Many homeowners consider rodents to be cute and loving pets. You may even have a few furry friends at home keeping you company right now. What's amazing is how fast rodents can go from being friends to foes. As much as someone may love their pet rat, if he were to get out of his cage, he would cause an astonishing amount of trouble.
As you probably already know, buying a rodent isn’t the only way one can get into your home. Rats and mice are all around your home looking for ways to squeeze inside. To help you combat unfriendly rodents, we have some tips and tricks for effective rodent control. Here is everything you need to know.
Are Mice Or Rats More Common In Utah County?
Mice and rats are different in many ways. For one, mice are much smaller than their rat cousins. This size difference makes them more adept at squeezing their way into homes. In fact, all they need is a hole the size of a dime to find their way inside.
Rats are not as fortunate and need wider openings to get inside. This alone makes them much less common invaders than mice. The good news is that mice and rats rarely invade together. You will either have a rat problem or a mouse problem, not both. Commonalities Between Mice And Rats
Although different in size and appearance, rats and mice have some things in common. To start, they both have extremely sharp front incisor teeth. Using these teeth, they chew through wood, plastic, rubber, and even certain metals. This is especially problematic if they chew through an electrical wire or a utility pipe.
Both these rodent species also pose serious threats to homeowners. Both are capable of carrying and spreading several dangerous diseases including salmonellosis, hantavirus, and choriomeningitis. As they travel through your Utah County home and chew through your food packaging, they will leave behind contaminated urine and droppings.
Why Rodents Control Is Such A Challenge
There isn’t any easy solution to rodents. Once they get inside, they will stay and reproduce as long as they have a steady supply of food and water. You must act early to deal with them without professional assistance. You can handle a couple of rodents with carefully placed traps baited with peanut butter. A whole family of rodents, on the other hand, is much more difficult to fully eliminate. Even if you lay down traps daily, you will not be able to eliminate rodents as fast as they can reproduce. This can lead to months of frustration and wasted money.
Six Ways You Can Prevent Rodents
The best offense when it comes to rodent control is a good defense. Here are some preventative tips to keep them out of your Utah County home:
- Use some steel wool combined with either a caulking gun or liquid cement to fill in gaps, holes, and cracks, around the exterior of your home.
- Fix leaky piping, repair broken gutters, and address other moisture problems around your home.
- Make sure all of your interior and exterior trash cans are equipped with rodent-proof lids.
- Reduce clutter around your yard, and keep your home clean and tidy.
- After meals, store leftover foods inside airtight containers.
- Pick up and clean out your pet’s food and water bowls before going to be at night.
Despite your best efforts, you still may find yourself in the throws of a rodent infestation. If a family of mice or rats has come to live inside your home, the only guaranteed solution to your problem involves professional rodent control. At Pest Pro Pest Control, we offer quick and effective rodent control measures to ensure your home stays rodent-free.
Reach out to our team today for any questions you have, or to schedule a service visit for your Utah County home.