Keep Your Food Protected

While rodents will continue to look for warmth in homes, homes where food crumbs lie around have already doubled the attraction. You should remove all food crumbs on your countertop and on the floor of your home. This is harder to achieve when you have toddlers at home. Make sure they eat their snacks on one spot.

Also, check your surroundings for food crumbs. Remove them if any. Keep your trash can firmly closed. Nothing attracts rats and mice like unsealed food because they have a very strong sense of smell. If you have pets in your home, their food should be sealed too.

Tidy Up Your Surroundings

Tree branches provides can be used as a link to your attic and roof and overgrown grass can also be a hiding place for rodents. So, you should trim down the trees around your home and mow your lawn. In addition, remove all piles of leaves around. The idea here is to remove all likely hiding places for rodents.

Eliminate All Junk & Clutter

Rats usually thrive in parts of homes that people don’t visit regularly like the garage, attic, and basement. Since you don’t go to places like that, you will give them the “privacy” that they need. Fortunately for them, these are the places you dump all your junk, giving your unwanted visitors enough hiding places.

When you leave them in your basement for too long, they will get bored and begin to explore your home by finding their way into other parts of your home, especially your living room which will be warmer than your basement. So, it is time to eliminate all clutter in those places so that rats and mice will have little or no hiding place. Besides, when your basement and attic are choked with junk, they tend to feel warmer and will attract pests more.

Stacks of old newspapers should be discarded, and you should ensure that rats can’t find their ways into your boxes. You may need to elevate some of them to make it difficult for rodents to get into them.

Consider Installing A Brush Strip Under Door Gaps

It is possible for your doors to have small gaps especially when they are old. If you can’t afford to change them now, you can install a brush strip on the exterior doors to prevent rats from having easy access into your house.

Store Your Firewood Away From Your House

If you burn firewood in the winter, you probably have a stack of them around now. Unfortunately, this is a hideout for mice and rats. It even attracts termites. To prevent all that you should ensure you store your firewood away from your house. Store them about 20 feet away from your house. In addition, your firewood should be elevated to a height that is up to 18 inches off the ground or more.

Block All Entry Points & Openings

This is self-explanatory. Examine your home for likely points of entry. Check points where pipes enter your home. Check your doors for openings. One thing you should remember is that rats can slip through small holes. The smaller they are, the easier it is for them to squeeze themselves through small holes.

Seal up all cracks in the wall. Sometimes these rodents can eat their way around small holes to make them wider for easy passage. Ensure you cap your chimney to prevent rodents from passing through it. Remember, climbing is the easiest task for them.

Empty The Content Of All Old Boxes

Rodents may already have found their ways into some of the boxes you kept in your basement. So, it is advisable to discard the content of the boxes. However, if they things you still need, empty the boxes and rearrange them. The idea is just to be sure that rodents are not already breeding inside them.

Eliminate Moisture

This is the time to eliminate all moisture sites around and in your home. Search around for leaking pipes and clogged drains and get them fixed. It is better to hire a professional for this if you can afford it. Moisture attracts certain rodents and insects. So, keep every part of your home dry. Moisture also attracts camelback crickets!

Ensure Weather Stripping Materials Are Still Intact Around Windows & Doors

It is necessary to check if your weather stripping is still intact. It is very possible that some parts may be loose or weak. Replace the loose ones as quickly as possible.

Pest proofing is a critical step to avoiding bigger pest related problems down the road. Learn more about our New Jersey rodent control services.