Plano, TX homes are outrun by rodents like rats, mice, and squirrels every year. Various types and species are common in Plano, especially rats often called ‘’the rats of Plano.” Rodents cause great damage and havoc to homes. Year after year, there is an outcry from Plano homeowners over rodent invasions. That is why rodent control is critical.
Understand the difference between a Rat and a Mouse and how to identify them.
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How to Identify if You Have Rodents In Your Home
How to Rid Your Home of Rodents – Mice and Rats
How Rodents Pro in TX Can Help
How Mice and Rats Damage Homes
Diseases Spread by Rodents – Mice, and Rats
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Why Plano, TX? Climate defines the habitat of rodents. Rodents do not like cold conditions. Plano, TX has a subtropical warm climate making it a favorite for Texas rats and other rodents. Infestations increase as winter nears as rodents search for a warm place to stay. Rodents spend 80% of the wintertime inside homes. In Plano, TX the terrain is flat with few trees and no variation of terrain. Plano’s mild winters and hot summers make it an ideal environment for rodents to mate and multiply. Unfortunately, this turns into a manifestation in a short period. They cause chaos through the destruction of home structures and they spread diseases. This is why rodent control is essential.
The rodent problem in Plano, TX is compounded by the impact they have on homes. They are a danger to home structures. Rats are intelligent rodents and reproduce fast. They chew your walls, electricals, insulation, and any wooden structures in your home. The costs from this damage can be thousands of dollars in repairs only. Another concern is the health of you and your family. Rodents carry disease and disease-causing parasites. It is important to implement preventative rodent control and maintenance for rodent-free homes. To do this, you need the services of rodent pro like Safe Pro Pest Control in Plano, TX.
There are telltale signs that you have rodents in your home and professionals in rodent control, know exactly what to look for. You can find evidence of rodents throughout all seasons but especially in winter. Winter is the period rodents look for warmer environments inside homes.
Due to their prolific mating habits, you will often see rodents running across the room. While they do so, they make noises or sounds that are audible to you. You will see stains from their feet prints, or urine stains on your walls or cabinets. Try sprinkling talcum powder on your floors or counters and you may track their trails.
Rodents, like rats, have very poor eyesight. Their whiskers act as navigation from their nest to their source of food and back. Grease from their whiskers’ fur will lead you to their nests. Also, sighting of their nests near the infested areas will tell you they are present. When you see rodents running around your home in the day, there is a likelihood of a large infestation. This is the time to call a rodent pro like Safe Pro Pest Control in Plano, TX.
When you find droppings around your home, it is a sign of an infestation. You can determine the kind of rodent you are dealing with by the size and shape of the droppings. It is more often the size of a point of a pen. If the droppings are fresh, they will be dark in color and moist. The locations for the droppings will be near the food source, like cabinets or under the sink. Frequent sightings of dropings is a sign the rodents have invaded your home.
Rodents will gnaw or chew on all surfaces and materials. If you have an infestation, you will find items like food packages with teeth marks. Food, including fruits and nuts, left uncovered will also have prints of their teeth. They leave food crumbs in various places around the home, like inside cabinets and cupboards. Charred papers, wires, and holes in cartons and walls are another sign of rodent activity. You may also notice a large amount of chewed food and droppings around trash cans.
The foul smell from rodent urine and droppings can be easily detected by pets in your home. If your pets consistently go in a certain direction, they may be following a foul smell of a dead rat, their urine, or droppings.
Rodent pros have come up with a modern way of detecting the presence of rodents in your home. They do this by installing cameras in the attic. This technique is especially useful after you have carried out an extermination. By installing cameras, the rodent pro confirms there is no remnant of the rodent infestation. Companies like Safe Pro Pest Control Company install game cameras in the home attic, the area where the rodent’s main activities take place. The cameras then watch and monitor if there are any rodent movements. If there is no detection of movement, the cameras are switched off and removed.
Prevention is key to maintaining a rodent free home. Once there is an infestation, it means more needs to be done. It is time to call a rodent pro. Control and prevention alone will not give you a permanent solution if you have an infestation. Installing maintenance measures alongside control measures will help to deal with the menace. Here are ways you can prevent them from entering your home.
Food left uncovered is an attraction to rodents. The critical thing in rodent control is not to give them what they want, namely food, water, and shelter. Rodents love to devour food-based products, especially fruits and nuts for mice. Rats are intelligent when it comes to looking for food. Cover leftover food in tightly closed plastic containers. Garbage should be covered all the time. Nuts, fruits, and plants from your garden should be picked up as soon as they ripen. Pet food should not be left exposed outside. Rodents build their nests close to their source of food.
At the workplace, avoid carrying food to the office. If you do, ensure that your employees maintain clean worktops. Any food carried to the office should be in tightly closed containers. Do not pour food into the trash cans and leave them uncleared overnight. Maintain an integrated pest management system at the workplace.
Eradicate the harboring of rodents by sealing any entry points into your building. For example, check the overlaps in roofing, foundation structures, and attics. Also, mend any broken sewers as they are entry points for rodents. Any small opening that is a quarter an inch in your building will become an entry point for rodents. They can squash themselves into coin sizes to gain entry. They also hate to stay in clear sights where they are exposed and do not travel in the open. Clean and clear bushes and shrubs from around your home and cut any tree branches overhanging your roof.
There are various methods you can use to kill any rodents that have entered your home. You can trap and kill them using bait and poison. This method may prove tricky due to the high intelligence of the rodents. Put traps close to their nesting areas away from human activities. Once you have killed them, place in tightly closed containers before you dispose of them. The use of traps as baits may need reinforcement like poisoning.
