Rodents are one of the oldest pests that human civilization has had to deal with. They’ve been with us pretty much since the beginning, even before the first agricultural revolution. They figured out around 15,000 years ago that life is just more manageable when you’re mooching off of human food and habitations. Unfortunately, that means you’re dealing with a group of animals that has had plenty of time to hone their mooching skills, which is what makes it so impossible to get rid of them. The good news is that there are measures you can take to prevent the problem at your Salt Lake City property before it starts.
Rats Or Mice: How To Tell The Difference
Most of the time, you will have an infestation of rats or mice, but not both. The bigger, meaner rats will come in and drive the smaller, meeker mice away. If your home is attractive to rodents, you may wind up with a mouse infestation that sticks around, you may wind up with a rat infestation from the get-go, or you may wind up with a mouse infestation that eventually gets driven away when rats move in.
You can differentiate between the two primarily by size. Rats are much larger than mice, and it’s easy to distinguish between an adult rat and an adult mouse. Tiny mice are only around three or four inches long and only weigh a few ounces. Big rats can be over a foot long and weigh up to a pound. If you think you might be looking at a juvenile rat instead of an adult mouse (they may be close to the same size), take a look at the body. Mice have proportionately larger ears and smaller feet. Mice also have pointier faces, while rats have more rounded ones. Rats also have courser hair and balder tails than mice.
What To Do About Rats And Mice
Rats and mice breed explosively, so you need to ensure that you’re placing more importance on prevention than eradication after the fact. To ensure you don’t wind up with rodents, take measures like:
- Seal up holes in your home’s exterior, and remember mice are tiny. No hole is too small for them.
- Consider getting a cat or rodent dog, as rodents don’t like to share their spaces with predators.
- Clear clutter around your home to reduce rodent hiding spots.
- Cover all indoor and outdoor garbage cans with tight-fitting lids.
- Keep pantry foods in airtight, hard containers to hide their smells.
If their prevention measures don’t work, many people resort to DIY methods for rodent control. Most of the time, these eradication measures are not the best way to handle rodents.
OTC poison baits are dangerous to pets and small children. They also kill slowly, leaving rodents time to crawl into hard-to-reach spaces like ventilation ducts or crawlspaces before they die. This can expose you to the stench of rotting rodents and the pathogens associated with their decaying carcasses.
Snap traps are also problematic because they only kill one rodent at a time and then have to be reset. This means they might reduce the rodent population around your home, but these traps are unlikely to eliminate the infestation.
Call Pest Pro Pest Control For Help
To truly get rid of your rodent problem, you’ll need professional help. Here at Pest Pro Pest Control, we have a decade of experience in the pest control industry. We know how to not just reduce the rodent population around your home or business but how to eliminate it. So call us or visit our contact page to schedule your rodent control service today.