Rats and mice constantly leave droppings. Fresh droppings are dark in color and soft in texture, but after three days they harden and lose the dark color. Rats always travel the same runways and leave “smudge marks”, a buildup of dirt and oil from their fur; along walls, pipes, gnawed openings, beams, and rafters.
Rats keep runways free of cobwebs, debris and dust. Outside, runways appear as narrow paths through vegetation.
Rats and mice make sounds when climbing, clawing and moving.
Footprints and tail drags can be seen in dusty locations.
Gnaw marks are a sure sign of rats and mice.
If dogs or cats unexplainably get excited, rodents are probably moving about in wall voids or ceilings.
Interesting Rodent Trivia In some cities, the sewer rat population outnumbers the people population. In Australia, one farmer recorded 28,000 dead mice on his porch after one night’s effort to poison them and 70,000 in a wheat field in one afternoon. Each year, rodents cause more than one billion dollars in damage in the United States alone. Norway rats can swim as far as 1/2 mile in open water, dive through water plumbing traps and travel in sewer lines, even against strong water currents. Unlike the teeth of other mammals, the front incisors of rodents never stop growing. Rodents constantly gnaw anything softer than their teeth, including wood and aluminum sheeting. This continuous gnawing keeps their front teeth front sharp and from growing to long.
A rat can drop down 50 feet without injury. What’s more, rats have a 36 inch vertical jump and a 48 inch horizontal jump. Rats can also scale rough vertical surfaces and walk along thin ropes and wires. Roof rats are excellent climbers and can climb the outside of three inch diameter pipes or any size pipe within three inches of a wall. Rats are capable of climbing the inside of vertical pipes that are 1 1/2 to 4 inches in diameter.
A mouse can jump down 12 feet without injury. What’s more, mice have a 12 inch vertical jump. Mice can also scale rough vertical surfaces and walk along thin ropes and wires. Rats can fit through openings that are as small as ½ inch in diameter, and mice fit through openings as small as ¼ inch Rats begin breeding when they are 5 – 7 weeks old. Approximately 21 days after breeding, they will have a litter of 6 – 12 pups. They breed about 5 times a year, averaging 30 – 72 pups per year. Mice are similar in that they breed when they are 5 – 8 weeks old. They average about 7 pups per litter and breed about 8 – 10 times per year, averaging 55 – 70 pups per year.
Our fully trained and licensed personnel will do an inspection of your home/building and determine rodent entry areas and the best method of excluding them from continuing to enter the structure. We can provide the exclusion repair work if you desire.
We will also determine contributing factors that have attracted the rodents and suggest methods to reduce their infestation. Some suggestions may be as simple as storing dog food in a tamper resistant plastic container.
We will then determine the best way to eliminate interior and exterior infestations. We provide trapping services in the interior and tamper resistant exterior bait stations for the exteriors