Rats and mice are the most common rodent pests to invade human homes. Because people have a lot of food indoors, these pests find it easy to get inside, get to the food sources, and then nest near the food to breed. One female mouse or rat can have dozens of babies in a single year, thus overrunning your house in no time.
Getting good rodent control in place is essential to ending and deterring this problem. It starts by calling an exterminator to do a thorough inspection and getting a good idea about how bad your rodent problem is.
Call an Exterminator to Set Traps
Bait traps are double trouble for rodents. The bait encourages rodents to eat some and take it back to their nests. The smell of the bait is very inviting to rats and mice. Once the rodents go feed, the bait kills them, and the trap and bait has done its job.
After a month, the exterminator returns to inspect your home, remove any dead rodents found, and count the dead rodents. These kinds of traps are the most effective, the safest for children and pets, and the most sanitary when it comes to disposal of the dead rodents.
Always Take the Garbage Out
Rodents, particularly rats, are great scavengers. Your trash is their feast. Take your garbage out nightly until the exterminator pronounces your home rodent-free. Also keep the trash cans outside far from the house to deter rodents from re-entering your home to look for more food.
Take the cans to the curb every garbage day, even if you only have one bag in a can. It’s also important to keep trash cans tightly lidded and to check them for holes that rodents might use as entry points. Likewise, if you notice that there are entry points around your home’s foundation, be sure to plug and repair them.