The first step to prevention and rodent control is to rodent-proof your home. Both at the construction phase and throughout the seasons. This includes all openings that are entry points. For example vent pipes, and other small openings. Utilize the services of a rodent pro like Safe Pro Pest Control in Plano, TX to carry out annual inspections. They will help you to come up with inspection schedules throughout the year, to check for any signs of infestation. This way, you will save your home from destruction and the costs of extensive renovations.
If rodents are outside in your yard, they have a greater chance to gain entry into the interior of your home. So, clear those overgrown trees, bushes, and thickets that serve as hiding places for rats and mice. Keep the grass and vegetation as low as possible and a few feet away from the house. Food stored in the exterior of your home should be above the ground. External bins are a source of food for rodents. Keep them sealed, including the garbage cans. Clutter like scrap metal from old cars or instruments can become nesting areas. Any wood that is lying in the yard becomes a hiding place. Clear them from your yard and put wood piles at least 18 inches above the ground.
Rodent infestation of rats and mice is a health risk to you and your family. They are vicious and savage to your property, causing critical damage. Why take the risk? Call a professional like Safe Pro Pest Control. When you see the telltale signs of an infestation, then you know it is time to call a rodent pro. “Do it yourself” techniques may not produce the results you desire.
Rodent Pros will thoroughly inspect all areas of your home, both exterior and interior. They have great expertise in rodent entry points and nesting areas. This way, you are assured there will be no remnants after extermination.
Experts like Safe Pro Pest Control will also offer after-sale service inspections. These take place after extermination to ensure that your home is rodent-free. This will assure you of the safety of your home.
Rodent pros will help homeowners to implement preventive measures for infestations. They will also detail the signs to look for in case of an infestation and develop annual maintenance schedules. Preventing rodent infestation in the first place is easier than controlling them when there is an infestation.
Rodent pros have the right expertise, equipment, and chemicals for rodent control. They will remove and dispose of any rodents, trapped and dead, and seal all points of entry. Their methods are safe for the environment, too. This is a guarantee.
You can contract diseases like ‘Rat-bite’ fever and plague through contact with rodents. This can be through bites or scratches from a live rodent or by touching dead rodents. This includes flea bites from rodents that are infected.
Symptoms include fever, headache, general body weakness, and coughing. With plague, one may experience shortness of breath and extreme abdominal pain. It can turn septic. But, when detected early, it is treatable with antibiotics.
Salmonellosis, Leptospirosis, Lymphocytic chorio-meningitis (LCM) are common and are contracted through contaminated food or drinks. This results in food poisoning. LCM is a virus transmitted from touching or breathing the rodents’ dust, urine, and feces. The symptoms include fatigue, joint pains, and muscle aches. One may also experience headaches, abdominal pains, and nausea. Infections like the LCM can be fatal if not early detected and treated.
Rodent control in Plano, TX should be an all-season activity. You have a choice between “Do it yourself” techniques or the services of a rodent pro. But why take the risk? When you see signs of an infestation, it is time to call a rodent pro. The expertise they offer will save you money, headache, home, and your health. Plano pest control professionals will ensure that there are no remnants of rodents in your home.
Effective rodent control techniques begin with understanding rodents, their nature, behavior, and other characteristics. This will help you to determine the control methods needed. To put effective measures in place, it is also imperative to know what type of rodents you are fighting. A method that may work for one may not work for another.
Rodents are a danger not only to your home but also to the health of your loved ones. So, do not take the risk. The havoc they cause can cost you thousands of dollars to repair. Unfortunately, you cannot always repair your health. You can rid your home of rodents, however, by taking action.
There are various techniques you can use. For example, improving hygiene and sanitation at home, destroying their habitat areas, and sealing off all entry points. They can be killed by the use of bait and poisoning. An infestation is best handled by a rodent pro. Take control and call a rodent pro near you. Contact Safe Pro Pest Control for a full and extensive inspection of your household or your commercial property in Plano, TX.
There are various rodent extermination methods, including setting traps and utilizing poison.
Snap traps are commonly referred to as mousetraps that rapidly kill rodents. While this is the most common DIY method, most homeowners avoid them as they are tricky to place where they are effective – not to mention the displeasure of having to dispose of the trap themselves once they are activated.
This is where an experienced pest control specialist comes in like SafePro Pest Control. Our technicians are licensed, insured, and bonded so they are trained to inspect your home inside and out and determine the best course of action to rid your home of rats effectively and safely.
We can also provide a list of preventative measures that you can implement to keep rodents from entering your home or property again.
Understanding rodents, their nature, behavior, and other features are the first steps in developing effective rodent control methods. It’s also crucial to know what kind of rodents you’re up against in order to put efficient precautions in place.
Here are some of the most effective methods for rodent control:
Improving cleanliness and sanitation at home
Removing their habitat regions, and blocking off all entry points
Using bait and poison to kill rodents
Calling a rodent expert to deal with an infestation.
Contact a local rodent exterminator like Safe Pro Pest Control for a thorough inspection of your home or business in Plano, Texas.
When used correctly, poison can be an effective alternative for getting rid of mice and rodents. Unfortunately, mouse poison can be dangerous to humans as well.
Mouse baits are commonly made of cereal grains, peanut butter, and other foods that mice find appealing. Baits are usually in the form of a cake or pellet and are kept in a plastic tray or bag that the mouse may chew through. Anticoagulants are the most common type of rodenticide. Vacor, yellow phosphorus, strychnine, and arsenic are examples of other mouse poisons.
There is a reason Safe Pro Pest Control has been chosen eight years in a row as the Angie’s list award winner for pest control in Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
Let’s take a closer look at what makes Safe Pro Pest Control the #1 voted rat extermination eight years in a row.
