get rid of rodents – rats and mice. Live peacefully and healthy.