Rodent Control Tips: The Most Effective Yet Simple Working Methods
Without a perfectly working pest control method, rodents can be a nuisance at your home. Mice and rats can cause severe home structural damages and dangers you wouldn't like to experience. They can gnaw and chew anything you keep around, from furniture to money. That said, here's your ultimate rodent control guide with the most effective yet straightforward working methods.
Sealing Points of Entry and Using Snap Traps
Mice and rats sometimes live outside unless they find entry points to your home. Sealing any potential entry point is the first step to limit their ease of entry to your premises. Find holes and openings around and within your home and completely close them. Similarly, seal openings around sinks, gaps around doors and windows, and cabinets. Check also areas open to allow them to crawl inside and seal them.
On the other hand, for mice and rats roaming inside your house, snap traps will ideally help. It can be those from plastic boxes, metal or wooden designs. Set a few traps with pieces of meat and other foodstuffs to attract and capture any rodent inside.
You can even reuse snap traps, especially if a dead rodent doesn't bother you. To reuse, throw the captured and dead rodent and clean the trap to prevent others from noticing. Reset it to catch more rodents until you entirely eradicate them.
Keeping Your Home Clean and Eliminating Potential Food Sources
Rodents constantly roam around for food. Spills and leftovers keep them coming and encourage them to build nests inside and outside your home. Eliminate food sources by storing leftovers in closed and tightly sealed places, including in containers, cabinets, and inside the fridge. In addition, keep your home clean by thoroughly cleaning spillages and decluttering old stuff and spoiled food.
Embracing the Use of Natural Rodent Predators
While keeping your home clean and sanitizing it can control rodents, stubborn ones like rats need an alternative method. Natural rodent predators like cats and barn owls can perfectly help you. For instance, while most people prefer cats, some breeds of cats don't engage themselves with rats. Also, if your cat is small and young, you might need to wait until it grows.
Fortunately, barn owls can be your best option for controlling any rodent. Statistically, a single family of barn owls consisting of two adults and three young ones can eat approximately a thousand rodents during their nesting season. Therefore, welcome barn owls at your home by placing shelter boxes within to eradicate rodents naturally.