Everybody loves coming home to a nice warm cozy house during those cold months. Sadly rodents share this feeling. As stated by pest control experts, a falling temperature and lessening food supply drives rodents to invading over 21 million American households in the winter season. Most rodents survive on seeds and plants, but when winter’s freeze or summer’s drought destroys these food sources, rodents will often look to our homes in the quest for food. Visit this site for further information on home pest control.
Rats and mice come into homes by way of an undersized exterior cavity in the structure. Larger rodents can fit through an opening of 1/2 an inch, while a small mouse can slip through something as small as 1/4 of an inch. In addition to squeezing into tiny places, all rodents are excellent climbers and can get into your home via utility openings and vents just by following the pipes and lines. Having rodents infest your home can be dangerous to your health and life. Rodents are seen as a fire hazard the world over, this is down to their continual gnawing of electrical wiring, they are also bad for your health thanks to the many diseases they carry and spread through excrement and bites.
Carrying more than 200 human pathogens rodents are a petri dish of disease. Some of which, like the plague or Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), can lead to death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that HPS, which is usually spread through the environment via airborne particles from fecal matter, saliva, or urine of deer mice, has been found in 30 states in the last 15 years. Almost 35 percent of the 465 people who have contracted HPS have died.
Also, the plague is a rarity these days, but there still are an average of 12 reported cases each year in the United States. You can account rodents to negative effects on humans throughout history. During the 14th century the plague destroyed many lives in Europe, spread by rats it is clear how dangerous they can be, especially when you consider they still carry dangerous diseases to this day. Do not get too worried however, only very few diseases rodents carry are deadly, although infestations should still not be taken lightly. You will gain a deeper understanding about local home pest control by checking out that resource.
It is thought by many people that rodents will only be found in dirty homes. Specialists concur that food availability and untidiness can emphasize the appeal of a house, but rodents are simply unscrupulous and will enter any building offering easy access. There are some things you can look out for to determine if you have a rodent infestation in your home. There are some easily spotted marks of a rodent presence such as dark colored droppings about 1/4 to 1/2 in length, oily smears along walls that they pass by frequently, food boxes, door frames or furniture legs that have been gnawed, and any rustling sounds or other sounds of movement that seem to come from pantries, walls or ceilings.
When you think you have an infestation immediately get the help of a pest control operator. Infestations can usually be handled with the use of rodenticides and traps. When an expert applies one of these methods, you can be sure that the results will be better than when you do it on your own. When the temperature begins to drop, use the following strategies to help thwart rodents from entering your home. Avoid stockpiling firewood near your residence and make sure that there is no direct ground contact where it is stored. If you have any random piles of debris, stones, bricks, leaves or any such things around your home then clear these away. When these are left lying around the outside of your home, they will provide shelter and may cover up any entry point so that you cannot see it.
Cover up any fissures or cracks in the house that are wider than 1/4″. Bigger openings need to be filled with wire mesh or steel wool prior to applying any sealant. Make sure any vents are covered with tight 1/4 inch cloth. Normal insect screening does not get rid of rodents, so set up a tight fitting weather strip along the base of every door. Routinely trim tree branches to keep them from hanging out and above the house, and clip bushes back and away from the structure’s borders.
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