Hello from A.N.T.T.S = A North Texas Termite Specialist. We always feel the need to clarify that we don’t just specialise in termite control but all aspects of residential structural pest control including rodent control. Rats & mice can be a huge problem in and around the Dallas / Fort Worth areas. Rodent has been a structural pest even back to the days we occupied caves! Rodents require the same basic needs we do such as food, shelter and water. In a way they can be sort of lazy trying to take advantage of our hard work by letting us gather our foods for storage only to have mice and rats eat off it. Rodents have been a serious pest problem to the human race for centuries. They have been responsible for the spread of disease and caused what most historians believe the plague (The Black Death). It was thought that the disease carrying fleas that infested and feed on the rodents passed it on to humans causing death on a titanic scale whipping out one third of the worlds population. Wasn’t until a few smart people realized that they needed to be a little more concerned with sanitation and with the burning of bodies, infected bedding they stopped the onslaught of death by plague to a manageable degree. So if we have learned anything from our past sanitation is key in pest control! We have come a long way in the pest control industry and have applied IPM (Integrated Pest Management) to our school of thought when it comes to structural pest control service. We focus more on inspection, sanitation and prevention rather than bombarding them with pesticides, and rodenticides. Today’s pest control technician is trained to first inspect the home for the target pest then implement control measures that include blocking, sanitation and finally applying pesticides if needed.
This leads us to our topic of rodent control of your residential structure. There are a few things you can do to lesson your chances of having rats and mice infest your home. First thing is inspection! Walk around the perimeter of your home and think like a rat or bug. Look for easy access and start with those areas first by blocking holes with stainless steel wool, caulking etc. Then move on to smaller entry point like pipe and wire entries, small cracks & crevices. Use caulking and seal up any crack this will help with smaller pest such as ants and spiders but the bigger holes sealed will help deter larger pest such as rodents. Now rats can chew through most materials due to the fact their teeth are super strong and never stop growing so they need to gnaw continuously to stop the teeth from growing through their jaws. So use strong materials such as steel, wire mesh and steel wool. We have found that stainless steel wool works great. Another thing you can look for to find these entry points is look for rub marks rodents are nasty and greasy and use the same trusted route so they leave rub marks than can be seen with a good inspection of your home. Now that you have done your inspection and rodent proofing you need to focus on sanitation. I know most of you will think well we live in a clean house so we don’t have to worry about that. Well people who are real clean still have rodent problems. We leave dog / cat food in open containers, we leave garbage bags in cans without lids etc. You have to realise that the less food and garbage you leave out the less competition you will have if you need to resort to using a rodent bait. If you have a established heavily infested home you will need to buy plastic tubs to store dry foods and keep pet foods in a large locked bin. Water is another thing you need to watch so clean out and dry up any drip pans under your refrigerator fix any leaky pipes under your home. If you have gutters that are blocked and holding water clear them out. All these things can help reduce your risk to a rodent invasion but sometimes if they want to get in they will find a way. So as last resort you may need to go with trapping and baiting ? Some people have the stomach for this but most should leave this part to a professional pest control company. You don’t want to accidentally poison the family pet! Pest control companies are trained in the art of rodent control and can safely treat your home and help educate you to prevent future invasions. Happy Holidays from A.N.T.T.S 817-366-3130