Tips for Making Your Home Inhabitable to Rodents

Common Hiding Areas for Rodents

These nocturnal pests wait until the house is quiet before coming out of hiding in search of food and nesting materials. It may be difficult to spot a live rodent, but they leave signs of their presence, such as droppings, greasy marks, evidence of food tampering, gnaw marks and a musty odour.

Rodents are small and agile, allowing them to dart in and out of your house. But no matter how quick they are, rodents are still creatures of habit, so they would often be discovered hiding in these places in your home:

Attics. Rodents are good in finding access points around roofs and eaves, thanks to their tiny bodies, which they can flatten to allow them to squeeze through even the tiniest of cracks.

One of the first signs that you have a rodent problem is the noise coming from your roof or attic, especially at night.

Check your roof and eaves regularly to make sure there are no holes where rodents can enter.

Inside Walls. Rodents can use openings or holes in your baseboards to get inside your walls. If you hear rustling or squeaking inside your walls, rodents are most likely the culprits.

Basements, Garages, Storage Closets and Sheds. These areas have clutter and have little traffic, making them perfect hiding places. Additionally, they are dark and quiet, and provide various materials that can be used to build a nest.

Keep rodents away from these places by keeping them neat and well lit. Store items in thick plastic containers with tight lids to prevent rodents from accessing the items inside.

Kitchens. Rodents prefer quiet and isolated areas, but the kitchen is an exception. Kitchens are appealing to them because of the smorgasbord of food.

They can hole up in hard-to-reach places behind appliances. They can also build a home under cabinets that are rarely opened.

Make sure to keep your kitchen clean and free of leftover food or food scraps, and store food properly, to discourage rodents.

Because they are quick and pose a health risk, trapping and removing rodents from premises can be challenging. If you suspect or discover a rodent problem in your home, contact a licensed pest control company immediately to treat the problem.