Rat and Mouse Control

Rodents are important public health pests because of their filthy habits, the diseases they carry, and the damage they cause. Rodents are known to be involved in the transmission of murine typhus, hantavirus, salmonellosis, leptospirosis, rat-bite fever, Lyme disease, and bubonic plague, and are suspected of transmitting other diseases, as well. They also contaminate millions of pounds of food and feed with their filth, and cause thousands of fires and communications outages when they chew through insulation on wiring.

There are many species of rodents, but in pest control, "rodents" usually refers to three particular species: The Norway rat, the roof rat, and the house mouse. Together, these three are known as "commensal rodents," meaning that they "eat at the same table" as we do. (This is another way of saying that they live in close association with humans.)

Norway Rats

Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) are brown, heavy-bodied rats with small eyes and ears, blunt noses, shaggy fur, and tails that are slightly shorter than the head and body combined. They have poor vision, but excellent senses of touch, taste, smell, and hearing. They can jump several feet if necessary, have good balance, and are good swimmers.

Although they are omnivorous (they'll eat almost anything), Norway Rats are also xenophobic and avoid new objects in their environments for several days, which makes trapping and baiting a challenge.

In nature, Norway Rats usually live in burrows in the ground; but they have adapted to living in and around human-occupied buildings and can often be found in basements, crawl spaces, wall voids, sewers, utility chaseways, and other protected areas close to their sources of food and water.

Norway rat control consists of correcting sanitation problems, removing food and water sources, trapping, exclusion, and (when necessary) poisoning.

Roof Rats

Roof rats (Rattus rattus) are more slender and graceful than Norway rats and are black or brown in color with smooth, almost silky fur. They have pointy noses, large eyes and ears, and their tails are slightly longer than the head and body combined.

Roof rats are believed to have better vision than Norway rats, along with excellent senses of balance, smell, taste, hearing and touch. They will eat almost anything, but roof rats prefer fruits, nuts, grains, and vegetables.

Roof rats are aerialists and live in trees by nature, but they have adapted to living in attics, basements, crawl spaces, barns, sheds, warehouses, and above drop ceilings in commercial buildings. They'll often use overhead pipes and beams as runways, making the placement of traps and bait stations a challenge. (Exterminators who frequently treat buildings for roof rat infestations spend a lot of time on ladders and fork lifts.)

Norway rat control consists of correcting sanitation problems where necessary, removing food and water sources, locating and placing traps along their runways, exclusion, and (when necessary) poisoning.

House Mice

House mice are small, slender rodents whose length rarely exceeds three or four inches. They're usually gray or brown in color, although considerable variation is possible. They have pointy noses, small eyes, and large ears. Their vision is not very good, but they have excellent senses of balance, smell, taste, touch, and hearing.

House mice are omniverous, but strongly prefer seeds and grains. Unlike rats, mice do not require free water in their diets (but they will drink it if it is available).

Most people assume that mice aren't as serious a health threat as rats, but this isn't always true. Mice are smaller and are able to penetrate tiny openings, which often brings them much closer to humans. It's not at all unusual for mice to be living inside a wall void within inches of a cupboard where human food is stored, slipping in and out through openings so small that most people wouldn't even notice them -- and contaminating our food with filth and disease pathogens the whole time.

Extermination of house mice consists of correcting sanitation problems, removing food sources, exclusion, trapping, and (when necessary) poisoning.

Rodent Exclusion

Controlling rodents doesn't end with placing bait or traps. Without proper exclusion to keep "new" rodents from coming in, rat or mouse control becomes a never-ending expense. Keeping rats and mice out of your home is the key to avoiding re-infestation and unnecessary expense.

Rodents can enter a structure thru an opening of ¼ inch, making rodent exclusion a precise, demanding task. We know how to "think like a rodent" to find the holes where rats and mice are getting in, and we seal those openings with high-quality materials that will last for years.