Help! DIY Rodent Control Isn't Working For My Stuart Property

There are many ways do-it-yourself rodent control can fall short of expectations, and it is frustrating to keep seeing signs of rodent activity after working hard to get rid of rodents. But what is even more frustrating than immediately realizing things didn't go as planned is to find out months later.

Rats and mice are often quiet (as a mouse) inside homes. They don't typically bump around in walls or make chewing and scratching noises you can hear. If your rodent control falls short and they're allowed to stay in your house, they can cause a lot of trouble. If you're thinking, "No thanks," we're with you.

Join us today as we look at how you can detect subtle signs of rodent activity in your home, some of the not-so-nice things common rodents do when they infiltrate your house, and a few ways DIY control falls short. Stay with us until the end, and we'll share some smart and effective rodent prevention tips that really work. As always, we're here if you need help with pest problems. We provide advanced control solutions for general pests and rodent control in Stuart. Contact us today to learn more.

Signs Of Rodents: How To Recognize And Act To Promptly

Whether you're looking to catch rodent activity after you've attempted to remove them, or you want to find signs early so that you can take quick action to get in front of a rodent problem, there are a few helpful ways to go about it. These tips are great for finding rodents when rodents are doing a good job of not being found.

Check Your Kitchen Cabinets:

Rodents sometimes come into cabinets through gaps around pipes, so check the cabinet under your sink first. If rodents are getting into this place, you may see black marks around the pipe gaps or black droppings. Clean the droppings and seal the openings with expanding foam so you can check back later to see if you continue to see activity.

Check Your Pantry Shelves:

Rodents may leave footprints or hairs on shelves as they look for food. They may also see damage to cardboard or paper food packaging.

Check Behind Your Oven:

Rodents can emerge from wall voids behind your oven and move about behind your cabinetry. If they're doing this, you may see their holes. Rats use holes about the size of a quarter, and mice use holes about the size of a dime.

Check Storage Rooms:

Rodents love to explore secluded storage spaces, especially if clothes and other junk are on the floor. Clean your storage room and check for dropping, a scent of ammonia, black marks on baseboards, and damage to clothing items.

Check Your Attic:

Rodents love attics most of all, particularly if they're warm. Look for droppings on insulation and a scent of ammonia. Look for damage to boxes and stored items. Inspect any drawers in stored furniture for soft materials rodents will use to line their nests. Inspect other gaps and concealed locations for their nests.

Watch Your Pets:

Dogs and cats have better senses than humans. They can smell and hear rodents long before you do. If your pet acts oddly in the kitchen or near a door leading up to your attic, you probably have rodents.

Check Exterior Utilities:

When rats and mice enter through gaps around pipes and PVC conduits, they leave those black marks, even outdoors. You may also find droppings underneath.

How bad is it to have a tiny mouse in your home? If you're wondering, the facts in this next section are definitely for you. Let's consider what you need to know about rodent infestations and public health.

Rodents And Your Health: What You Need To Know

When your rodent control isn't working, rodents will continue to live with you. As you consider how to respond to rodent problems, knowing what these animals do inside your home is critical. Here are a few of the common issues associated with rats and mice:

• Rats and mice groom themselves frequently. A mouse grooms itself as much as 40 percent of the time it is awake. That's a lot. Unfortunately, mice also climb over their fecal matter and urine, get into trash receptacles, and expose themselves to other unsanitary things. Their bodies are a source of contamination.
• As rodents move about inside your home, they will leave their fecal matter and urine as they explore, which is also a source of contamination.
• Rodents crawl around food storage and get into food packages.
• Rodents climb on cutting boards and over dishes.
• Rodents climb in clothing and clutter found in closets and storage rooms.
• Along with spreading germs and disease-causing organisms in their fecal matter, rodents spread ticks and fleas. These parasites are also associated with diseases that impact human health.
• Rodents get into power boxes and chew on wires in walls. Their activity inside man-made structures makes them a fire hazard.

These and other issues related to rodent activity increase as the number of rodents increases. Rats and mice reproduce quickly and can go from two to thousands in just one year under optimal conditions. It is essential to take quick action to address rodent problems.

Why DIY Rat Control Often Fails

We've talked about how you can check your DIY efforts and the potential consequences of failed rodent control; now it is time to look at why DIY rodent control fails. Now, we will specifically look at rat control, as it provides some of the best examples and is easier to understand:

• Rats are suspicious of new things. If a rat enters a space it has been before and it detects a trap, it will avoid it.
• Rats have a strong sense of smell. If they run into a trap in an unexplored area, they may still avoid it if they smell humans on the trap—or worse, they smell evidence that the trap caught another rat.
• Rats get into homes in many mysterious ways. They scale trees and run along power lines like squirrels. Doing this allows them to get in through high entry points. They come up from sewers and get into homes from crawl spaces underneath. Some rats even come up through toilets from sewers.
• Rat control can fail when the control process is incomplete. For example, you catch a few rats but make no effort to seal entry points to keep new rats from getting inside.

Do you see the challenges? Rats are smart animals with heightened senses. If you hope to get control of them, you must understand how to apply a comprehensive control plan and deploy products in a way rats won't avoid. The same is true of mice. There are only minor differences between these two types of pest rodents.

Top Prevention Tips: How to Keep Your Home Rodent-Free

The best way for homeowners to keep rats and mice out of their homes is to apply exterior rodent prevention. Let's end by looking at some of the best methods for reducing rodent activity and preventing rodents in Stuart from causing trouble on your property and in your house:

• Pick up out back. Rats and mice use objects lying on the ground. They go from object to object and feel their way in dim light or complete darkness.
• Manage your trash to reduce smells. Dispose of waste in scented bags. Avoid overfilling your trash receptacles. Keep your containers covered. Get your trash to the curb.
• Remove bird feeders; seed is a tasty treat for rats and mice.
• Collect nuts or fruit that fall from trees and rest on the ground for rodents to eat.
• Use expanding foam to address any potential entry point through wood gaps, structural cavities, and cracks.
• Make sure all of your exterior doors have up-to-date weatherstripping and sweeps.
• Install rodent guards to keep rats and mice out of your downspouts and to prevent them from climbing up pipes or running across power lines.
• Trim branches that touch your roof to keep rats and mice off.
• Clean your gutters so rainwater running down your roof flows down your downspouts and away from your foundation. Water saturation next to your home can provide drinking holes for rats and mice.
• Trim your landscape vegetation, pluck the weeds, trim grass low, and keep things nice and open. Doing this will make your landscaping appealing as a hiding place.
• Use hardware cloth or fencing material to block access to the void underneath your deck or stairs. You can also use these materials to help guard your crawl space if you have one.

Rats and mice have common behavior patterns that lure them to your home, inspire them to hang out, and find their way indoors. None of this is good. Manage rodent attractants and block access to keep them out.

If you need professional services, contact Above and Beyond Pest Control for rodent control near you. We'll help you understand your rodent issues and provide service options to help you keep rodents out. We service Stuart, Florida, and the surrounding area.