Identifying A Rodent Infestation

Identifying A Rodent Infestation

Removing rodents from your home is most successful when you understand whether you are dealing with a mouse or rat infestation. Not only do mice and rats look different, but their behavior, habits, and food preferences are slightly different as well – meaning you can improve your rodent infestation removal efforts simply by knowing which species you are dealing with.

Signs of a Rodent Infestation

The telltale signs of a rodent infestation include droppings and urine odors; gnaw marks and holes, nests, and scampering noises throughout your home. The size of the droppings can help indicate whether you are dealing with a mouse or rat infestation. If the droppings are one quarter of an inch or smaller, you’re dealing with mice. If the droppings are half an inch or bigger, you’re dealing with rats.

Behavior Differences Between Mice and Rats

Mice are curious creatures and like to investigate everything. Place traps in areas with mice droppings, as they are likely to run through that area. Rats, on the other hand, are cautious creatures and avoid new things until they have gotten somewhat used to them. Your best bet with rats is to place unset traps in the likely rat path for a few days, to give the rats time to get used to it being there before setting it in hopes of trapping the critter.

Mice build nests near food sources and prefer to eat plants and grains, although they will eat most anything if they have to. Rats, on the other hand, burrow under buildings and under plants and debris, and prefer to eat plants and other animals. Rats will even eat mice. Both are nocturnal creatures, preferring to do most of their exploring at night, but may be seen during the day if their nests are disrupted or they’re in search of food.

Getting Rid of Rodents

Take some time to inspect your property and properly seal any cracks and crevices. Both mice and rats can enter your home through tiny openings (mice only need a hole about the size of a dime to get in, and rats just slightly larger than that!)

If your trapping efforts haven’t eliminated your rodent infestation, call Russell’s Pest Control for rodent elimination services. We’ll conduct a thorough inspection of your home to determine whether you have a rat or mouse infestation, deploy proper pest control measures to get rid of existing rodents, and help you prevent future infestations.

What To Do, And Not Do, About Rodents In Your Home

What To Do

If you are hearing, or seeing, the evidence of rodents inside your home, this is not an issue to be taken lightly. The scritch-scratching sounds inside your walls, the tiny (or perhaps not so tiny) droppings you are finding in your cabinets, and the chew holes appearing in the Cheerios box are not things that should be ignored. Rodents are not only a nuisance to have around, they pose very real dangers to you, your possessions, your family, and even your pets.

Rodents are famous for foraging in filthy places, but they also forage in your kitchen. This means that they carry all sorts of disease-causing pathogens into your home and deposit them everywhere they roam. Rodents are known to transmit diseases, some of them fatal–as well as secondary pests, like ticks, which can transmit Lyme disease. And, rodents are a danger to your possessions as well. Since they constantly have to chew on things to wear down their ever-growing teeth, they will damage or destroy anything from treasured possessions to your whole house, if they accidentally chew on the right electrical wire.

If you have a rodent infestation, it is imperative you get professional help right away. Although some do-it-yourself rodent control strategies can get rid of some rodents, to completely eradicate these pests, so they don’t keep coming back, a pest control company is the way to go.

Why DIY rodent control doesn’t work

  • While many products will kill some rats and mice, killing all the rodents in a home can be tricky. And many products can be dangerous to humans or pets if not properly handled. At best, you can reduce your rodent population, at worst, you could end up with dead, rotting rodent carcasses inside your wall voids, which will only draw more pests into your structure. Many bugs are drawn to dead, rotting things.

  • Using chemical products can result in rodents picking up the chemicals on their fur and then tracking it around your pantries and food preparation areas.

  • While snap traps may catch some rodents, it is impossible to know if you have gotten them all. These critters have a threat avoidance instinct that will cause them to lay low for a while and grow their population to come back later when the threat is gone. If your family is dealing with flu-like symptoms, it may be rodent related, even if you think you’ve gotten rid of your rodents.

If you are hearing and seeing the signs of a rodent infestation, and you live in our East Tennessee service area, call or click today. With over 40 years experience in pest prevention and elimination, Russell’s Pest Control can make your home rodent-free with rodent control you can depend on. Life is better without rodents.

How To Keep Mice Out Of Your Tennessee Home This Fall

How To Keep Mice Out Of Your Tennessee Home This Fall

Have you ever dealt with mice in your home? Have you heard the chewing, scratching, and bumping noises inside your walls while you were trying to go to sleep? Have you seen the little black droppings in the backs of your kitchen drawers and cabinets? Or worse, have you actually seen a furry little critter running along the kitchen baseboard as you entered the room? If you have, we probably don’t have to tell how frustrating it can be to have mice. You know how they chew into packages, and leave a strong smell of urine in your pantry, storage areas, and attic spaces. It is no fun to have a mouse infestation.

