Why you should NOT ignore signs of rodents in your home!
You go to bed, turn out the lights and wait for the darkness to consume your mind as sleep takes over. As you’re about to drift off into dreamland, you hear it. The rats are back, and it sounds like they’re hosting a UFC tournament for their friends as they tumble and jump around.
Rodents in your home are a serious problem. You can’t leave it alone, hoping they’ll move on to another property. If you fail to take action, you will end up with a massive infestation on your property that’s challenging to eliminate.
Rats and mice bring health risks into your home, and they cause huge amounts of property damage. If you see rodents on your property, you need to call pest professionals for immediate extermination.
Let’s unpack why you should not ignore signs of rodents in your home!
What are the Dangers Associated with Rat Infestations in Your Home?
We all know that leaving rodents to roam your property is asking for trouble. When the rats or mice have free range to move anywhere, they want, they will cause huge issues with disease and property damage. Let’s examine the risks of rat and mouse infestations to your property and family.
Diseases
Rats and mice are harbingers of disease and pestilence. Rats brought the ‘Black Plague’ to the UK in the mid-1300s, killing tens of thousands of people. Rat infestations are responsible for spreading more than 35 dangerous diseases, including aggressive pathogens like hantavirus, salmonellosis, leptospirosis, and tularemia.
Rats transmit these pathogens through their feces and urine. As these excretions break down, they enter the air column. The airborne excretions attach to dust particles, spreading throughout your home. Even if you can’t see the rats, it doesn’t mean you can escape breathing in these contaminants.
For this reason, you should leave rat nests alone and call a professional to handle the problem. Disrupting the structure of the nest spreads these airborne particles. If you’re not wearing a respirator, you’ll breathe them into your lungs, where the pathogens create an infection.
Rats and mice also host parasites like fleas, ticks, and mites. If they find their way into your home, it creates a severe health risk for your family.
Property Damage and Fire Risk
Along with the threat of disease, rodents cause massive property damage, especially when they breed into a large infestation. Rodent teeth never stop growing, so they have a persistent urge to chew on things.
Rats love chewing through the plastic casing on wiring, creating fire hazards in your roof and walls. Rats can gnaw on plastic and metal pipes, wooden joists and beams, and even soft concrete structures. They also love shredding insulation in attics and roofs when creating their nests.
Top Signs You Have a Rodent Problem
Many homeowners don’t realize they have a problem until they have a serious infestation. By the time you become aware of the situation, the rodents have an established nest on your property. Call pest control professionals near you if you notice the following signs of rodent infestation in your home, business premises, or commercial property.
Rat or Mice Droppings
Droppings are a clear sign that you have a rodent problem. However, it might be challenging to spot the droppings. The rats may concentrate their fecal matter in a specific area out of view. Common places to search for signs of droppings include behind the refrigerator, the back of cupboards, or inside the attic or roof.
The areas don’t get cleaned as often as other areas in your home due to them being difficult to access. Rats start assessing your property the moment they move in, determining the best places on your property to go undetected.
Musty Odor
Rodents produce a distinctive musty odor that’s unique and easy to identify. Rats use urine trails to find their way around your property. While these trails aren’t visible, they start to emit an odor after a few weeks or months as the urine accumulates.
If you have rodents in your home, they’ll come out after dark and run over worktops in the kitchen, looking for food.
They’ll also contaminate chopping boards, benchtops, and other surfaces, creating a massive health risk. If you notice the presence of musty odors in your home, call pest control professionals for the immediate extermination of the rodents.
Property Damage
The constant breeding of rats makes them one of the most destructive pests ever entering your home. If rodents damage your smoke detectors or you notice issues with your electrical system, it could be a sign of rodent infestation.
Check the piping around your property for signs of gnawing, and go up into the attic to check on the state of your insulation. If you notice any indication of chewing, call the exterminators right away.
Nocturnal Noises
Noises at nighttime are a dead giveaway of rodent infestations. When the lights go out, rats and mice come out to play. Turning off the lights is like reigning the dinner bell for rodents. Rats and mice conduct activities like scavenging, fighting, serenading, and mating at night when they have less chance of being seen.
If you hear scurrying and squealing inside your roof or attic at night, you likely have a severe rat infestation on your property. This problem won’t slow down or go away by itself. It will only get worse with time. While nocturnal noises are a common sign of rodent infestation, you probably won’t hear their activities until the nest reaches a sizeable infestation.
How Do You Remove Rodents from Your Property?
So, how do you get the rats and mice to vacate your property? Rats breed fast, producing 12 to 15 pups at a time. Typically, rats can birth a litter in the fall and spring, meaning they’ll infest a property within a few months if you don’t do anything to stop it.
Rodents are highly adaptable and intelligent pests. You’ll have to eliminate the existing nest from your home and ensure your property doesn’t fall victim to future infestation. Some homeowners assume that if they have a tidy, clean, new home, they don’t have to worry about rodents, but that’s not the case.
Regardless of its condition, rodents will take refuge in your home. They don’t have any idea of property values. They just see it as a place to raise their brood.
Your home presents the ideal living conditions for rodents. It’s warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and they have food and water readily available. It’s like they’re moving into a hotel with room service, receiving all the protection they need from predators like snakes and cats.
Bo building or structure is airtight, and rats can squeeze through gaps or holes the size of a quarter. The air escaping from your home’s roof or walls is like a GPS guiding the rodents to the entrance. Rats have ingenious strategies for finding their way around your home. They can even crawl up the gutters to access the roof.
Leave Rodent Control to the Professionals
Don’t leave rodents to roam freely throughout your home or business premises. Failing to handle the situation early means you will have a sizeable infestation that’s challenging to eradicate. Take action and call a professional extermination service as soon as you notice signs of rodents on your property.
Pest control professionals have the right strategies and tools to successfully eliminate the rodent’s nest and prevent further infestation of your property. The team will visit your property for a free inspection and assess the situation.
Professional pest control services handling your rodent problem provide effective, lasting results for your property. Don’t hesitate to call pest control experts and eradicate the rats from your home or business premises. The longer you wait, the more challenging it is to eliminate the rodents, so don’t delay.
