How to Stop Rats and Mice From Entering Your House

Rats can be so much dangerous. They can ruin our food, destroy things in our home and start electrical fires. Not only that, rats and their fleas also can carry disease. Now is the time to find out how to prevent all these scavengers from moving indoors to live with us. Here are a few steps that you might need to know.

Keep the windows and doors of your home closed at all times if possible. Although mice and rats are active at night but they can enter through your open windows and doors during the day when they are under real pressure to find shelter and food. Cover or fill any holes or gaps around your home that are 0.635 cm or larger. The rib cages of rats and mice can be flatten to fit through very small gaps and if their head can fit through, their body can follow. Mice can fit through an opening as small as 0.635 cm and rats can fit through an opening as small as 1.27 cm.

Remove all food sources. Rats can eat the same food as we do (fruits, snacks, cakes, fats, oils that have been spilled, grains, rice, vegetables, oats, and many more. Dont leave pet food outdoors. Use birdfeeders with trays and clean up spilled seeds. Dispose of rubbish promptly and keep your bin lids tightly closed. Any covers or plugs used should be rodent-chewing proof.

Keep your garden and home clean and free of clutter. Stack fire wood 46 cm off the ground and away from all buildings. Cut back trees overhanging your deck and roof. Roof rats are excellent climbers and they love to walk along branches that overhang roofs and will leap from these trees to enter your attic space.

Watch for signs of rat infestation, such as chewed boxes or droppings. Before you go to sleep, you can try coating your floor and counter tops with a thin layer of talcum powder and look for tracks the next day in order to determine where the rats are coming in.

You can set traps in the places where you see their droppings or other signs of infestation. Before you do this, be extra careful especially for those who have pets or young children. Make sure all these traps are out of reach from young children, you can place them inside the cabinets instead of placing them on floors or counters.

Wear gloves when removing a trapped rodent. After that you should wrap it in a bag and then place it in the garbage outside. Traps should be remain in places for a few weeks, so that you make sure there are no more rodents in the house. Do not try to trap a mice with a rat trap or vice versa.