How To Eliminate Your Rodent Problem

Tuesday, 04 March 2008

After a successful spring and summer spent mostly repopulating, the huge rodent population begins looking for shelter. They do this in the fall when the weather begins to turn colder and the prospect for food becomes scarcer. They are also looking to find some place warm and dry to nest during the cold winter months. Depending on the level of infestation it may only take a few days to rid your home of mice or rats or it may take several weeks to remove the entire colony from your home.

There are four main options that people use when beginning the battle of eliminating their rodent problem. In a nutshell they are traps, poisons, predators, and finally, hiring a pest control company to do the work for you. The first common sense tip when setting rodent traps is never to set them where pets or children can get access to them. Even the smaller mousetraps can break small, curious fingers or paws. That being said, rodents prefer to travel around the edges of rooms along the walls and counters. Because of this it is best to set your traps sticking out from the wall with the baited end against the wall itself. Bait the traps with any type of sticky food such as peanut butter or a soft, spreadable cheese. To increase the number of rodents that will be caught, bait traps for a few nights in a row but do not set them. This “lulls” them into a false sense of security and encourages them to become bolder. Once you have begun to set the traps check them on a daily basis or even more frequently depending on how many rodents there are.

You may also wish to use poison to help you to eliminate the entire colony. Poison will not kill the rodents immediately. The rodents that are sent out to gather the food will bring back some of the poisonous pellets to feed to the rest of the colony. This may become a problem if the colony is nesting in an area of your home that is inaccessible. As the bodies decay they can create a very unpleasant smell in your home as well as encourage other bugs and scavengers.

Many people choose to eliminate their rodent problem by leaving it up to rodent’s natural predators to take care of the problem. Cats are naturally predisposed to chasing and killing mice, as are many breeds of smaller dog. The problem comes if these animals are your pets then you will not want them touching disease ridden rodents while they are living in a house with you and your family. Although having these pets in your home can act as a great deterrent. Rodents that smell a cat or dog in the house may decide not to settle there after all.

Always remember to wear gloves when handling a dead rodent and place them in a sealed plastic bag before disposing of them in your outside garbage. Always remember to wash your hands and to disinfect all countertops and floors since rodents can carry diseases through their feet and their droppings and throw away any food items that they have gotten into.

The last solution in eliminating a rodent problem is to open the phone book, look under pest-control and hire a company that for a price will take care of the problem for you. If you are in an area that is highly susceptible to rodents then you may want to subscribe to their monthly service in which they will inspect and treat your home on a regular basis.

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