Murrieta's Complete Guide To Effective Rodent Control
Rodents, rats, and mice are responsible for expensive damage to California homes more than any other invasive pest. They chew up the walls and furniture, spread infectious diseases, and contaminate the food in your home.
In the Murrieta area, you're most likely to run into the following types of rodents around your property:
- House mice: House mice multiply fast and are the most common rodent to settle into your house. These mice grow to 7 inches long, including their long and spindly tail. They are gray with lighter, cream-colored undersides.
- Norway rats: You're most likely to run into these rats in your basement or outbuildings. They are the biggest of the common rat species in California and grow up to a foot long, including the tail. They are brown with white undersides.
- Roof rats: As their name suggests, roof rats are exceptional climbers and are most likely to infest your attic or build nests on the roof itself. They are a touch smaller than Norway rats, up to 11 inches in length, and usually black or dark brown.
Let's take a closer look at the signs to watch for to recognize a rodent infestation, learn how to keep rodents out of your house, and how to get rid of rodents if they're already there. If DIY methods fail, find out about good pest control in Murrieta.
How To Tell If It's Rodents Infesting Your Home
The signs of a rodent infestation are not easy to spot since most rodents are nocturnal and hide well. Watch for the following signs your Murrieta home might have a rodent problem:
- Gnaw marks on the lower walls and legs of the furniture
- Bigger, capsule-shaped rat droppings or smaller, rod-shaped ones left by mice
- Rub marks on the walls left by the pathways frequented by rodents
- Damaged food products and teeth marks on the packaging
- Night noises in walls or attic
- Odors from mouse urine
If you've spotted a live rodent darting across the floor, keep in mind that mice only start to venture out from the immediate area around their nest once the colony grows, and it needs to go further for food.
The Damage And Dangers Rodents Can Create In Your Home
Rodents settling into a house bring a host of serious issues a homeowner must face. They gnaw on the walls and furniture legs to keep the size of their ever-growing teeth manageable; rats and mice also contaminate food and spread multiple serious illnesses, such as :
- Leptospirosis
- Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM)
- Tularemia
- Salmonellosis
- Rat-bite fever
- Trichinosis
Exposure to mouse droppings also seems to cause asthma attacks, and the parasites that get into your house on the backs of rodents, such as fleas and ticks, carry in a set of serious pathogens and bacteria of their own.
Factors That Attract Rodents To Your Property
Rodents in Murrieta are attracted to your house for two simple reasons; food and shelter. Let's take a look at a few tips to make your house less attractive to rodents:
- Seal any cracks or openings in the outside walls over 1/4 inch in size.
- Move the stacks of firewood several feet away from the outside walls of your home.
- Make sure to store food in tightly sealed glass or steel containers.
- Store your garbage in tightly sealed, rat-proof garbage cans.
If prevention tactics don't do the trick and you've found rodents in your house, it's time to involve a rodent control professional!
Contact The Professionals For Total Rodent Control For Your Home
An experienced pest control professional will determine what pests snuck into your home and develop a species-specific rodent control approach to get them out.
If you're struggling with a rodent infestation, give Bull's Eye Pest Control a call today to get started and to learn more about our residential and commercial pest control services in Murrieta.