How Can Rodents Infest Your Home?

Rodents can enter any home via a dime-sized opening. Some signs of an infestation include mice droppings, gnaw marks on wooden surfaces like door corners, and food. Other signs include scurrying or scratching sounds from your crawl spaces, walls, or attics.

How Can You Identify Rodents?

The home mouse is smaller and has a pointed nose. It has small, black, and protruding eyes. This rodent has a predominately hairless tail with scale rings. Mice, on the other hand, are among the most economically important and troublesome rodents in the US. Adult house mice can weigh nearly 2/5 to 4/5 ounce. These creatures are generally grayish brown and have a gray belly.

Native to central Asia, the house mouse species arrived North America with European settlers and other points of origin. These species are very adaptable and can adjust to almost any environment. They often live in closely with humans which is the main reason they are referred to as one of the commensal musquash along with roof rats and Norway rats. House mice are more common in commercial property and residences than rats.

Habitation

Identifying the habitat of rodents will help you root out a potential outbreak. The house mice live inside and around homes, commercial establishments, farms, agricultural lands, and open fields. Most times they can be found living distant from human settlements, especially in areas where the climate is moderate. However, the onset of cold each fall may cause the house mice to move into living structures looking for shelter, water, and food.

Eating Habits

The house mice feed on many kinds of food. They prefer seeds and grain. Mice aren’t hesitant to feed on new foods. They are considered nibblers because they sample many types of items that exist within their environment. They often prefer foods high in protein, fat, or sugar when grain and seeds are present. Items that have become a familiar source of food for mice include bacon, butter, chocolate candies, and nutmeats.

What Are The Damage Prevention & Control Techniques Available?

Effective control and prevention of house rodent damage involves three key stages namely sanitation, rodent-proof construction, and population reduction using traps, and fumigants. Of these three techniques, rodent-proofing and sanitation are effective preventive measures rather than control. When a house rodent infestation already exists, population reduction is always necessary. It is inevitable in such cases if you want to control the situation.

Control of rodent infestation differs in a variety of ways. Mice can enter your home through narrower openings, thus making rodent-proof construction more difficult. These creatures have limited parts of movement and need only a little or no water. They are less sensitive to most rodenticides. Homeowners, who fail to take these tips into account when initiating house rodent control can’t expect good results. Control measures must be taken beforehand (before the population’s numbers reach high levels).

According to the American pest management association, you can control rodent infestation during cold months by carrying out the following:

• Seal all cracks and holes outside your home. Pay special attention to the areas where pipes and utilities enter the house.
• Store up firewood 20 feet away from your house and 5 feet off the ground. Make sure branches and shrubbery are cut back from home.
• Eliminate every source of moisture, including clogged drains and leaky pipes.
• Keep food including pet food in mice-proof containers.
• Do not store boxes on the ground in basements and attics.
• In the event that you discover the signs of an infestation, do not hesitate to contact a pest control professional early enough to help you prevent the rodent outbreak from blowing out.

Bottom Line

The importance of sticking to the above prevention and control methods cannot be stressed further. The speed with which mice reproduce, as well as the fact that they can squeeze through spaces as tiny as a dime, should present a major concern for homeowners, especially during these colder months. Rodents are notorious carriers of bacteria and disease. They can also gnaw through wiring and put homes at risk of fires caused by electrical issues.

Studies have shown that rodent infestations begin in the kitchen. Because mice urinate regularly, the chances of them contaminating the food in your kitchen and the kitchen itself will be high. This should be a cause for concern and drive all homeowners into action. This knowledge should ginger every homeowner to carry out a thorough inspection of their property (inside and around the house) to eradicate any signs of an infestation before it becomes an outbreak.

Learn more about our New Jersey rodent control services.