Rats and mice are unwelcome guests that can pose severe health hazards in homes. They can contaminate your food supplies and surfaces and damage your belongings. Recognizing their presence is essential to effective rodent control. Pest control experts at https://hemipest.com/ specialize in rodent identification and control solutions tailored to your specific needs. When inspecting your home, they will look for the following signs of rodent activity to confirm the existence of an infestation:
Droppings
The presence of rat or mouse droppings indicates rodent activity. These rodents tend to leave behind pellet-shaped droppings along walls, near food sources, or in cabinets. When fresh, these droppings are soft and moist. But older droppings are dry and brittle. Finding rat or mouse droppings in areas like your pantry, kitchen, or garage strongly indicates an active rodent infestation. Prompt control can prevent the issue from becoming worse.
Gnaw Marks
Rats and mice have strong teeth that tend to grow constantly. Because of this, such rodents must gnaw on materials such as plastic, wood, and electrical wiring to prevent their teeth from growing. Finding gnaw marks on doors, baseboards, food packaging, or cabinets means that rats or mice have infested your living space. In this case, you should contact a pest control company that can address the issue for you. Waiting to seek professional service means leaving exposed wires to cause electrical fires. A pest control expert can identify and address infested areas.
Unusual Noise
Rats and mice are active at night. That is why you may hear them scurrying, squeaking, or scratching from walls, under floors, or ceilings. This noise indicates their movements as they look for food and nesting materials. Professional rodent control services can find the source of such noise and address an infestation.
Nests or Nesting Materials
Rodents create nests with materials such as fabric, paper, insulation, or plant matter. Typically, they build nests in hidden and warm areas like inside walls, in attics, or behind appliances. If you find pieces of shredded materials, this could indicate nesting activity. The presence of a nest means rats or mice have settled and are continuously reproducing. This results in a bigger infestation when left unchecked. A pest control professional can find this nest and remove it safely.
Strange Pest Behavior
Pets can detect rodent activity before you do. Once they do, they may stare at specific spots for a long time, paw at walls, or act anxious around places with rodents. If your cats or dogs are behaving out of the ordinary, particularly near walls, cabinets, or under furniture, this could mean a rodent issue.
Holes
Rats and mice chew holes in different items. Also, they chew holes to enter your house. They also do so through furniture to build nests inside. To get a tasty meal, they can create holes in food packaging. If you find holes in your house, you may be dealing with rodents. However, since a lot of pests can make holes, you may need to combine this sign with others.
Strange Smell
Rodent urine has a strong odor. When rats and mice urinate, the smell cannot be ignored. The longer they have invaded your house, the more obvious the aroma will be. However, once you notice the smell, you may be dealing with a serious rodent problem.
Runways
Floors and walls, terraces, retaining structures, power cables, pipelines, and tree limbs are rat paths. You can notice rodent tracks and pathways if the pests are active in your house. You may find urine stains, footprints, scratch markings, or excrement.
As rodents carry harmful diseases and cause serious structural damage to your home, hiring a pest control company to eliminate them is essential. Pest control experts will use specialized traps and baits and strategically place them to keep rodents at bay. They may also seal entry points to prevent a re-infestation.