Rodents like rats and mice need three essential things to live: food, water, and shelter. Unfortunately, they get all these three things in abundance from our homes.
These furry streaks shouldn’t be tolerated in your home, as they are difficult to get rid of and potentially dangerous. Not only do they damage your property by causing structure damage but also spread diseases that they carry.
While you can always call our professionals at My Guy Pest and Lawn if you are looking for Orem rodent control but here are some ways to keep them out of your home.
How to Get Rid of Rodents
Your best strategy would be to keep them out of your home because once they infest your property, it can be pretty hard to get rid of them.
Here are 5 effective ways you can try to keep rodents out of your home.
1. Fill up those Holes, Cracks, and Gaps
Small holes, cracks, and gaps in your house are the easiest entry points for rats. You don’t have to put down a trap or bait straightaway. Firstly, find out where these rodents are coming from. Mostly it is through the small holes and gaps in different parts of your house and those gaps should be filled up first. Even a quarter size of a hole is enough for a rat to slip in your house.
Seal those holes up with proper materials. These could be a piece of mesh, cloth, caulk, steel wool, cement, or plaster, depending on the area you are fixing.
Best if to use steel mesh to cover up the gaps and holes as mice cannot chew through the steel wires. Steel wool is pretty cheap and easily available at your nearest hardware store. Simply stuff up the holes with steel wool until fully covered and you should be good to go for the time being with rodents.
If there is any hole in a wall, you can fill it. Similarly, weather-stripping the doors can also help to stop invaders in their tracks.
2. Light & Ammonia Treatment: The Magic!
Mice, being nocturnal animals, hate to live in well-lit areas. You could try strobing lights as a way of deterring an infestation. Quite often, basements are dark and not lit as often as other rooms of your house. Try turning on some light.
However, even after turning on the lights these rodents are still present, the next thing you should do is deter them with ammonia.
Ammonia is something commonly use to make your glass shine. It can potentially help to deter rodents from your property. Fill up a spray bottle with ammonia and spray it near the entry points or any place where you think they are currently hiding.
Make sure to use protective clothing and equipment whenever you are applying any type of chemicals.
3. Take Help from Your Pets
We have all watched the cartoon series, Tom & Jerry. Tom always finds it hard to catch the mice but in real life, your pets can catch and kill mice quite quickly. Cats in the home typically work best as they love hunting down mice. They can sense their presence and will hunt them, even if they are hiding in very small areas.
Now, you don’t need to train a cat to hunt down mice as they naturally want to do this.
4. Avoid Feeding Them
Rats and mice have a very sharp sense of smell and can trace down food from far away. They usually find things to eat around your property and if you are not careful about that, your property is their next best place to live.
Garbage cans are the best place for rats to pick up food from. You should cover them properly.
If you have any plants and trees producing fruits and vegetables, make sure that you pick them up as soon as they ripen. When fruits and vegetables are ripe, they attract these rodents. Finally, if you have pets at home, make sure your pet food is sealed and that it is inaccessible to rodents.
5. Install Gutter Guards
Gutters are an important part of every home as they help to drain down the water off the roof. However, open gutters are a favorite place of rodents to linger and search for food. You can try looking at the open gutters at night and you might find a rodent sitting there.
Best way to cut this entry point is to install gutter guards, which helps to keep rodents out of your gutters and house. It will also help to reduce time spent on cleaning them up when leaves start falling.
Conclusion
Even after trying everything you are still unable to get rid of rodents, contact us today. My Guy Pest and Lawn has been helping households in Utah to get rid of rodents. We know how to effectively eliminate rodents.
If you want us to help you get rid of rodents, feel free to give us a call today and get a free estimate.