Are you aware that, not only are mice a nuisance, they can actually be dangerous? It’s true. When mice find their way into your home, they can track in all kinds of filth. Before crawling around in your pantry, they may have walked through sewers, dumpsters, or a number of other bacteria-laden places. And, they also deposit urine and feces everywhere they go.

A few of the diseases mice are known to spread are lassa fever, leptospirosis, plague, and rat-bite fever. Mice can also bring mites, lice, fleas or ticks into your home. And, they never stop chewing on things. Never. If they accidentally chew on the wrong thing, like a live wire, it could spark a house fire.

What can you do to keep mice out of your home?

  • Keep your grass trimmed short and remove any overgrown areas. Mice hide in tall grass and weeds. Also, remove toys, cinder blocks, leaf piles, appliances, and other lawn clutter. If you have a wood pile, or stack of construction materials, store them as far from your home as possible, and get them up off the ground.

  • Remove food and water sources from your yard. Clean up after parties, don’t leave pet food out, protect areas where fruits or vegetables may be. M

  • ake sure your trash is secure inside cans with tight fitting lids. If you have bird feeders, keep them well away from your house.

  • Trim back any vegetation that touches your home. Mice and other pests use these as bridges to your home.

  • Inspect the outside of your house and seal up any gaps or cracks you find. Pay attention to areas around pipes, wires, air conditioning units, and other objects that pass through your foundation or walls.

  • Place wire mesh inside downspouts, and cover chimney or vent openings with screening to keep mice from climbing into these things.

  • Keep your house clean of any water sources or food particles, just in case a mouse does manage to get in.

  • Call in the assistance of a professional pest control company.

Here at Russel’s Pest Control, getting rid of mice–or keeping them out in the first place–is easy as pie, since our pest control technicians have a Category 7 certification for general pest and rodent control and wood-destroying organisms. Don’t let mice run amok in your home, get fast, efficient help from Russel’s Pest Control.

Rodent Awareness Week

Rodent Awareness Week

October 23rd-29th is rodent awareness week, this annual event comes at the perfect time to educate home and business owners about these invasive and dangerous pests. Rodents like mice and rats are a year-round problem, but during the fall and winter months, they are more motivated to enter your home or business to seek refuge from the colder weather as well as easy access to food and water. Russell’s Pest Control wants to make sure that you aware of the negative impacts that rodents can have on your home or business and why it is so important to protect both from these furry terrors.

Rodents will take every advantage given to them while trying to enter your home, a tiny crack in the foundation, a gap underneath an exterior door, a space found around a pipe entering into your home, or a hole in the roof line. Once rodents get into your home they tend to make themselves right at home, but we are warning you- rodents make terrible houseguests. Listed below are some of the reasons why rodents need to be eliminated from your home as quickly as possible!

  • They need to eat, which means that they are going to be eating the food you have stored in your kitchen and pantry areas, contaminating it with their saliva, urine, and feces.

  • They spread a host of dangerous diseases like Salmonella and the very serious Hantavirus.

  • Rodents are constantly chewing on items and can cause major structural damage within your home. They will chew through wires, pipes, drywall, insulation, flooring, and more. The damages that they cause can lead to fires, water leaks, and mold issues.

  • Rodents destroy personal items like books, clothing, pictures, and furniture.

Rodents don’t just invade family homes; they also enjoy invading commercial properties. Inside of a commercial facility they cause many of the same damages that they do in homes: structural damages, damage to personal items, damage to inventory, contaminate food; and they spread diseases that could potentially affect you, your employees, and customers. In a business however, rodents can cause a type of damage that may be even worse, damage to your business’s reputation. Just one customer spotting one rodent dropping or spying a mice running along the wall will cause them to not want to return and to tell their friends and family about the incident, causing people in the community to have a negative opinion about your business.

So now you know why rodents are such dangerous pests, what do you do to stop them? The best solution to any rodent or pest infestation is to put into place a year-round pest control program. At Russell’s Pest Control we offer both residential and commercial year-round pest control services to protect your property from the dangers that rodents bring inside with them. Our highly trained rodent control experts can safely and quickly solve current problems with rodents in your home or business and provide routine services to prevent future problems with them.

Don’t let rodents invade your home or business this fall, winter, or any other time of the year, keep them outside where they belong with the help of the rodent control experts at Russell’s Pest Control. Give us a call today to start protecting your property from rodents!

