Dealing with a mouse infestation in your home or property is a source of stress. But living with a rat infestation is equally if not more stressful and troublesome. Rats are larger, scarier and a able to cause damage more quickly than mice. Summertime is the time of year when both types of rodents reach peak activity, so you’d be wise to keep informed on what you can do to prevent infestations in your home. If your DIY efforts should fail, keep in mind that there are professional services available to help you get rid of mice from your walls.

Warning Signs

When looking to get rid of mice and rats in your walls, there are several warning signs you should pay attention to that will signal an infestation is taking place. They include:

• Noticing signs of chewing into food packaging in pantries and cupboards. Any food that rodents have made their way into should be discarded immediately.
• Mice and rats are most nocturnal and their activity in the form of chewing and scurrying can mostly be heard at night.
• Mice and rats leave droppings everywhere they go. Both rat and mouse droppings are dark in colour with rat droppings measuring ¾ of an inch in length and mouse droppings measuring a ¼ of an inch.

Rats have gnawed their way into this garage by chewing at the wooden frame that surrounds the door.

Prevention Tips

Among the tips you can follow to discourage rats, mice, and other rodents from making your home theirs, there are several things you can try to do:

Remove all readily available food sources.

Free lunches for rodents on your property need to become a thing of the past. You can make this happen by keeping the food in your cupboards stored in airtight chew proof containers and being sure to clean your kitchen thoroughly after cooking. Also, check to make sure your garbage is placed in bins that are sealed with a tight lid. The idea is to discourage rats and mice from scavenging.

Ensure your home and property are less inviting to rodents.

Rodents don’t like wide open spaces. They much prefer to be tucked away and hidden so keeping your property neat and tidy will help to reduce their numbers. Getting out in your yard to remove clutter, trim shrubs and cut the lawn will help to eliminate rodent harbourage sites. Stored firewood should also be kept up off the ground.

Skedaddle technicians can safely clean up droppings after a rodent infestation.

If the infestation is bad, resort to more drastic measures.

More drastic measures could involve snap traps and even poisons. But be mindful, these tools can have unintended consequences such as foul odours and injury or harm to pets and children.

Keep in mind that there is no simple or fool proof method for getting rid of rodents from your walls and home for good. Traps and poisons only treat the symptoms and do little to address the root cause of a rodent infestation. For long-term results, rodent entry points into the home must be identified and sealed off to prevent future occurrences.

Call Skedaddle for professional help.

There is no substitute for experience when it comes to solving a wildlife infestation problem in your home. Skedaddle is a company that focuses on a humane approach to dealing with infestations, which makes them the go-to resource for infestation issues. With a history that goes back nearly three decades, Skedaddle is both reliable and effective when called upon by troubled homeowners. Contact Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control today and ensure your walls are rat and mice-free.