Frisco Homeowners' Complete Guide To Effective Rodent Control

Mice, rats, and sometimes squirrels, are resourceful animals. They can climb, jump, and chew their way into Frisco homes. The secret to keeping them out is a multi-pronged strategy that takes into consideration their habits, habitation, and food preferences. Here is a quick and complete guide to effective rodent control.

Step 1: Remove Yard Attractants

When a rodent comes into your yard, it will be happy to find the following:

• Leaf piles
• Dead branches stacked in a pile
• Stacked firewood
• Stumps
• Nuts that fall from trees
• A pile of garbage
• Lawn clutter

Yard maintenance is key to deterring rodent activity around your home. It is also important to consider food sources.

Step 2: Remove Perimeter Attractants

When a rodent gets near to your exterior walls, it will be happy to explore your exterior if it finds:

• Bird seed that falls from feeders
• An open trash receptacle
• Dense vegetation in landscaping
• Objects to hide underneath or behind
• Leaves piled underneath structures or landscaping
• Wood or brick debris left over from construction projects

Step 3: Seal Entry Points In Your Exterior

When a rodent explores the exterior of your home, it is going to be drawn to tight spaces, cracks, and recesses.

• Use a caulking gun to seal gaps around pipes, holes created by wood-damaging pests, and all of the many gaps that can be present in your foundation walls.
• Make sure all vents have covers, even if you don't think a mouse or rat can get up to the vent opening.
• If your home has louvers, consider installing hardware cloth to prevent rodent access.
• Make sure all of your exterior doors have working door sweeps and weatherstripping. Routinely check them for holes. It only takes a hole the size of a dime for an adult mouse to get into your home. Keep in mind that you can make your exterior doors resistant to mice and rats by removing hiding places, such as flower pots. 

Step 4: Stop Rodents From Getting To Your Roof

When a rodent can access your roof and roofline, it can find access to unique vulnerabilities. Keep in mind that squirrels aren't the only rodent pests that get into homes by way of a roof. Mice and rats can be great climbers.

• Trim branches that come within four feet of your roofline.
• Put wire mesh in the downspouts of your gutter system.
• Consider electrical wires that run from nearby poles. You can attach something prickly to keep rodents from running across the wires and getting onto your roof.

Step 5: Make Your Home Resistant To Rodent Habitation

While a mouse, rat, and particularly a squirrel, can get into your home for no other reason than to use it as a place to find shelter from the elements, there are ways you can make your home resistant to habitation. Squirrels will probably not be deterred by any of these because they mostly stick to attic spaces and wall voids.

• Clean and deep clean your home. It only takes crumbs to feed rodents.
• Don't leave pet food out overnight. This is when rodents are active.
• Store food in sealed containers, including pet food.
• Keep your home free of clutter. Rodents prefer lots of hiding places.
• Consider only eating in your kitchen or dining room. This prevents food from being left in other areas of your home.

Step 6: Targeted Control

When rodents invade a home, targeted control is usually required. The best way to get control of rodents is to deploy traps. Unfortunately, this isn't a simple matter. Rodents have many behavior patterns that help them to avoid traps. When traps fail to capture rodents, the rodents are allowed to continue to present a threat to health and property. The best solution is to hire a licensed professional to apply a trapping program.

Professional Rodent Control In Frisco

At All-Safe Pest & Termite, our technicians are trained in rodent control and exclusion. When mice, rats, or squirrels become a problem for you, we can provide a complete solution that will give you the best rodent control possible. Our technicians perform a professional inspection to find signs of rodent activity, conducive conditions, and potential points of entry. A treatment plan is developed based on the findings. In the interior, we properly deploy and monitor traps. On the exterior, we apply baits in key locations. Entry points are sealed with caulking, copper mesh, hardware cloth, or metal flashing as needed. One week after your initial service, your technician will return to evaluate the success of the rodent control treatment plan. This will continue each week until no rodent activity is detected.

You don't have to live with rodents, or the health and property threat they can represent. Reach out to All-Safe Pest & Termite today to request service. We're here to help you address all your pest concerns with industry-leading pest control solutions.