“Rodents” is a word that reminds everyone of gnawed clothes, chewed food, and numerous diseases they spread. Short and simple, they are the most unwelcome guests that are ready to join every party like a rockstar.
We all know and have seen various types of rodents in our homes and offices. But have you ever wondered how many types of rats exist? Which rodents invade our homes? How can a professional rat exterminator help?
Too many unanswered questions! Considering this, we have created an extensive guide to help you find most of the answers. This guide will lead you toward everything you want to know about rodents, including what they are, their types, and how you can keep them out of your home.
Without further ado, let’s uncover “What are Rodents?”, and you have a lot more standing in the queue!
What are Rodents?
Rodents are small vertebrate mammals known for their ever-growing front teeth and ability to dig for habitat. They are generally tiny and use their small bodies to make an entry into your property. Like all mammals, all types of rodents have warm blood and can keep themselves comfortable even in harsh weather.
Despite being warm-blooded mammals, they look for a warm and comfortable place to build their habitat. That’s why rodents consider your home or office a perfect place to live where they find their comfort and several food sources.
If we talk about their preferred food, rodents are herbivorous and can eat almost everything from nuts to chocolate. But they love to eat fruits and berries and are usually found in the bushes of raspberry, apple, and pear.
Common Types of Rodents Invading Homes
From rats to beavers, there is a detailed list of types of rodents and over 1500 living rodent species. Fortunately, not all species create their habitat inside your home or office. These are some of the most common types of rodents you can find in your home in Texas looking for shelter and food.
Let’s have a look!
Rats
When it comes to exploring different types of rodents, a rat is a creature that may strike your mind. Rats are really popular among homeowners because of their stubborn ability to gnaw and destroy essential objects at home. Although there are over 60 rat species, only three types of rats invade your home.
Norway Rats
Norway rats are the common brown rats that you see inside your home. These bi-colored rats have solid brown fur and a white belly. Initially, Norway rats are 9.5 inches long, but their 6-8 inches of the tail make them up to 17.5 inches in length.
When it comes to their features, you may notice they have blunt noses and small round ears. Another thing you should know about Norway rats is they have poor vision and use their whiskers to navigate.
Polynesian Rats
With long brown hairs, Polynesian rats are the smallest rats you may see in your house or office in Texas. They got a brown fur coat and light brown belly with a tail longer than their bodies. As these rats have large ears and pointed snouts, they look like the rats in cartoons that your kids watch.
Polynesian rats are thin with tiny dark bodies, not more than 6 inches. It may not be a large rodent but can pose the same level of destruction as Norway rats.
Roof Rats
Roof rats are precisely what their name implies they are! Roof rats are black-colored skinny rodents that build their habitats on an upper spot, generally your attic.
Interestingly, their small paws deliver great climbing skills enabling them to reach wherever they want.
Besides this, you may notice their dark eyes, large ears, and long tails adding 6-8 inches in the length. If we include their tail, they become around 16 inches long, making them the longest rats on the list.
Mice
Like rats, mice are also famous for invading homes and causing significant damage to your property. Homeowners generally confuse mice with rats, but both have different aesthetics. Rats are large rodents, while mice generally have small-sized bodies and tails. Despite there being more than 38 species of mice, only some types of mice can infest your property.
Here they are:
Deer Mice
Deer mice are really common around the United States, especially in Texas. In most cases, these mice like to live in tree hollows, log piles, and similar rural areas and generally do not infest homes.
However, you may experience a mice infestation in winter as they look for a warm place with plenty of food sources. We recommend keeping your food covered because deer mice can spread the dangerous hantavirus.
House Mice
Remember the ‘Jerry’ from the superhit Tom and Jerry movie who is a house mouse known for its troublesome activities? Similarly, house mice are everywhere in the US and may cause property damage.
If we talk about habitats, house mice look for dark and hidden places under structures. With great climbing skills, they can even build their habitat in your attic like roof rats.
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Squirrels
Like deer mice, squirrels also do not generally build their habitat inside your home. But you can expect them to try to get into your property in winter as they need a warm place to survive in winter. Squirrels can sneak into your home at ground level as well as at a high level.
Although they are great climbers, squirrels use branches of trees and wires to reach your rooftop and enter inside.
Why You Should Be Aware of Different Types of Rats?
Preventing infestation
All types of rodents have their significant way to enter your home. Norway rats look for underneath and hidden places in your home while roof rats make their way inside from your attic. Understanding different types of rats will give you ample knowledge about their entry points and help you prevent infestation.
For instance, to prevent infestation of roof rats, you should cut off any tree branches attached to your home and seal all the entry points to the attic.
Finding Where Their Nest Is
As discussed above, rats have their way of building their nest inside your home. If you’re aware of different rats and their preferences, you can easily figure out where they hide after you spot them.
Let’s take the example of Norway rats. If you spot a tiny brown rat with a white belly, you can search for holes in your pipelines, concrete slabs, basement, and crawlspaces to confirm the infestation.
