Almost everyone knows the feeling of finding mice or rodents in your home. A rodent sighting can provoke fear in even the most composed homeowner, whether in the kitchen, basement, attic, garage, or dining room. Also, these rodents are resourceful creatures that can enter a home through a minor crack or opening and need very little space to travel inside.
Rats cause many problems and can’t be allowed to stay that include:
- The spread of disease, even fatal.
- Damage to your property.
- Contaminated food storage and preparation areas.
- The risk of fires from chewed wires.
Signs of Rodent Presence
When a mouse or rat enters a house, it often goes unseen. Typically, signs of them include small dark droppings of feces that look like tiny grains of rice. You may also notice other damage, such as chewed holes in bags and boxes of dry goods, in pet food bags, etc.
Inspect closely along baseboards or near any holes in the floors, like where radiator pipes come through, which may show rub marks where the rodents have chewed to gain access. In addition, you may find small areas filled with debris and feces in hidden areas beneath cabinets.
If you have pets, then they may exhibit alert behavior, sensing the presence of a rodent. And you may even hear sounds of scratching or scurrying in the walls or floors, especially at night in silent and dark.
Find Their Entry Point
Before putting down any traps or bait, first, figure out where they’re coming from. Without finding their entry points, putting traps randomly all over your basement floor isn’t going to do you any good. So instead, try your best to discover where the mice live and build nests, and then set the traps around those areas.
Block All Entry Points
After finding the entry points, block all of them. It is the single most crucial preventive measure you can take to inspect the walls and foundation of your house to ensure any potential entry points are blocked. Mice can enter through small cracks like 1/4-inch in diameter, so block wall cracks. In addition, you can use a masonry repair material and inspect joints around windows and doorsills for space that lets them access your indoors.
Don’t forget the garage. Ensure weather seals along the bottom corners of doors are good. If your garage is packed, it may become a home for a rodent. Also, check your attic since rodents love the warmth of insulation.
