When it comes to rodent control in Sacramento and Carmichael, Earthwise Pest Management represents a fantastic option for folks in need of robust, effective, and safe rodent control services. Given the fact that there are between 1,000 and 2,000 species of rodents on every continent (save for Antarctica, naturally), many people throughout the United States find themselves looking for a reliable, affordable “critter catcher”, as it were, to help identify vulnerable areas in their residential or commercial structures. Likewise, rodent control services involve both excluding and eliminating rodents from a given area. Unfortunately for most home and business owners, rodents just can’t get enough of the food, water, and shelter that our man-made structures can afford. If they put their mind to it, many rodents, like mice, rats, squirrels, and others, can shimmy and dig their way through holes that most people would deem impossible to penetrate. Even large rats can get through holes that are less than an inch in diameter, as shocking and disgusting as it may sound. Many rodent types are able to run, dig, climb, swim, jump, traverse, and navigate difficult environments in order to get what they need. The point is that if you think your home is safe from a rodent infestation, it might not be.
How Do I Know If I Have A Rodent Problem?
There are several tell-tale signs that might indicate you need to call rodent control professionals. Among these signs are animal gnawing, foul odors that your dog or cat might be drawn to, mouse or rat tracks like urine stains, droppings, or smudge marks, rat and mice nests, and more. In reference to gnawing in particular, this is a rodent behavior that can be particularly problematic for humans. Rodents need to keep their teeth sharp, which means they’ll use pretty much anything available to them to accomplish this chore. Their gnawing through insulation and other areas can lead to the increased risk of fire from electrical wiring being chewed through.
If you suspect that you have a rodent problem, it’s probably a good idea to let the rodent management professionals take a look. We’ll provide you with a free quote and let you know the next steps in reference to our analysis and recommendation of your structure’s situation.
On a slightly less practical note, we have a promised blog topic to get to today! Keep reading if you are interested in viewing our curated list of interesting rodent facts that we think every homeowner should be aware of!
Gross, Interesting, Wild, Weird, And Maybe Fun Facts About Rodents
- As we noted above, many rodents have the ability to squeeze through the tiniest of spaces. Rats can grow to be large, so the fact that they can squeeze through holes just 13 mm (or ½ inch) in diameter is astounding. That’s why rat control specialists, or rat exterminators, are often necessary to determine vulnerable points of entry in a given structure.
- According to the CDC, rats and mice are capable of spreading a horrifying 35 diseases to humans. Among the most notable illnesses are rat-bite fever, hantavirus, salmonellosis, plague, leptospirosis, and tularemia. These illnesses can be spread through urine, saliva, rodent bites, and droppings, or through ticks or fleas that have fed on an infected rodent.
- Ancient Romans considered rats a sign of good luck. We aren’t sure why, but we are thankful that our culture doesn’t agree.
- Rats are some of the most intelligent creatures on the planet – right up there with pigs, monkeys, and dolphins. They are far more intelligent than mice, gerbils, guinea pigs, rabbits, and hamsters.
- Rats are masters of memory. For example, once they discover a direction-finding route, they are said to never forget it, irrespective of its complexity.
- Rats are fantastically social creatures with highly-developed power structures and behaviors. They are affectionate creatures, too, believe it or not. They have a strong instinct to be in a group. They play and even sleep together. They take care of sick rats in their pack, and also have the proclivity to be stressed, anxious, and depressed.
- Due to the wealth of research on rats performed by behavioral psychologists like B.F. Skinner, we have a wild amount of information about the social inner-workings of rats. For example, rats tend to wrestle as a form of play. It’s up to the smaller rat to challenge a larger rat to duel. They repeat this game many times, but if the larger rat doesn’t lose 30 percent of the time or more, the physically inferior rat will cease to challenge the larger rat. As such, bigger rats are known to let smaller rats win every once in a while to make sure the wrestling games continue. It’s a sophisticated phenomenon that sounds something like a human behavior!
- As impressive and surprising as some of the above behaviors may be, you might be even more surprised to learn that rats are worshiped at the Karni Devi Temple in Indian tradition. Priests and pilgrims alike feed them milk and grain, as they are considered the “vehicle of Lord Ganesh” in the Hindu religion!
- Squirrels are able to find food buried under a whopping foot of snow. Some species of squirrel have such a sensitive sense of smell that they will detect food and then begin digging through the snow to retrieve their prize morsel. Often times, it wasn’t even them that hid their treasure in the first place, but it was hidden there by another squirrel!
- Speaking of thievery, squirrels lose around 25 percent of their buried food to thieves. As squirrels have such a sharp sniffer, there is often little they can do to secure their food from their own kind. That 25 percent figure, by the way, only applies to theft performed by members of their own species! Birds and other beasts will treat themselves to a snack left by squirrels without hesitation.
- In response to this, squirrels have developed a curious yet sensical behavior; they pretend to bury nuts to throw off kleptos. This behavior, coined as “deceptive caching”, is humorous to us, but pragmatic in essence. A squirrel’s gotta eat!
- Ironically, however, squirrels don’t seem to have the best memories, or they are just nature’s best arborist, as they often don’t dig up all of their buried nuts. This results in more trees, which makes them a huge contributor to the world’s forests! Likewise, squirrels have been introduced to most of our nation’s major city parks, if for no other reason than to help facilitate more tree growth one would presume.
Reach Out To Us At Sacramento’s Top Rated Pest Control Company
As interesting as it might be to learn more about squirrels, rats, and other rodents, it doesn’t follow that you want to share a roof with them. If you are seeing rodent problems in your home like the ones described earlier in this post, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at Earthwise Pest Management. Rodents can easily spread diseases, contaminate food, damage property, and breed rapidly, which only exacerbates the issue. We provide site inspection, rodent exclusion services, a comprehensive sanitation solution, in addition to ongoing monitoring and maintenance. If necessary, we will bat and trap the rodents in question as well.
We make sure your home is safe and secure from now on, and despite the fact that rodent control is an ongoing process that requires consistent work, we are one of the best in the business at addressing problem areas. If you are looking for an affordable, reliable rodent control company in Carmichael or Sacramento, give us a call at Earthwise Pest Management. We’d love to prove to you why we are worthy of your business. We have a habit of making first-time customers lifelong clients, so why don’t you get yourself a free quote for the issue you are having to learn why?