Fall is a beautiful time of year. The color changing leaves, cozy sweaters, cooler weather, fun and festive holidays and pumpkin spice everything—what is not to love about this fall season? But did you know, fall is also the time of year when your home is the most vulnerable? Of course, no one wants to think about that, but you really need to for the safety of your family and the home that is your greatest investment. An infestation of rodents is one of the most destructive, devastating, dangerous and financially disastrous things that can happen to your home. The amount of damage a rodent infestation can wreck on a home is substantial and it can happen in a short time right under your nose. Rodents reproduce incredibly fast. A female can give birth to 5 litters a year with each litter having 5-14 offspring. On average, that means that one female will give birth to around 40 mice! Multiply that by all those female offspring also reproducing and you can see how one rodent can quickly turn into hundreds in a short time. Maybe you think your home is safe from rodents this fall. Think again. Here are 3 reasons mice love your home and you need to schedule mouse control this season.
Shelter
Rodents feel the seasons change and know they must find shelter. They really do not like rain, wind, hail and snow. Most animals do not enjoy standing in the cold precipitation and rodents especially will scramble as fast as they can to take cover from any kind of severe weather. A female mouse will feel an urgency to find shelter so she can deliver her litter in a safe, covered and dry place. Your home is the perfect place for this, especially within your walls where she is hidden and safe. In a rodent nest, they will tear up and steal paper, fabric and even insulation to nest in. This makes a big mess and is a terrible job to clean up, not to mention that it is dangerous and special protection should be worn when cleaning up rodent nests and feces. Hantavirus and other devastatingly harmful and even deadly diseases are transmitted through rodent feces, even just in the air near it all.
Warmth
As the temperatures grow cold, mice and rats instinctively search for a place to wait out the frigid weather. Rodents live on average of 1-5 years, but how can they survive the winter? It’s because rodents are adept at finding shelter during cold months. Anything from an underground burrow, a woodpile, your shed, your garage or house are places they wait out the winter. Being warm blooded, they are susceptible to the cold and will die if they do not find shelter before the freezing winter comes. Their desperation mounts as it gets colder each day so they use their strong jaws to gnaw through the exterior of homes. It is especially beneficial to them if your home already has cracks or openings as they just make these slightly bigger and can squeeze through openings the size of a nickel.
Food
Once a rodent has acquired shelter and warmth in your home, shed or garage, they will now be on the hunt for food. In order to stay alive through the cold months, they need to find food. Rodents are the ultimate scavengers and will go through your garbage, get into your pet’s food and steal from your pantry. They are not very picky and when desperate, they will eat anything. At first you might not notice their thievery, but if you pay attention, you might notice chew marks on packaging and rodent feces in corners. They cannot help it. They pretty much urinate and defecate on and near everything they touch. Finding little droppings that look like black or brown grains of rice is a dead giveaway that you have a rodent problem and need urgent, professional mouse control.
No need to stress, the professionals will take care of you
A rodent problem can give homeowners a feeling of extreme anxiety and frustration. Do not waste your money on mouse traps. Elevate Pest Control has the most advanced mouse control techniques, protection and treatments for guaranteed, year round rodent control so you can rest easy. Your home will be safe, protected and rodent free with the help of our friendly and experienced team at Elevate Pest Control. Call us today for fast and efficient rodent control services.