Rodent invasions are surprisingly common: over 20 million US homes struggle with rodents. Perhaps the biggest reason you don’t want rodents is the “ick” factor: to call the idea of a rat in your walls “unpleasant” is quite the understatement. However, there are more serious reasons to prevent pests from entering your home:
- Rodents chew through walls, pipes, and wires and tear out insulation for nesting materials.
- Rodents spread diseases such as hantavirus, leptospirosis, and tularemia.
In this guide, you’ll learn what attracts rodents to a home, how to prevent an infestation, and how to know you need rodent control Columbia, SC.
What Attracts Rodents to Home
Rodents such as rats, mice, gophers, and voles are attracted to your house looking for shelter, food, and water. When they find it, they move in. Even worse, they attract more rodents and start breeding, causing the infestation to quickly get out of control. There are a few things that will attract rodents to a home:
- Available nesting material such as insulation, paper, or fabrics.
- Small spaces among storage boxes or other objects they can build a nest and hide in.
- Warmer temperatures during winter months.
- Access to a food source, especially meat, nuts, and grains.
Rodents are highly adaptable creatures capable of exploiting the smallest cracks in your house. In fact, rats only need an opening about the size of a quarter to get in. Common places to find rodents after they get in include:
- Basements or crawlspaces
- Garages
- Kitchen cabinets
- Attics
How to Prevent a Rodent Infestation
Make Your House Less Attractive
Keeping your house and surrounding areas clean is the most important thing you can do to prevent a rodent infestation. Rodents come in looking for food and shelter, so if they can’t get those things from your house they’ll go somewhere else.
Use airtight containers to store your food, don’t let food residue sit out or build up in pantries and cabinets, keep pet food in sealed containers, and ensure trash bins are closed using tight-fitting lids.
Seal Entry Points
Eliminate entry points by sealing cracks in your foundation and chimney and plugging openings in your walls. Steel wool or wire mesh are ideal materials for closing rodent entry points. Install a door sweep to seal the gap between the door and the ground. Close gaps in between window jambs and walls with caulk.
Unfortunately, rodents can create an entrance from any existing crack or hole so even if an opening isn’t big enough, they can still get in. Inspect your walls, foundation, attic, and roof regularly to look for any opportunities they might have to get in.
Remove Nesting Environments
Eliminate nesting materials available in your house by decluttering and regularly removing unused or unwanted paper products. Trim back bushes and tree limbs, clean up yard debris and leaf piles, and store firewood off the ground and at least 20 feet back from the building. If your property has infrequently used vehicles such as an RV, old car, or boat, check on them regularly and frequently. Pests are fond of burrowing and nesting in the upholstery as well as the engines.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say, and this definitely applies to rodent control. Keeping rodents out of your house will prevent costly damage and prevent possible illness. If you do suspect rodents have invaded your home, call a professional exterminator for a consultation. DIY methods can produce unsatisfactory results or, even worse, result in dead rodents stuck in your walls.
