Effective Rodent Control Solutions In The Bay Area: Tips And Tricks

There are not many creatures that have the ability to be both pests and pets. Rodents fall into this strange middle ground. Now, not all rodents are capable of being pets. Interestingly enough, two of the three most common types of pest rodents can also be pet rodents. All of this aside, there is one big difference between pet rodents and pest rodents. Pest rodents are allowed to make their own decisions. This often leads them to get into situations that are unhelpful or even hurtful to people. Today we are going to break down everything you should know about the rodents in The Bay Area and provide you with everything you need to identify, prevent, and remove these pests. If you are interested in learning more, keep reading. For direct help with an active rodent infestation inside your home, do not hesitate to contact our team at Bay Pest. We are a local provider that works hard to help members of our community like you fight back against pests. Let us find the answer to your rodent problem and offer an option for pest control in The Bay Area that meets your needs.

Types Of Rodents Common To The Area

There are more than a few kinds of rodents that live in The Bay Area. The good news is that most of these species have no intention of invading your home. Only small rodents have a habit of doing this. We are talking about mice, rats, and squirrels. Mice are the smallest of the three and have round bodies. A house mouse has the ability to squeeze through gaps, holes, and cracks the width of a nickel. This makes them capable of invading homes with ease. Rats are bigger than mice and have robust bodies and hairless tails. These furry pests regularly use their sharp teeth to gnaw holes through walls. Mice and squirrels can do this as well but are not capable of chewing through tough materials. Finally, squirrels are long and agile rodents that have bushy tails. These rodents are much less common as home invaders but are more than capable to climb the exterior of homes and invade through damage to rooflines, chimneys, and open windows. Unlike rats and mice that invade homes to find food, moisture, and shelter, squirrels only come indoors to find shelter. You are most likely to have trouble with squirrels during the colder months of the year or during times of inclement weather.

If there is anything you need to know about rodents it is that these pests are prolific breeders. When able to live comfortably, mice and rats will reproduce rapidly. Since interior spaces are often comfortable for these pests, you can expect to see exponential growth in population if these furry rodents get into your home. One of the hardest parts of rodent control is eliminating mice and rats faster than they are able to reproduce. If you don’t want these pests taking over your home, you either need to act fast when you notice an infestation or bring in a professional to handle the problem. 

How Rodents Create Damage And Spread Disease

Rodents like mice, rats, and squirrels might look cute. They look much less cute, however, when they are covered in filth. This filth is one of the biggest reasons why these pests are a problem. Wild rodents have a bad habit of consuming and crawling through nasty things like fecal droppings, rotting meat, and decaying organic matter. As you might know, these things contain harmful bacteria, pathogens, and parasites that can make people sick. Rodents carry these sickness vectors into the homes they infest. Often they find disease-causing organisms indoors within trash cans, bathrooms, and other dirty areas. Some of the most common diseases that you or your family members might contract from common rodents are salmonellosis, hantavirus, and leptospirosis. Many diseases are contractable by interacting with rodent droppings, urine, and the filth they smear on surfaces with their bodies. If you suspect rats or mice are inside your home, clean regularly to help avoid potential dangers.

Rodents spread disease in more indirect ways than one. They also carry fleas and ticks into homes. If you did not know, these smaller parasitic pests can carry their own harmful diseases and can get people sick. They do this with their sometimes contaminated bites. We say sometimes because not all ticks and fleas are dangerous, only ones that have picked up a disease-causing organism after feeding on an infected host. 

In addition to getting people sick, rodents also have the ability to cause extensive damage to property. They mostly do this with their sharp and durable teeth. Rats have the ability to chew through materials as hard as aluminum. This results in a variety of damage indoors. You might notice this damage in the form of gnaw marks on furniture legs, holes through walls, severed wires, holes in piping, torn-up paper, shredded fabrics, and ripped insulation. These are only a few examples of the damage different rodents cause inside homes. Now that you know more about the big problems that rodents cause, let’s talk about how you can prevent rodents and deal with existing infestations. 

Four Simple Yet Effective Rodent Exclusion Tips

Rodents do not belong inside your home. The question is, are they already inside or do you have time to stop them from invading? If you still have time, we recommend putting in place some preventative measures. That said, here are four simple yet effective options that you can start with today.

• Walk around your home and look for any points of entry that rodents might use to get indoors. The best places to check are around windows and doors, ventilation, pipes, wires, and throughout your home’s exterior foundation. Seal or address as many of these entry points as possible. 
• Get into the habit of storing all of your food inside air-tight containers. This includes leftovers, pantry items, and pet food. Keep in mind that rodents can chew through most plastic containers but cannot chew through glass or metal. We also recommend making sure that your trash can has a tight-fitting lid so that rodents cannot crawl inside and look for a meal.
• Thoroughly clean your home and do your best to organize things as you go. As a general rule, try to clean up food messes and drink spills as they occur. It also helps to limit the number of rooms in which you eat food to just one or two to reduce the chances that rodents will find snacks while crawling through your home at night.
• Eliminate all sources of water buildup inside and around your home. Water often builds up when there is leaky piping, damaged gutters, or after rain storms. Keep up with this as best you can to reduce the number of places where rodents are able to get a drink inside or around your home.

There is only so much that rodent prevention can do to help you avoid these pests. Truthfully, if rats, mice, or squirrels want to get into a dwelling, they have many ways to do so. To ensure that these pests stay out of your home year-round, consider investing in some form of professional prevention. We would be more than happy to talk you through all of our rodent control options and find a plan that best controls these furry invaders through every season. 

The Most Effective Rodent Control For Homes In The Bay Area

Rodents are not the easiest pests to control. They are elusive, reproduce faster than most eliminating methods can get rid of them, and are generally clever. The trick to stopping these pests is either catching an infestation early or investing in professional rodent control in The Bay Area. If you are able to catch an infestation early, you might be able to solve your problem with some carefully placed rodent traps. We only recommend using snap traps baited with peanut butter as other methods can be harmful to humans or inhumane for rodents. Keeping this in mind, professional rodent control will always be your best option to effectively control these pests. We have many great options for this at Bay Pest if you need help with these invasive creatures. 

Bay Pest is a local and family-friendly pest control provider that has been in the business for over 40 years. That is 40 years to master our rodent control methods and find what works best to deal with these pests inside and around homes. It is also 40 years to consider how to best work with our clients so that their needs are met in an affordable and efficient way. Long story short, if you need help with pests like rats, mice, or squirrels inside your Bay Area home, let us help you today.

Contact our team at Bay Pest to discover more about our advanced service offerings and find out more about how we can help you stop rodents from causing trouble for you and your family.