Humans have a love/hate relationship with rodents. They can be adorably cute, so much so that rats and mice are often kept as pets. Because rats are one of the smartest animals on the planet, they do make great pets, often becoming companion animals for their owners. If you’ve seen the movie, Ratatouille, rats are portrayed as smart, cute, and useful animals.

Yet, rodents can be incredibly destructive. Their teeth never stop growing, leading them to constantly chew so their teeth will stay a reasonable length. This tendency means they will chew almost anything, which is not good for your home or business. From wood to wiring and everything in between, rodents can cause thousands of dollars worth of damage. Moreover, they have an incredibly strong bite, up to 7000 pounds per square inch. This not only means that they can bite through most materials, but if you are bitten by a rodent, you will most likely need medical attention. It is estimated that every year, there are 55,000 incidents of people being bitten by rodents.

Earthwise Pest Management in Roseville takes rodent control very seriously. Because rodents can spread diseases and often do more harm than good, we approach each rodent control call on a case-by-case basis. We believe in Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which is a pest control method that focuses on finding the reasons why pests have invaded your home or business so we can prevent future reoccurrences, as well as focusing on eliminating the problem at hand.

With regards to rodents, we do our utmost to utilize traps, remove them alive, and relocate them or kill them humanely. Rodent control methods that use poison or that aim to kill rats and mice are our last resort. Below, we’ll take a look at some rodent control methods, as well as our residential and commercial rodent control services. Contact us today to get started!

WAYS TO CONTROL RODENTS

Live Traps

Live traps catch the mouse or rat alive. There are many different types of live mouse and rat traps, but essentially a mouse enters a cage, the door closes, and then it can’t get out. Since mice and rats both love to investigate being naturally curious and intelligent creatures, these live traps work quite well. Often, food is placed inside to encourage them to enter. Once they enter, rodent control services in Roseville will either kill the rodent humanely or release them. Certain rules and regulations do apply when capturing and releasing wild animals in the state of California. Ask us for more details.

Electronic traps

A recent invention that has become quite popular for rodent control services in Roseville is electronic traps. This trap has the mouse or rat enter the cage and then they are immediately zapped by a bolt of electricity that kills them instantly. Quite effective and humane, these traps are gaining popularity because of it.

Snap traps

Snap traps are the traditional traps you think of when you think of a mouse trap. Basically, it’s a small piece of wood with bait attached to a spring mechanism. When the trap is triggered, a metal bar snaps in place, hopefully killing the mouse instantly by snapping its neck . These traps are very inexpensive and have been used for decades as a rodent control method. They are quite effective and can be used multiple times. The problem that Earthwise Pest Management in Roseville sees with these traps is that it can be an inhumane death. Sometimes, the trap misses its mark, and instead, the mouse or rat’s nose or other body part is trapped. This leads to a very painful death that can take a while as the mouse or rat struggles to release its nose. It’s crucial to set these traps correctly so the rodent does not suffer.

Glue boards

Like the name implies, this is a board with glue on it that is designed to lure in the rodent, which then becomes trapped by the glue to the board and then it dies. These traps are not recommended by Earthwise Pest Management in Roseville because they are very ineffective. Oftentimes, the rodent frees itself, or the rodent, especially large rats, can drag the trap around since it is attached to its body, leading to a very inhumane death. Naturally, the rat or mouse will attempt to free itself, leading to even more pain and suffering on the rodent’s part.

Rodenticides

This method of rodent control in Roseville is one of last resort for Earthwise Pest Management. Basically, poison is set out in different forms for the rodents to eat, which then kills them a day or so later, often in their nest. While a humane method of eradication, you are left with having to find the dead rodents, which could be impossible. This leads to rotting carcasses all over your home or business, which can give off quite the stench, especially in the summer. A more potent problem is that other animals or kids can get into the rat poison, causing harm or even death to them. Many pets have died eating poison meant for rats, and kids have become sick. Hence, this method is not safe for places where pets or children are at large.

