Rats! How Pest Control in Gray, GA, Gets Rid of Rodents

March 15, 2024

Rodents are some of the most common animals on the planet. Making up about 40% of all mammal species, rodents are found in almost every type of habitat on Earth. They’re found on every continent except Antarctica and are the only non-marsupial mammals that are native to Australia and New Zealand. Rodents of various types are kept as pets, hunted for sport, and even used for food around the world, and they play an enormous role in the maintenance of our planet’s ecosystems.

Unfortunately, these common critters frequently find their way into our homes and businesses. If you have an unwanted rodent or family of rodents that’s decided to settle down in your attic, walls, foundation, or living space, your local exterminator has a number of tools they can use to get rid of them.

What Are Rodents?

Rodents are typically small mammals – though some like the capybara can reach sizes of up to 175 pounds. They’re defined by their unique front teeth. Unlike most mammals, rodents’ front incisors grow continually throughout their lives, which leads to their annoying habit of gnawing on everything they can fit between their jaws. The gnawing wears down the teeth to keep them sharp and at the appropriate length.

Here in Gray, Georgia and in the rest of the midstate, the most common types of rodents most people encounter are:

Mice (especially the tiny deer mouse and the very common house mouse)
Voles, more commonly called field mice (but actually a close relative of the hamster)
Rats, usually the common brown rat
Squirrels and chipmunks
Gophers
Muskrats
Beavers
Groundhogs (or woodchucks)

Of this list, fortunately only the first four commonly invade homes in Georgia – if an unwanted gopher or beaver has wandered into your home, that’s a job for animal control instead of an exterminator.

How Do I Know I Have Rodents in My Home?

The most obvious way to know you have a rodent problem is to actually see one of the furry creatures in the house. Mice and rats are the two types most likely to make their way into your living space, but voles and squirrels will occasionally leave hiding and show themselves.

You may also see droppings, taking the form of small pellets, around food storage areas and places in your home where water can be found, like sinks and toilets.

Finding shredded paper or gnawed wood or plastic is another sure sign that rodents of some sort have moved in.

Finally, you may hear them. If the rodents are in your attic, you may hear them running around during nighttime hours when the house is quiet, or you may hear them gnawing on the wood in your walls or crawlspace.

How do Pest Control Experts Get Rid of Rodents

Rodents are clever animals. Certain species demonstrate the same kind of spatial memory as humans, and most species can learn to avoid a food source if that food source turns out to be poisoned or tainted. Being so small and relegated towards the bottom of the food chain, the rodents that commonly get into home and businesses tend to be cagey and extremely wary – so getting rid of them can take some effort.

There are a few common tools that exterminators and other pest control specialists can use to rid your home of its rodent problem:

Keeping Rodents Out in the First Place

The best cure is prevention. If you do have a rodent problem, the first thing your exterminator will do is inspect your home and determine where the pesky critters are getting in. Sealing up cracks and gaps, repairing loose or damaged flashing, and making sure your home’s soffit is intact are all helpful at keeping the rodents outside where they belong.

Traps

There are several ways to trap rodents, from the common spring-type or glue-type traps that result in the death of the rodent, to humane traps that capture the animals and allow them to be released far away from your home.

Baits/Poisons

Special poisons known as rodenticides specifically target biological processes that are unique to rodents in order to kill off the offending creatures without affecting humans or pets. These treatments are usually applied in a bait format that encourages the rodents to ingest the poison.

Repellents

Certain natural or synthetic compounds are offensive to rodent’s sense of smell or taste. Peppermint oil, clove oil, and cayenne pepper are all natural compounds that can drive rodents away from your home.

Fumigation

If all else fails, your pest control team may need to resort to fumigation, a process by which a home is tented or sealed up from the outside and pumped full of a gaseous substance that kills everything in the home. These gases can either be poisons such as phosphine, or suffocating agents like carbon dioxide. Either way, fumigation is an extreme and expensive step that should only be explored if other methods prove ineffective.

Don’t Let Mice, Rats, and Squirrels Damage Your Home and Your Peace of Mind – Let National Exterminating Handle Your Pest Control Needs. Call Us: 478-922-1410.

National Exterminating’s licensed pest control professionals are experts at ridding homes and businesses of rodents in Gray and across the rest of Middle Georgia. Call us today at 478-922-1410.