Protect Foods
Although rats can eat everything to satisfy their appetite, different types of rats have specific tastes in food. Norway rats like grains, fish, nuts, and fruits while roof rats prefer eating seeds, berries, and slugs.
Understanding the types of rats will give you an idea of what they are looking for inside your home. In case of roof rat infestation, you should cover any berries, seeds, and fruits to protect them from contamination.
Prevention From Diseases
It’s quite surprising that these tiny creatures may carry over 35 harmful diseases. Starting with roof rats, transmit diseases to humans such as typhus, trichinosis, and jaundice. On the other hand, Norway rats have different skill sets when it comes to transmitting diseases to humans.
Norway rats are famous for transmitting human plague, rat-bite fever, jaundice, and cowpox virus. If you figure out the type of rat infestation, you can take preventative measures or consult a doctor on time if you feel any symptoms.
Affordable Rodent Inspection
Now, you know about the habitats, eating preferences, and entry points of different types of rodents. You can assist the professional in focusing on specific areas where the rats can attack during the inspection.
For instance, if you have spotted a roof rat, you can tell the rodent exterminator to check your attic thoroughly for an effective result in a cost-effective manner.
It’s a great idea to understand the types of rats and other rodents to keep your house safe from them. But, a detailed rodent inspection can help you use your knowledge and identify the infestation in the house.
You’re just a click away from a professional rodent inspection by Safe Pro Pest Control experts!
Rodent Home Protection: How to Keep Rodents Out of Your Home?
No doubt calling a professional is a great way to get rid of rodents. But looking at their havoc, you may like to keep them out of your home. Here are some easy rodent home protection tips that will help you stay safe from these troublesome creatures.
Let’s explore them all!
No More Highways
Despite having a modern house, structural gaps such as holes, cracks, pipes, and missing bricks make the perfect highways for rodents. You must fix all the structural gaps with robust material to discourage rodents from entering your home.
If you have any treehouse or tree with branches attached to your house, trim it to avoid rats climbing on them and getting into your house.
No food, No Rodents
The primary motive of rodents to get inside your home is food sources. We recommend you keep your food, especially fruits, seeds, and nuts, stored in jars, shelves, and refrigerators. Similarly, cover the pet’s food and garbage to make them inaccessible to rodents.
Even if you find beavers or squirrels cute outside your door, don’t feed them! When the rodents will not get enough food sources, they will never build their habitat inside your home.
Use Rat Traps
Rodents are smart and may make their way inside somehow. It’s always a great idea to install rat traps inside your home so that you can catch them in any case they are inside. From snap traps to ultrasonic traps, numerous rat traps are available on the market.
Combine them with the rat’s favorite bait like peanuts or chocolate for the best results. Once you have caught the rat, throw it away and reinstall the trap.
Use Repellents
If you don’t want to install rat traps in your modern home, you can use new-gen rodent repellents. Ultrasonic rodent repellent produces low-density ultrasonic waves that disturb almost every rodent out there. It’s one of the best methods to get rid of almost any type of rodents.
Don’t worry! As the waves are of low density, they will not cause any damage to your family members and pets.
We have explained above all the DIY ways to get rid of rodent pests. But, if you still can’t get to fully eliminate them from your property, we got a solution for you.
SafePro Pest counts with the best staff of trained and licensed exterminators that will make sure your home is pest free. If you are in Texas and want to get rid of rodent pests, ask for a Free Estimate here.
Signs to Call Rodent Control Professionals for Rats and Rodents Infestation Help:
Spotted Rodents
Different types of rodents, especially rats and mice, breed quickly and can convert into many in a few days. If you have spotted a single rodent inside your home, don’t ignore it. Call rodent control professionals before the rodents hijack your home and destroy your essentials.
Unless the rodent pros arrive at your home, you can take preventative measures like installing the rat traps discussed above.
Visible Infestation Signs
Rats are experts in hiding themselves and you may not spot them if there’s a minor infestation. But the good thing is rodents leave clues behind wherever they go. You can notice several signs including chewed food, gnawed clothes, droppings, and more.
These signs reflect the infestation of rodents in your home and generate the urge to call rodent control professionals.
Rodents Found After Inspection
Considering the activities of rodents, most households in Texas schedule annual inspections for better safety. If the service provider has figured out the infestation, it’s time to contact the rodent exterminator to get rid of it.
If the problem persists, you can always call a pest professional, and SafePro is the way to go. Located in Texas, we count highly experienced technicians that will solve any pest problem you might be facing.Â
Conclusively, don’t underestimate the rodents looking at their size! Whether destroying essentials or spreading diseases, rodents are great at what they do. It’s worthwhile to use preventative measures instead of getting your wallet gnawed.
Understanding the types of rodents may have given you a clearer idea about what different species can do. After reading this article now, you’re all set to identify and perform quick preventative measures whenever you spot any type of mice.
However, DIYs may not get you rid of these troublesome creatures looking forward to contaminating your house. That’s why SafePro Pest Control comes up as an experienced rodent control company to maintain your safety from rodents.
SafePro offers a FREE QUOTE service for everyone in the Texas area that wants to get rid of rodent pests for once and all.
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