Once rodents are dead, they should be disposed of properly. Never touch one with your bare hands, as they can carry many types of nasty diseases. It’s best to put their bodies in sealed containers and then throw them away. You’ll need to thoroughly clean the area where they died to disinfect any contaminants left behind.

COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL RODENT CONTROL IN ROSEVILLE

Earthwise Pest Management’s commercial and residential rodent control services in Roseville look the same. We’ll go over a few of the nuances at the end.

Using IPM, we will come to your home, office, or business warehouse and do an initial assessment. In this initial assessment, we are looking for preventive ways to control your rodents, as well as taking notes of the estimated numbers and running through options of elimination. Since no one likes dealing with rodents nor does anyone particularly like killing them, our rodent control services look for ways to prevent a recurrence. As part of our action plan to rid you of your rodent infestation, we will do our best to help eliminate the source of the problem.

Eliminate food and water

Rodents, like all living creatures, can’t live without food and water, and odds are that is why they have made your home or business their home. Some common sources of food and water that attract rodents are:

• Dog food, especially if you feed your dogs outside
• Bird food, such as birdseed
• Fruit from fruit trees you may have that fall to the ground
• Storage containers of food, especially in your shed or garage
• Pet feces
• Accessible trash cans
• Trash around your home or business
• Leaking faucets

Eliminate access to places rodents call home

Next up in Earthwise Pest Management’s IPM process in Roseville is to discover the places rodents are living in your home or business and eliminate the access points. Some common access points used by rodents to make your home or business their home include:

• Holes. Rats and mice can squeeze through openings that are ¼ of an inch
• Damaged or unscreened vents in your roof or outside walls
• Wood piles lying around your yard
• Trash piles lying around your yard
• Unkempt bushes that have rotting leaves or other debris under them
• Tall grass
• Basement windows
• Damaged roof flashing
• Holes along the eaves of your roof
• Damaged shingles
• Foundational problems

Rodent-proofing your home or business

Once Earthwise Pest Management in Roseville identifies the most likely problem sources that are attracting and harboring rodents, we’ll recommend ways to rodent-proof your home or business. Some of these preventive rodent control methods include:

• Seal and repair all holes
• Install screens where applicable
• Trim trees, shrubs, and vines to eliminate rodents from having access to your roofs
• Clean up rotting leaves and other debris
• Safeguard food with rodent proof lids
• Remove fruit as soon as possible from the ground when it falls
• Remove any standing piles of wood or other trash
• Secure trash can lids
• Maintain a nice property with trash properly stowed
• Invest in roof inspection services and invest in roof repairs to eliminate holes, missing flashing, broken shingles, and other roof access points
• Keep up with maintenance of your property. Regularly walk around and fix any noticeable holes or maintenance issues before the rodents find and exploit your lack of upkeep

EARTHWISE PEST MANAGEMENT IN ROSEVILLE

For commercial rodent control services in Roseville, it’s often a matter of employee education on all of the measures above. Putting trash in its place and prompt attention and reporting of gaps in your building and other maintenance issues will go a long way in preventing rodents from calling your office, business, or restaurant home. Rodents are like all animals including us — they go where the pickings are easy. Make it hard on rodents to like your place of business, and they will go somewhere else where the living is a lot easier.

For residential rodent control services in Roseville, Earthwise Pest Management offers the same advice. Keep up on your home’s maintenance and be careful of food storage protocols. And for good measure, adopt a cat from your local humane society. Cats instinctively hunt rodents, and they are quite good at it. You’d be amazed at how quickly one cat can wreak havoc on your rodent population and how one cat could prevent a call to us, your local pest control company in Roseville. Although we’d love to help you with your rodent control problem, we’d much rather you give a cat a loving home and kill two birds with one stone in the process. Contact us today for all your commercial and residential rodent control problems in Roseville!