Rodent Control Ocala, Florida

Preventive measures are the best defense against having rats and mice take up residence in your home, but professional rodent and pest control is the most effective way to eliminate existing problems with rats and mice.

The most important things you can do to rodent-proof your home are:

• Block all of their points of entry. Rodents can squeeze through the tiniest openings, so inspect your home for small cracks and look for crevices or other openings around all of the pipes and utility lines that come through your walls, attic and crawlspace. Seal openings around pipes with metal mesh or steel wool followed by cement. 
• Eliminate the access provided by branches, shrubs and anything else that acts as a bridge to the exterior of your home.
• Feed outdoor pets during the day and take in any remaining food at night.
• Keep outside trash and garbage cans tightly sealed.
• Inside your home, store food in airtight containers, keep countertops free of bits of food, and eliminate sources of water in your bathroom and kitchen that leaky faucets may provide.

Catching mice with traps can quickly reduce your mouse population, but it’s important to do it right. Keep in mind that occasionally spotting a mouse running around your house doesn’t mean that you’re seeing the same one. In fact, there could be many more hiding in your walls, behind appliances, and in other out-of-the-way spots, so you need to set many more traps than you probably think you need. Additional methods of mouse extermination include bait stations, but the use of these should be left to rodent control professionals.

Like any warm-blooded animal, rats and other types of rodents must have shelter, water and food. If they can’t find those things outdoors, they’ll scout for a way into homes.

Rats have their preferred foods, such as grains and fruits, but if those aren’t handy, they’ll eat just about anything else they can find in your garbage can, dog or cat food bowls, or compost pile. If your garbage cans are unsecured, you leave food outdoors for pets, have bird feeders, or even a vegetable garden, your home may be a prime target for the local rat population. Water sources can include outdoor birdbaths or fountains, or even dripping faucets in your home.

Even though it’s common knowledge that rodents reproduce quickly, it’s astonishing just how fast mice can multiply. That’s why it’s so important to address a mouse problem as soon as you see the first one. Here are a few facts about how fast mice reproduce:

• A single female mouse will have dozens of offspring in a year’s time
• Gestation is only about three weeks long
• A mouse can mate right after giving birth, keeping the cycle going without a break
• Female offspring will be ready to reproduce in just six weeks