How to Get Rid of Rodents

Dealing with unwelcome rodents like mice and rats in your home can be frustrating and concerning. These pesky creatures can cause damage, contaminate food, and spread diseases. Taking quick action to eliminate them is crucial. This comprehensive guide will provide you with effective methods for getting rid of mice and rats and keeping them away for good.

What Are the Signs of a Rodent Infestation?

The first step is identifying if you have an active rodent infestation. Watch for these common signs that mice or rats have invaded your home:

4 Ways to Get Rid of Rodents

It can be alarming to know that your home has been taken over by unwanted guests from the Rodentia family. However, you shouldn’t panic and assume that you’ll need to abandon your home, even if you have multiple rodents on your property. Humans and rodents have been chasing each other for centuries, possibly millennia, and we’ve figured out a few ways to get them out of our homes. Use the following methods to begin clearing rats, mice, and other rodents off your property. 

Remove Their Food Sources

Mice and rats can survive on surprisingly small amounts of food. Sealing up all possible food sources is crucial to eliminating them from your home. Here's what you need to do:

• Keep all counters and floors throughout your home scrupulously clean. Immediately sweep up any crumbs, wipe up spills, and regularly mop floors. Even tiny bits of food will attract hungry rodents.
• Store all human and pet food in chew-proof containers made of glass, metal, or durable plastic. Cardboard boxes and plastic bags won't stop determined rodents. Sturdy lidded bins provide the best protection.
• Never leave pet food out overnight. Provide only enough food for your pet to eat at one meal. Pick up any uneaten leftovers right away. Rodents are quick to capitalize on bowls of food left out.
• Take garbage and recycling out regularly to remove food waste. Use bins with tight sealing lids to contain odors. A messy bin overflowing with trash is an open invitation.
• Inspect your pantry for signs of gnaw marks on packaged food. Discard anything showing damage in case it's been contaminated. Then start storing all pantry items in rodent-proof containers.
• Check under and behind kitchen appliances for food debris. Clean thoroughly if you find anything.
• Pick ripe fruit and vegetables from your garden daily. Fallen produce will attract foraging rodents.

Completely eliminating food sources indoors and out will force rodents to look elsewhere to survive. Starving them out is an effective pest control method.

Seal Up Possible Entry Points

Mice can squeeze through extremely tiny openings and rats can compress their bodies to fit through small cracks and holes. Sealing up any gaps and holes greater than 1/4 inch will prevent them from gaining access into your home where food awaits.

• Inspect the entire perimeter of your home, including the foundation, walls, roofline, and around all doors and windows for gaps and holes. Use a flashlight to check carefully.
• Seal up holes with weather stripping, copper mesh, caulk, expanding spray foam, wood lath strips, steel wool, or other durable materials that will deter gnawing.
• Check under exterior doors for openings and install door sweeps if daylight shows.
• Caulk along siding and trim boards where they meet. Look for gaps around outdoor plumbing and electrical fixtures as well.
• Fill foundation cracks and crevices with expanding spray foam or concrete patch products.
• Cover vents and drain openings with fine wire mesh.
• Trim back any tree branches or bushes touching your home that could allow roof access.
• Inside, seal openings around pipes, wiring penetrations, recessed lights, and heat registers.

Regularly inspect your home and fix fresh openings right away before mice or rats move in. Making it impossible for them to physically enter is key.

Set Humane Traps

Trapping is an effective method to capture and eliminate mice and rats infiltrating your house. There are several trap options to consider:

Use enough traps and check them often when combating heavy infestations. Trapping is most effective when combined with other pest control measures.

Apply Natural Rodent Repellents

Mice and rats tend to avoid strong scents. Exploit their sensitive noses by using natural repellents with robust odors.

• Soak cotton balls in peppermint, clove or citrus essential oils. Place them along baseboards, near entry points, and around nesting zones. The smell drives rodents away.
• Sprinkle ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, dried peppermint leaves, or dried cloves in areas where rodents are active.
• Spray concentrated peppermint or citrus oils mixed with water around your home’s exterior perimeter.
• Place open containers of ammonia or vinegar in problem areas. The strong fumes are unpleasant for rodents.

Use repellents in combination with sealing holes, removing food sources, and trapping to boost your control efforts.

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When Should You Call a Professional Exterminator?

For difficult to control rodent infestations, contacting a professional pest control company is advised. Exterminators have specialized training, techniques, and potent products not available to homeowners.

Here’s what you can expect when hiring an exterminator:

• Thorough inspection of your entire property inside and out to find how rodents are getting in, where they're nesting, and what they're eating.
• Strategically placed bait stations and multiple traps customized to the severity of your unique infestation. More bait points means faster elimination.
• Application of powerful rodenticide poisons in areas inaccessible to children and pets to kill rodents but remain safely out of contact.
• Sealing up entryways into your home with durable materials rodents can't chew through. Their access points are now blocked.
• Clearing away clutter, debris piles, woodpiles, or other exterior nesting sites that attract rodents to your yard.
• Follow up appointments and ongoing preventative care to ensure mice or rats don't reinfest your newly secured home.

Though hiring an exterminator costs more upfront, it often ends up saving money in the long run by solving stubborn rodent issues once rather than coping with recurring infestations trying to do it yourself.

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Rodent Prevention Tips

Preventing a rodent infestation in the first place is ideal. Follow these proactive tips:

• Regularly inspect inside and outside your home for new gaps and holes. Use copper mesh, hardware cloth, sheet metal, or concrete to permanently seal openings.
• Install door sweeps under exterior doors and weather stripping around windows and doors to close gaps.
• Keep your landscaping well-maintained. Trim vegetation back from touching your home. Remove wood piles, leaf litter, and other exterior clutter.
• Eliminate moisture sources like leaky pipes, standing puddles, and condensation. Rats and mice need water to survive.
• Store firewood at least 20 feet from your house. Stack neatly off the ground.
• Clean up fallen fruit, nuts, and seeds from your yard. Don't give rodents an easy meal source.
• Use mesh screen vent covers and gaskets around dryer vents, stove and bathroom exhausts. Seal off potential entry routes.
• Ask your neighbors to be diligent as well. Rodents easily spread between nearby properties. A coordinated effort works best.

With vigilant prevention practices, you can avoid dealing with the hassle and risks of having destructive rodents invade your home. Don't provide rodents the essentials they need to move in and multiply.

So, How Do You Get Rid of Rodents?

Dealing with mice and rats infiltrating your home can be frustrating and disturbing. But with diligent effort using traps, natural repellents, removing food attractants, and sealing up entry points, you can eliminate them yourself. Make sure to clean up all droppings and nesting sites to prevent disease exposure. For more severe infestations, call in professional pest control experts. They have the tools and skills to fully eradicate stubborn rodent populations and prevent future invasions. Staying vigilant and proactive will help keep your home free of unwelcome mice and rats for good.

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