How Rodents Get Inside Tennessee Homes In Fall And Winter

The leaves are falling, the air is crisp, and winter is on its way. Tennessee is beautiful this time of year and, as much as we’d like to spend all our time enjoying the weather, certain preparations must be made for the coldest months.

As we prepare for winter, so too are the wildlife who live around us. If we’re not careful, our two worlds might come into contact in a way that is much too close for comfort.

When fall hits, rodents realize that it’s not as warm as it was a couple of months ago and that food supplies are not as plentiful as they were in the summer. Their instincts kick in and they begin to look for warm shelter that also offers an easily accessible food source. Oftentimes, they’ll find both of these things within the walls of your home.

How Rodents Get Inside Tennessee Homes

While you can’t eliminate the warmth or food in your home, you can prevent rodents from getting inside. In order to do so, you need to understand how they find their way indoors in the first place.

Mice and rats are cautious creatures. They like to hide, and are not eager to come out in the open. If the outdoor landscape around your home offers plenty of hiding spots in the form of tall grasses, bushes and shrubbery, stone walls, wood piles, and the like, they are much more likely to be near enough to your house to look for openings to the inside.

They’ll also be attracted to your yard if there are food sources outside. Pet food left on the porch, bird feeders, or open garbage containers are a sure way to attract rodents to your property.

Once near the perimeter of your home, rodents will look for any entry points to get inside. Mice can fit through an opening the size of a dime, and rats can fit through an opening the size of a quarter, so it does not need to be big to serve as an easy entry point.

How to Prevent Rodents From Getting Inside

Now that you know how they get inside, you can eliminate or diminish the things that are drawing rodents to your property. Consider landscaping options that keep grass trimmed short and bushes, shrubs, rock walls, and wood piles a distance from your house.

Remove all potential outdoor food sources and place garbage in containers with tightly fitting lids.

Check around your home, including on the roof, for holes, gaps, and cracks, and fill or cover any that you find. Don’t forget vents and the chimney!

What to Do if Rodents Get Inside

In the event that mice or rats make their way inside, it’s important to take care of them in a timely fashion. They can cause extensive damage to a home and present some serious health hazards to the people residing in the home, as well.

While DIY methods of extermination are often tempting, they are also frequently ineffective. Traps, for instance, rarely take care of an entire rodent population. Instead, the best way to eliminate the entire problem is to bring in professional pest control experts. Russell’s Pest Control will eliminate your rodent problem at its source, as well as correct any conditions that are making it easy for rodents to get inside in the first place. We also offer ongoing home pest control solutions so that you can get back to enjoying autumn while knowing your home is well-protected. To learn more, give us a call today.

How Rodents Get Inside Tennessee Homes In Fall And Winter in Knoxville TN

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