Rodents are dangerous pests due to the damage they can cause to your home and the diseases they carry. Making up around 40% of the world’s mammal population, rodents are commonly found in Florida. Especially during their peak season in Florida — winter or fall season (September or October)—rat prevention becomes mandatory for almost everyone. They come into your home for food and shelter, damaging your property and carrying plenty of harmful diseases.
The group Rodentia includes squirrels, rats, mice, murids, etc. However, the most common and nauseous among them are rats and mice, which can be dangerous for your health and property. We have listed top rat prevention tips to help you eliminate these stinky rats. Let’s delve into it!
7 Rat Prevention Tips to Avoid Their Infestation
Florida is home to various rats, such as Palm, Norway, and Wood rats. While there are many ways for the prevention and control of rats and mouse, the best and most effective ones are:
1. Seal the Holes and Cracks in Your Home
Rats and mice always find a way to enter your home – through cracks or unattended holes. They can even squeeze through the tiniest spaces, making your home their territory and wreaking havoc. So, one of the best rat prevention tips is to seal and repair all the cracks and holes in your home.
Especially before winter arrives, call a professional to inspect your property and install mesh wire coating so rodents cannot bite or chew it. Also, pay attention to the windows, vents, and doors that are the mouse infestation gateways.
2. Keep the Food Covered
Rats and mice enter your home for shelter. But what attracts them the most? Food! It doesn’t matter what food you have – veggies, meat, cereals, milk – they will eat everything. Therefore, another thing you must do for rat prevention is to keep all the food sources covered.
For instance, if you have outdoor food sources, like fruits and vegetables, in your garden, harvest them quickly. Keep an eye on leftover bird feed; don’t feed your pet outdoors or leave their leftover food around. You should also keep your dustbin lid closed because rodents can invade them in search of food.
3. Cut and Prune Overhanging Trees
Undoubtedly trees and shrubs make the outdoors of your home look stunning. But do you know they also provide rodents access to your home? Yes, it’s completely true! Rats utilize these sources to hop into your roof or terrace and get into your home.
That’s why another one of the best mouse control and roof rat prevention tips is to eliminate these overhanging trees and shrubs. Give the outdoor trees a cut whenever the branches start reaching your home to remove rodent outdoor access sources. In addition, prune the shrubs and other plants to ensure rodents don’t get a place to hide.
4. Use Mint Leaves
Here comes the most effective rat prevention tip: invest in mint leaves! Rats avoid mint due to their pungent smell. Moreover, Peppermint has a compound: methanol, that causes irritation in the nasal cavity of these rodents.
Therefore they stay away from all the places having a mint smell. You can use Peppermint oil around the beam of your floor to prevent rats and mice from entering your home. You can also sprinkle some mint leaves in your garden around your outdoor vegetable and fruit plants to keep them safe from rodent attacks.
5. Remove All the Hiding Places
Rodents, such as mice and rats, always look for someplace to hide or shelter. As Cox says,
“Rats, mouse and other rodents are all warm-blooded animals, so searching for a warm place to nest is a natural instinct.”
They will easily find shelter under any unwanted garbage or yard waste pile. This means leaving such places unattended will result in many rodents swarming your home and damaging your property. So, to avoid this, you should regularly cleanse the interior and exterior of your home.
6. Get a Cat
Rodents and cats being enemies isn’t only limited to your TV screens. Instead, cats are an incredible deterrent for the mouse and rats, keeping them off your home. Therefore, getting a new friend, aka a cat, from your nearby shelter is another one of the rat prevention tips. The cat doesn’t need to be an expert to hunt rodents as their smell is enough to shoo all the rodents away.
7. Contact a Professional Rodent Control Company
All the rodent control methods mentioned above work well, but to ensure you eradicate rats and mice from your property completely, you should consult a professional rodent and pest control company. The professionals possess the right knowledge to tackle the rats and know how to prevent rat infestation. In this way, you can get expert services that can help you identify all the potential rodent nesting areas and remove them without any hassle.
Conclusion
Rodents, such as mice and rats, can be a headache if you don’t deal with them timely. They can cause you financial damage by attacking your property and also carry harmful diseases, like Hantavirus, leptospirosis, etc. So, you should follow all the rat prevention tips and get professional help.
Gregory’s Pest Control’s is a prominent name in this regard! We have been in this family business since 1985 and provide the quickest and most efficient rodent control services in Weston, Davie, Coral Springs, Boca Raton, and the surrounding cities. You can contact Gregory’s Pest Control anytime and get your home free of rats and the potential threats they carry!
Paul Gregory
Owner/President of Gregory’s Pest Control
I’m a 2nd generation pest control owner who started working for my father in 1999. I was raised in South Florida and feel blessed to call it home for my entire adult life. As a long-term Florida resident, I recognize the challenges of controlling the many different pests that thrive in our subtropical climate. In particular, I understand how difficult it can be to prevent pests from invading our homes and businesses. By helping families solve their pest problems so they can live safer, more comfortable lives, I feel I am also meeting my family’s commitment to help our community. When I’m not out fighting pests, you can find me on the golf course or out on a soccer field where I have been fortunate enough to coach soccer to kids of all ages for the past 20 years.