Winter Chill Forces Rodents And Other Small Pests Indoors

Winter Chill Forces Rodents And Other Small Pests Indoors

With cold weather and snow blanketing much of the country, homeowners aren’t the only ones seeking shelter indoors. Rodents are also looking for a warm place like our homes to escape the winter chill. Unfortunately, these small pests can cause more than just a headache for homeowners if they gain entrance inside.

Rodents can contaminate food sources and serve as vectors of many diseases, such as salmonella and the potentially fatal Hantavirus. Moreover, mice and rats can cause serious structural damage by chewing through insulation, wallboards, wood and electrical wiring.

It’s much easier to prevent an infestation than to get rid of pests after they’ve found a cozy retreat inside the home. The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) recommends the following tips to keep homes rodent-free this winter:

  • Seal cracks and holes on the outside of the home, including areas where utilities and pipes enter, using caulk, steel wool or a combination of both.

  • Replace loose mortar and weather stripping around the basement foundation and windows.

  • Screen vents and openings to chimneys.

  • Store food in airtight containers and dispose of garbage regularly.

  • Inspect items such as boxes, grocery bags and other packages brought into the home.

If you find rodent feces or hear sounds of scurrying in the walls, contact Russell’s Pest Control, and we’ll perform a free home inspection.

Hantavirus And The Deer Mouse

Recently, we’ve been hearing talk on the news about Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS). This disease has been attracting the attention of pest control professionals because it is generally spread by a common rodent, the deer mouse. So, let’s go through some Q and A about HPS and how it intersects with the pest control industry.

Q: What is Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome?

A: HPS is a dangerous disease first identified in the U.S. in 1993 when a series of respiratory-related deaths occurred in the western part of the country. After intensive research, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) found that the deaths could be attributed to the Hantavirus. When people are exposed to the Hantavirus, they can (but may not) develop HPS.

Q: How could I be exposed to HPS?

A: Hantavirus exposure is overwhelmingly attributed to interaction with rodents, particularly the deer mouse. Please note that not every species of rodent caries the Hantavirus, and most of the rodents in East Tennessee are not known to be carriers of this virus. Knoxville and all of East Tennessee are on the very outskirts of the deer mouse’s habitat. Cotton rats, which are natives to the South East, can also carry the Hantavirus, but they are found to be infected less frequently than the deer mouse.

Q: What kind of activities could put me at risk for getting HPS from a deer mouse?

A: The Hantavirus is spread through contact with urine, feces, and saliva from an infected deer mouse or cotton rat. You should be on your guard if you are spending time in infrequently-used buildings that may have rodent activity, if you are doing yard work near wood piles or other habitats that could harbor mice, or if you are hiking or camping in areas that are attractive to mice (like campgrounds or trail shelters). If you are going to be working in an area with known mouse activity (like a shed or a crawl space), wear a surgical mask while you work. This is an airborne virus, so you are most likely to be exposed to it while breathing in mouse-infested areas. This virus is not transferable from human to human, meaning that if you are exposed to mouse waste, you cannot pass on the virus to friends or family members by touching them or kissing them.

Q: What are the symptoms of HPS?

A: Generally speaking, the virus begins to express itself less than a month after exposure to infected deer mice. All victims of HPS complain of extreme fatigue, fever, and deep muscle cramps in the thighs, abs, and back. Most patients also experience some kind of abdominal problems (nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea) as well as dizziness and headaches. These are the early symptoms that are leading to the respiratory problems. Eventually, the lungs will start to fill up with fluid, and the patient will experience tightness in the chest, difficulty breathing, and a suffocating feeling.

Q: What should I do if I think I have HPS?

A: Go to the doctor! The problem is that early HPS symptoms mimic flu symptoms, so people often wait too long to get help. If you start to get flu-like symptoms after being exposed to rodent habitats, go to the doctor immediately and describe your rodent interaction. About 40% of HPS cases are fatal, which means you shouldn’t mess around with this issue. Although there is no direct cure for HPS, a hospital will be able to provide respiratory help and can potentially alleviate some of the dangers associated with the symptoms of HPS while the virus runs its course.

Q: What does all of this have to do with pest control?

A: Are you ready to hear me sound like a broken record again? The CDC is very clear that the best way to handle HPS is to avoid it entirely. You do this by not allowing mice and rats the chance to build up habitats in your home or outbuildings. Caulk up those small openings. Use weather stripping to seal large openings. Put down snap traps (in safe, inaccessible locations) so that you’ll know immediately if mice try to invade your home. The fall and winter are the most likely times to see mice near your home, and this is particularly relevant since we are experiencing such an early fall here in East Tennessee.

Q: Where can I get help with rodent control?

