Rodents love to infest places that are around people because it provides a ready food supply for them as well as provides a place where they can build their nests. But the feeling is certainly not mutual for people who have rodents living in their homes. If you suspect you have a rodent infestation, calling a professional rodent control company to eliminate the rodent problem is top priority. Rodents can carry diseases and be difficult to eradicate.
Signs that you have a rodent infestation include:
Droppings: Mice droppings are small, about the size of rice grains, while rat droppings are larger and more oblong. Fresh droppings are dark and moist, but they become dry and brittle over time.
Damage: Rodents constantly gnaw on objects like wires, wood, plastic, and other soft materials like blankets, sheets, yarn and books. If you discover fresh gnaw marks on your wooden furniture, the marks will be lighter in color.
Sounds: Rodents are pretty good at hiding so you may not ever actually see a rodent in your home at first. But when the house is quiet at night, you may hear scratching, scurrying, or squeaking sounds, because this is when rodents are most active.
Visible Rodents: Though this may be common sense to say, seeing live rodents or dead ones in your home is a clear sign of an infestation. Rodents are most active at night, so you may need to stay up late or check during the evening to spot them.
Odor: Rodent urine has a distinct, unpleasant odor. A strong, musky or musty smell in your home, especially in enclosed spaces like closets or cabinets, could indicate an infestation.
Prevention
Keeping rodents out of your home in the first place so they can’t spread diseases to you, your family, or your pets is best. Battling a rodent infestation can be difficult to eradicate. Taking some time to rodent proof your home goes a long way. Prevention tips such as:
- Keeping all garbage in trash cans with a good lid
- Wipe down countertops and sweep after each meal
- Seal up an potential entry points around your home or roof that are larger than ¼ of an inch
- Remove any piles of debris around your home such as leaf piles or wood stacks where rodents may make nests
Rodent risks
Rodents who are exposed to diseases like hantavirus can then become carriers of the disease, potentially spreading it to people. Hantavirus symptoms start off looking similarly to the flu but lead to breathing difficulties, causing a bigger risk to people’s health. According to the CDC, hantavirus can be spread through the droppings, urine, or saliva of rodents. People can be exposed to hantavirus by eating contaminated food and breathing contaminated dust particles from rodent droppings that could be floating in the air.
Hantavirus is just one disease rodents can carry. A few other are:
- Salmonella
- Leptospirosis
- Tulmaria
- Rat Bite Fever
Call a rodent control professional
If you are worried that you may have a rodent infestation or you want to make sure you never have one, set up a regular pest inspection with a pest control company that you trust. If you are in Upland, CA, give Bug Baron Exterminator a call today.