Rats
House Mouse
The house mouse is the most common rodent in most parts of the world. It can breed rapidly and adapt quickly to changing conditions. This mouse can range in color from light brown to black. Mirco droplets of mouse urine can cause allergies in children. They may bring fleas, mites, ticks, and lice into your home. Mice can contaminate food and transmit various pathogens, such as salmonella. If this mouse can get his nose through a hole the size of a pencil, he can squeeze his body through, as well.
Deer Mouse
Deer mice are one of the most familiar rodents found in our area. You’ll see them from Rockwood to Gatlinburg and from Lake City to Athens. They are named for their coats because it resembles that of a white-tailed deer. Dark grayish-brown backs and head are common, while their stomachs are white. Their bodies measure around 3-4 inches. They like to eat caterpillars, spiders, and occasionally grasshoppers. Grains, seeds, nuts, and berries are also popular on their diet. In the winter, the mice, sometimes called ”field mice,” enter our homes and offices in search of food and warmth. Because they have soft cartilage, this mouse can pass through a hole less than the size of a dime. These mice do not hibernate. They will hoard food and actively look for food around their nests.
They are known carriers of potentially dangerous diseases such as the Hantavirus which is transmitted through their feces and urine. Disturbing the droppings can lead to a release of the Hantavirus particles.
Norway Rat
The Norway rat has coarse, shaggy, brown hair, small eyes, and ears. These rats prefer to nest in burrows in the soil along railroad embankments, stream banks, piles of rubbish, and under concrete slabs. You’ll notice rub marks and greasy markings on walls or baseboards where they follow the same paths over and over.
These rats have poor vision, but their sense of hearing, smell, touch, and taste are keenly developed. Norway rats like to feed at dusk and just prior to dawn. They tend to be very cautious and are night creatures. Although they constantly explore their surroundings, they shy away from new objects and changes. They will gnaw through almost anything to obtain food and water, even plastic or lead pipes.
How do you control a Norway rat? First, it needs to be identified. You’ll see their droppings mostly where they feed. Again, look for the rub marks. Be sure to secure any food you place in a bait station or on a snap trap. If you aren’t able to stop their invasions, call Russell’s Pest Control to begin a rodent control service.
Roof Rat
The last type of rodent we are going to mention here is the roof rat. This rat not only damages and destroys materials by gnawing, eating, and contaminating stored food, but it is also is a carrier of disease organisms. The adult roof rat may be up to 8 inches long with, usually, brown and black fur as a top coat.
How to tell if you have an infestation? Look for gnaw marks, fresh rat droppings, fresh tracks, and rub or greasy marks on vertical surfaces. They tend to travel along fences, overhead power or telephone lines. These rats are more likely to build their nests in walls, attics, vines, or trees.
Contact Russell’s Pest when you suspect rats in our around your home.
The most important steps in controlling rodents involve sanitation and elimination of their home sites.
Sanitation:
- Store garbage in rodent-proof containers with tight fitting lids so dogs or wildlife cannot tip them over.
- Clean up spilled or unused pet food. Store pet food in rodent-proof containers. Failure to do this may lead to serious insect infestations of the feed that rodents often carry into the walls. Clean up pet excrement, as rats will eat it if there is nothing else for them to eat.
- Use rodent-proof bird feeders. Scattering food for wildlife will not only feed the birds and squirrels, but also the rats.
- Properly manage compost piles to ensure rapid decomposition of potential rat foods.
- Clean up fallen fruits or nuts from trees. Prune seed pods from lilac and other shrubs.
- Store garden and lawn seed in rodent-proof containers.
Rodent-proof your homes and businesses:
- Repair cracks and small holes in the foundations.
- Repair or replace broken windows and doors.
- Seal holes where pipes or wires enter the structure, with sheet metal collars or concrete. Repair screens and cover foundation vents with rodent proof screen material.
- Elevate compost, lumber, and wood piles at least 12 inches above ground.
- Remove unmanaged blackberries or brush near buildings.
- Prune ornamental shrubs away from the ground and, especially, avoid planting ground cover that provides shelter like English ivy.
