October 21, 2020
The leaves are changing color and the temperatures are dropping. Winter will be here soon, and with it come mice and rats that want to stay warm, safe, and fed in your structures. Do you know what the signs of mice and rats are, and what their habits are like? Follow our blog for more tips on how to keep your home and office pest-free and information on our methods.
Do I Have Mice or Rats?
Signs of mice or rats include:
- Smudges or greasy marks along baseboards. Mice and rats travel close to these surfaces, and their fur leaves oil that accumulates.
- Feces that resembles dark grains of rice.
- Spoiled food, especially if the container has been chewed open.
- Rustling noises in the walls, behind and under furniture, attics, and crawl spaces.
If you see a mouse or a rat, call us right away. Mice and rats don’t want you to see them, so if you see one, there are more. Mice and rats breed profusely and need to be removed right away once their presence is detected.
Why to Call the Pest Pros
Mice and rats carry diseases and parasites, plus the filth they walk through every day. The diseases and parasites mice and rats carry can affect humans, our pets, and our livestock. These include salmonella, hantavirus, and leptospirosis—the plague as well. They chew up our buildings and leave their waste everywhere they go.
What is the Difference Between Mice and Rats?
How do you tell the difference between a mouse and a rat? Rats are generally larger with longer bodies and smaller heads compared to body size. Rats can and do climb but generally prefer to live in lower spaces, while mice think nothing of heights and are very agile. They both enjoy fruits and grains the most but are not picky with what they eat and will help themselves to food left out or in containers they can chew open, like plastic bags. Mice and rats do not hibernate during the winter but work harder to find food for their large families.
Who to Call for Mice and Rats
Rochester Pest Pro is the company to call to resolve problems with mice and rats. We can seal up most entry points, but during the initial inspection, we’ll give you guidance on any vulnerable areas that we can’t fix, such as anything that requires a mason. We remove mice and rats safely for you—no remains to clean up, no chemical treatments that are harmful for you or your pets. We use the safest and most humane traps available. After removing mice and rats, we treat the area to make sure they won’t come back. You also get counseling on how to store material mice and rats like to eat and nest in. We recommend quarterly maintenance that allows us to check on and replenish outdoor bait stations and check for any openings. Our goal is to deter them from getting into your space in the first place.
Winter Pest Control
If you suspect that your space is harboring mice or rats, give Rochester Pest Pro a call. Mice and rats are intelligent and (sometimes) cute, and definitely have a place in our lives. They are an important part of the ecosystem, help us with research, and can also be pets. We help keep our relationship between mice and rats a positive one. Find our contact information here.