Rodent Control: Keeping Your House Pest Free

Rodent control is important for a number of reasons. Few households treasure the idea of playing host to rats and mice, unless they are safely kept behind glass. But these animals are more than just fodder for "gross-out" anxiety attacks. They can cause serious health problems merely through their presence. With their droppings, these beasts can spread disease through a household's food and create illness. That's saying nothing of the danger they themselves pose through their bites. If you have a problem with rats and mice that traps won't solve, you need to control calling professionals out to your house. If things haven't gotten to that point, here are some tips for keeping them away to begin with.

Rodent control should begin by making sure your home is as impenetrable as possible. It is unlikely that you will be able to cover up every potential entry method. Rats and mice are experts at getting through small spaces, which can make creating a fortress a challenge indeed. Nonetheless, you can certainly go a long ways toward doing this by covering up the obvious holes. Take a walk around your house and use caulk to close any gaps you can find in both the walls and the foundation. If you are at all interested in keeping a cat, they also can provide a nice front line of defense.

One of the most effective ways to practice rodent control is to keep a clean and tidy home. This doesn't mean simply vacuuming every once in a while, but paying attention to the outside of the home as well. Rats and mice like to nestle up in abandoned paper and cardboard, so try to make sure you don't provide them with a cozy home along the walls of your house. Keep your shrubbery trimmed back and consider keeping a distance between your house and any plants you choose to grow. Obviously, garbage cans with trash in them provide not only shelter but food as well. If you are serious about making an inhospitable environment for pests, you need to lid your trash carefully and tightly.

If you already have a problem with rats and mice in the home, you should definitely consider calling out a professional service to address the issue. You can buy traps and poisons of all kinds at the local hardware store, but you should exercise great caution before using them. If you have pets or small children, they could pose a problem. A professional service will select the best possible strategy for rodent control and will be able to provide you with advice on how to keep them from coming back.