The Best Way To Deal With Rodents On You Austin Property

Mice and rats are common pests in Austin, Texas. When they come into your yard, they can damage your vegetation and they can get into your garbage. But the real problems begin when they get into your home. The holes they chew in order to gain entry can allow rainwater to get in. This can lead to wood rot, mold, and other issues. It can also lead to secondary pest entry, such as scorpions, or venomous spiders. Once inside your home, mice and rats will leave their droppings, urine, and hair in many places. This can cause contamination and illness. They can chew on building materials and on wires inside your home. This could spark a fire. They spread diseases and can also spread ticks, fleas, and other pests, which have their own list of diseases. These are only some of the dangers rodents can present to you and your family. In light of this, the best way to deal with rodents on your property is to get professional assistance. Here's why.

Habits, Habitats, And Food Preferences

A professional can properly identify the rodents on your Austin property and apply a control plan to effectively counter their natural behaviors. This is essential for effective control. Consider these facts:

• Roof rats are black rats that climb trees and are likely to access your home by way of your roofline and roof penetrations. Once inside, they will prefer to be in your attic spaces or in wall voids near food sources.
• Norway rats are brown rats that create burrows in your yard and are likely to go in and out of your home through entry points that are close to the ground. They like to establish burrows underneath piles and are commonly found getting into the voids underneath decks, sheds, and other exterior structures.
• House mice are the most common mouse pests and are able to do astonishing things like climb the exterior walls of buildings or jump one foot straight up into the air. These animals are not only adept at getting inside, they have a preference for living with people which makes them especially problematic for home and business owners.

It's Hard To Trap A Rodent

Mice are curious, yet extremely cautious. They have been observed eating bait off latch traps without setting them off. Rats are suspicious of new things placed in their environment. If you put a trap down to catch a rat, it is likely to avoid it. Here are a few more ways rodents avoid traps.

• A rodent can smell you on a trap if you place it with your hands. They have an acute sense of smell.
• A rodent is smart enough to realize that a trap with a dead rodent on it is a bad sign. This can cause them to avoid them.
• Rodents move along walls and rarely go out into open spaces. This is partly due to their terrible eyesight. If you place traps away from a wall, you're going to have much more trouble catching a rodent.
• If you use cheese to catch mice, you're likely to be disappointed. Mice don't have a preference for cheese. They like seeds, nuts, and rice. One of the best baits to use is peanut butter. It is a preferred food source that sticks to the latch of a standard mousetrap.

A professional will correctly deploy tamper-resistant rodent traps in key locations. The methods used are known to outsmart mice and rats and work to counter their natural defenses.