When you’re creating a comfortable, enjoyable home, security is one of your main needs. But how can you make your home secure against something that seems like it was designed by nature to infiltrate your home? If you knew how easily rodents could find their way in, you might start paying a little more attention to prevention methods on your property.
Nature’s Best Home Invaders
The rodents that invade most Elizabeth City homes include squirrels, rats, mice, and others, but they all have certain features in common that allow them to access your home a lot easier than most animals. Most rodents are very flexible, giving them the capability to squeeze through small spaces to gain access to your home. Plus, their two front teeth are very sharp, allowing them to widen any previously existing cracks or holes in your foundation.
These sharp teeth not only give rodents access to your home, but they put almost anything in your home at risk of severe damage. Rodents’ front incisors are constantly growing, so they always feel the need to chew, gnaw, and shave them down. Once they’re in your home, they’ll chew anything from stored decorations to cardboard boxes, linens, wood furniture, electrical wiring, AC ducts, and more. That’s why they can cause homeowners so much money in repair costs and ruined items.
Plus, many rodents (like mice and rats) can carry dangerous bacteria into your home, putting you at risk of incurring a dangerous illness. And that’s not the only health hazard that rodents can bring into your home. Many homeowners have stumbled upon a mother squirrel protecting her nest in the attic and have scratches to prove it. With danger and home damage at stake, prevention needs to be a top priority.
Four Prevention Tips
Since rodents can infiltrate your home so easily, it can be very hard to keep them out completely. However, if you can find ways to reduce their attraction to your property, they might wind up in someone else’s home instead. Here are the best ways to limit factors that attract rodents to your property:
- Lawn Maintenance: By keeping your yard free of clutter and mowed evenly to reduce moisture buildup, you can avoid creating an ideal habitat for rodents in the yard. Any fruits falling from trees should also be picked up promptly.
- Trash Storage: Both inside the home and out, make sure your trash is stored in a secure container with a heavy lid. Remember that most rodents are very intelligent and can find a way into many types of trash cans.
- Cleaning Habits: Cleaning regularly in your home will not only reduce the clutter that makes rodents feel safe, but it will also reduce crumbs that they like to feed on. Make sure to wipe down counters and tables after meals while also vacuuming and mopping the floors regularly.
- Identifying Entry Points: By putting caps on your vents and chimneys, along with sealing up any existing cracks and crevices in the foundation, you can deter easy entry. If rodents can’t find their way in quickly, they’re much more likely to move on to another property.
Call Albemarle Termite & Pest Control To Keep Your Elizabeth City Home Safe
Unfortunately, you can get everything on this list right and still wind up with rodent problems. Mother Nature seems to have a mind of her own sometimes, but don’t make the mistake of trying to get rid of an infestation yourself. You see, many rodents, such as mice and rats, breed at incredibly high rates and rarely infiltrate your home by themselves, so traps and poisons are usually not able to keep up.
Not taking care of the whole infestation at once often increases the risk of damage and disease, so don’t waste your time on ineffective DIY (do it yourself) methods. The best form of rodent protection comes with professional assistance. Albemarle Termite & Pest Control is a locally owned and operated company with a proven track record for rodent elimination. They are dedicated to making your home rodent-free, now and in the future. Call Albemarle Termite & Pest Control today for Elizabeth City pest control!