Rodents Carrier Diseases that can harm you and your family, they can also cause damage to your home and or business by chewing, gnawing and nesting. The rodents that Affordable Termite & Pest Control, LLC treat are Mice and Rats. Rodents seek shelter to get out of weather conditions and nest and give birth. Rodents are constituently defecating and urinating making this one of the reasons they spread disease easily. Rodents are also constantly gnawing as they have to keep the teeth worn down, this means that they can get into attic or pier and beam crawl spaces and cause major damage to wires, air ducts and insulation for example. One of the first steps in rodent control is figuring out why and how rodents are getting into your property. It only takes a hole the size of ¼inch for a mouse to fit through and less than an inch about 0.96 inches for a rat. That means even the smallest of holes in your home and or business can be open doors to rodents. These areas need to be sealed up and blocked to prevent rodents for making entry, proper exclusion is key for rodent control.
Mice: The adult mouse is small and slender and about one to two inches long, excluding its tail. The tail is as long as the head and body combined. It has large ears, a pointed nose and small eyes. The fur color varies, but it is usually a light grey or brown, but could be darker shades. You can tell them apart from native mice by their almost furless ears and scaly tails. They are good climbers, swimmers, and jumpers. They can run as fast as 8 miles per hour. Even so, they seldom travel farther than 50 feet from their homes.
Mice will eat almost anything (including soap & glue), but prefer cereal grains, seeds, or sweet material. They require very little water, obtaining most of their water needs from their food. If there are good living conditions (food, water, and shelter), they can multiply rapidly. They sexually mature in two months, producing about eight litters in a one year life time. Each litter has four to seven pups. House mice in a city environment may spend their entire life in buildings. In rural and suburban settings, mice may not only live inside, but be found outside near foundations, in shrubbery, weeds, crawl spaces, basements, or in garages. They survive well on weeds, seeds, or insects, but when their food supply is shortened by the colder months they move inside nesting closer to a food supply. They make their nest from soft material like paper, insulation, or furniture stuffing. These nests can be found in many places including walls, ceiling voids, storage boxes, drawers, under major appliances, or within the upholstery of furniture. Outside nests are found in debris or in ground burrows.
Mice are considered nibblers, eating at many times and at different places. Mice will snack every one to two hours throughout the day. However, they do have two main meal times, one just before dawn and the other at dusk. They can eat about 10% to 15% of their body weight every day, the adults weighing about 5/81 oz. Mice droppings are about 1/81 4 inch long and rod shaped. They gnaw small, clean holes about 11/ 2 inches in diameter. Many times in kitchens you will find gnawing damage on the corner of boxes and paper which is shredded for their nest.
Rats: Adult rats can weigh anywhere from 516 ounces and measure 610 inches long. They have large ears and a pointed nose. A rat’s fur can be either smooth or shaggy depending on the type of rat. Their droppings are 1/4 to 1/2 inch in length, capsule shaped, with blunt ends. Rats will leave a hind foot track of about 3/41 inch where a mouse’s track measure’s 3/8 of an inch or less. They will also drag their tails, leaving a mark between their feet tracks. Tracking powder can be dusted to help determine their runways as they cross suspected areas.
Rats gnawing holes have rough edges and are about two inches or more in diameter. They prefer to gnaw on wood, but can damage electrical wiring. Rat burrows can be found beneath rubbish and shrubbery or along foundations. Rat runways are smooth and well packed. Indoors, these Rodent Control runways are free of dust and dirt. Rats prefer foods with a high protein or carbohydrate content, but will eat almost any type of food. They need much more water to survive than mice do and can obtain water from toilets, sinks, rain puddles, or condensation from utility pipes.
Young rats reach sexual maturity in two to three months. Females will average four to seven litters a year, with eight to twelve pups per litter. Adults live for about a year. They live in colonies. Rats will seek food outside, but many times will come inside at night to forage for food and return to their burrows. As the rat family grows, more burrows are built, resulting in a network of underground tunnels. Inside, rats commonly nest on the lower levels, but if the population is too large, they may be found in the attic and ceiling areas. Their nests are built from soft material like paper or grass chewed into small pieces. Rats will climb if necessary to enter a building. They can also be good swimmers. Rats are suspicious of changes in the environment or new foods, for this reason it may take a couple of days for traps or baits to take. Rats are nocturnal, with their peak activity at dusk or before dawn. They can be seen during the day when their population is large or they are disturbed or hungry.
Affordable Termite & Pest Control, LLC has a 3 step treatment for rodent control. The uses of glue boards, snap traps and rodenticides in rodent tamper proof bait box stations. These devices can only be put out in certain areas. We will work with the customer regarding placement for these devices that is safe for your family and pets. Affordable Termite & Pest Control, LLC dose not hunt down dead Rodents nor do they do exclusion work. It is always recommended that you have a professional handyman / contractor come out and fix, seal and tighten up entry points / holes in your property.
For more Information, please call Affordable Termite & Pest Control, LLC. at (254) 368-1206
