Rodents carry bacteria and viruses that can cause disease in humans. Their droppings and urine contaminate food products, and their gnawing damages structures and buildings.

Rodent Control Tampa programs use a mix of tactics to remove a rodent problem and prevent it from coming back. These include bait stations, traps, and exclusion.

Rodents are a nuisance pest that can spread disease, cause structural damage and interrupt business. They also contaminate food and can create fire hazards by gnawing electrical wires. It’s essential to have rodent infestations addressed quickly, before they cause serious problems for your home or business.

A rodent inspection can reveal a variety of issues and provide valuable insight to help develop the best solution. The inspection will uncover access points that rodents are using to gain entry into a building and areas that have shown signs of rodent activity and damage.

Rodents such as mice and rats are a common household pest and a significant health hazard to you and your family. They can carry and spread a number of diseases including viral infections such as hantavirus, leptospirosis, and tularemia, and bacterial infections like salmonella. Droppings from rodents can contaminate food and water. They may also cause asthma and allergies by stirring up dust particles in crawl spaces, attics, and basements. Scratching noises and chewed materials are other signs of a rodent problem.

Your Cascade inspector can inspect the entire property to determine what type of rodent(s) are present, and their extent in your home or building. This inspection includes looking for fecal pellets, rub marks (from the oil and grease from rodents’ bodies), tracks, gnawing damage, runways, burrows, and food sources. An effective way to inspect these areas is by shining a flashlight on the ground or a dusty surface. A non-toxic tracking powder such as Mason’s line chalk can also be used to locate difficult-to-see tracks and tail drags.

During an inspection, your Cascade technician can also identify possible points of entry into the building from outdoors, such as open vents and gaps around doors and windows. He or she can also recommend ways to close these entries.

Depending on the results of your rodent inspection, your technician can design an initial treatment to eradicate current mice and rat populations and prevent them from returning. This treatment plan will usually include a combination of tactics such as rodent exclusion, trapping, and baiting.

Exclusion

The best way to prevent rodent infestations is to exclude them from the building rather than trapping or killing them once they are inside. The key to this is a comprehensive inspection and exclusion service that seals all entry points for rats and mice. This is a new movement in pest control that replaces trapping with long term prevention.

Mice can fit through openings that are the size of a pencil, and rats can slip through spaces as small as a quarter. This means that every area of a house or building needs to be carefully examined and any gaps closed off. This is an important part of any pest management program.

Rodents can cause major structural damage and create hazardous conditions inside a home or business. They also carry diseases that can be dangerous or even fatal to humans. Rodents can also be a significant fire risk. They chew wires and wood, which can lead to electrical problems or fires. They may also gnaw through insulation in crawlspaces and attics, creating a fire hazard. They can also gnaw through piping and water systems which can create leaks.

A thorough inspection by a qualified professional will identify all of the possible entry points into your home or business. This includes areas where utility pipes enter the structure, cracks in foundation walls, gaps around doors and windows, open crawlspace access doors, attic vents, gable vents, vent caps and more.

Once our experts find the openings, they will determine the most appropriate method for sealing them. This can include steel mesh, silicon caulking, specialized dense spray foam, woven hardware cloth or sheet metal. In some cases, permeable materials are needed such as copper for weep holes, breathable material for soffit and ridge vents or a tarp covering a chimney.

Rodent exclusion is one of the most important services that we provide. It can help to significantly reduce the need for traps and baits which are often considered harsh responses to a rodent problem. Proper food storage, reducing clutter in basements and attics and removing piles of wood or junk are also excellent preventive measures.

Prevention

Rodents are known to carry and spread a number of viruses and bacteria. These can be spread through bite wounds, contaminated food or water, and even breathing in germs. In addition, they cause extensive damage to homes and businesses by chewing on wires, insulation, wood, food, paper, and more. Fortunately, it’s possible to prevent a rodent infestation by keeping the conditions that attract rats and mice at bay.

Rodents are drawn to un-sealed food containers, pet food and water that are left out, garbage that is not thrown out regularly, and more. They enter homes and businesses in search of food, water, and shelter. They can squeeze through holes as small as a pencil, and gnaw their way into walls, ceilings, cabinets, and more to create access points. To keep rodents out, examine the exterior of your home or business for small gaps and cracks and seal them with caulk or steel wool. Look for areas where utilities enter, and screen vents and chimneys. In addition, eliminate areas of moisture and remove piles of debris or weeds that could provide shelter for rodents.

Practicing good housekeeping and sanitation is the best way to make your home or business less attractive to rats and mice. Store all foods in plastic containers with tight lids, take out the trash nightly, and clean crumbs and spills on countertops and floors regularly. In bathrooms, ensure that faucets are shut off and toilets are not overflowing. Keep compost piles and firewood away from the home, and prune shrubs and bushes to 2 feet or more from the foundation of your home.

While good housekeeping and sanitation practices can make your property less appealing to rodents, it is impossible to eliminate all sources of food, water, and shelter. To help with prevention, Hulett’s team offers a rodent-proofing service that involves examining your property and sealing any entry points with caulk or steel wool. We also install door sweeps on all doors and repair screens, and we screen vents and chimneys to further prevent rodents from entering your home or business.

Removal

Rodents can introduce diseases into your home. Their droppings, urine and feces contain pathogens that can make people sick and cause property damage. From the 1900 San Francisco bubonic plague to the 2012 Yosemite National Park hantavirus outbreak, rodents have been causing problems and spreading diseases for centuries.

Keeping a tidy property and properly disposing of garbage, compost and yard waste can help to keep rodents away from homes and businesses. It’s also important to keep the inside of your building clean, especially the kitchen, and to remove potential nesting areas, like piles of wood or debris and overgrown shrubbery. Regularly cleaning out kitchen drawers and cabinets, throwing away food scraps from the counter nightly, and removing crumbs from countertops and floors is essential for rodent control.

Proper trap placement and maintenance is another key element of rodent control. Truly Nolen technicians will place traps in high activity areas and regularly check them to ensure that they are working and that rodents are being removed. Our technician will also use exterior trap stations to bait and trap rodents outside the building, keeping them out of your living space.

Rats and mice are a constant problem for homeowners, businesses, and government agencies because they can cause significant property damage, contaminate food, and transmit diseases. In addition, their gnawing can cause wires and pipes to become damaged, resulting in expensive repairs and possible fire hazards.

Our technicians are trained to recognize the signs of rodents and can effectively treat them. We use a variety of methods to remove the infestation and prevent future ones from forming, including removing nesting materials and repairing holes in walls and roofs.

We also perform exclusion on homes and business, which is the skilled process of sealing minuscule gaps, cracks and crevices to keep rodents out. We can install a variety of products to fit the specific needs of your building, including attic and crawl space insulation and vapor barriers. The cost of these services will vary based on your building’s unique characteristics and location, as well as the frequency of service and any prevention measures we may recommend.