A: You can get help from Russell’s Pest Control, of course! Give us a call if you want year-round rodent control, and we’ll help you in any way we can. You can also contact us online.

Rodents In Sevierville

Finally, some cooler weather! After a summer of particularly extreme heat, cold fronts have moved through East Tennessee. Lest the cooling temperatures put you off your guard against pest threats, I wanted to issue a pest control alert, and this particular warning is especially directed to our customers and friends in Sevierville. Let’s talk about the rodent threat that is rising in East Tennessee.

You may remember from our previous post about rodents that mice and rats begin to cause trouble in earnest during the fall. Cold weather often drives them inside where they can find comfort in your warm house because, let’s face it, once they’re inside, they’re only as cold as you are. However, this year’s heat may have raised the stakes for rodents and increased the problems for homeowners.

Mice and rats don’t like to be too hot. They dehydrate quickly, and rats are particularly dependent on reliable water sources for survival. This summer, Russell’s received phone calls about rodent problems, which is fairly unusual. The mice and rats were attempting to force their way inside because the heat was so extreme that they wanted to borrow your sink, walk-in shower, or leaking pipe to keep their families cool. Now that the evenings are becoming brisk, they are not at all motivated to move out.

So, why is this relevant for residents of Sevierville in particular? Well, Sevier County has just the environmental variety that mice and rats find attractive. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are highly commercialized and feature dozens of restaurants and hotels. The presence of many humans in close quarters provides easy pickings for rodents. They hardly have to scavenge for food when so much is available in trash bins. Property owners in commercially-centered areas like Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge must constantly be on their guard against full-scale invasions from unwanted guests.

On the other hand, Sevierville also has acres and acres of peacefully remote wooded areas that make the Smokey Mountains so enjoyable. Unfortunately, woodlands are also a favorite of rodents. Mice and rats live in woods and fields; we just usually don’t see them there. However, if the field-dwellers are struggling to survive, a secluded, picturesque cabin is just the place for them. Rural Sevierville residents can be quickly overwhelmed by a rodent problem in the fall.

To top it all off, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, Kodak, and Townsend (though it’s in Blount County) are all host to many rental cabins. People from all over the country have cabins in the Great Smokey Mountains, which may only be occupied for a couple of weeks a year. Vacant structures without consistent pest control run a high risk of sustaining rodent damage. We’ve heard stories of mice creating large nests in mattresses, storage bins, and insulation, which the property owners only discovered on the first day of their planned vacations!

The moral of the story is that all residents of East Tennessee, particularly those in Sevier County, should be aware of the potential threat of rodents. Put down snap traps or glue boards in your vacant cabins. If you’re comfortable with the idea, read the labels of mouse baits and put them in areas where people and non-target animals can’t encounter them. Or, contact Russell’s Pest Control. We’ll monitor the situation four times a year, so you don’t have to worry about it.

Rodent Control For Messy Housemates

Our days are getting shorter, and the nights are getting colder. While you get out the quilts for the beds, bear in mind that other creatures are eager to put the finishing touches on their winter nests, too. The nest-builders that I mean are mice, and they’re already creating a problem for homeowners in East Tennessee.

Mice can be cute (reference attached photo for evidence), but they’re considered one of the most troubling pests for mankind. They don’t just want to share space with humans—they also want to share supplies, and they are famous for contaminating food and spreading diseases with their droppings and parasites. Consider these statistics about mouse activity that the National Pest Management Field Guide documented. If two mice inhabit a structure for six months, they will eat about 4 lbs. of food. They will also leave behind about 18,000 droppings and will expel 12 oz. of urine, particularly while marking their territory (which they do often). Not a very pleasant thought, is it? Now consider that mice can produce litters of 5-8 young every six weeks. Suddenly, the rodent problem has taken on a broader scope.

Mice aren’t like rats—they are naturally curious and are not suspicious of changes in their surroundings. This can work to your advantage. If you know you’ve got mice in a certain area, move around the objects nearby and then add a trap with food on it. The mouse will be eager to relearn the once-familiar environment and is more likely to fall prey to your rodent control measures. Another home remedy for getting rid of mice is to block up the extra space around your plumbing and electrical openings with steel wool or copper mesh. As rodents, their tendency is to chew through obstructions, but the metal will hurt them when they try. Copper is toxic to rodents, so it has even faster effects.

We encourage homeowners to remember that one mouse isn’t too big of a problem, but a mouse colony is a major issue. If you find evidence of mice or know that you’re in a high-risk area for them (like land surrounded by fields or near construction sites), take action immediately. If you’re busy and just can’t find space in your schedule to handle rodent control, click here to hire a professional who can carefully monitor for mice and eliminate them efficiently if they get inside.