Mice and raccoons are both unwanted visitors to your home, but they often move in despite what you have to say about it. There are things that you can do to evict them, like calling the exterminators in Rockford. Still, you can prevent critters from entering your home if you know a little more about them.
Mice
• Mice can come into your home through the smallest openings because they are able to collapse their body and push through small cracks and holes that are in the exterior of your home.
• Mice can run up walls, leaving no space off-limits.
• Mice can jump more than one foot off the ground. This is actually a little-known fact and is quite surprising to many homeowners.
• These rodents need very little water to survive.
• Mice leave a pheromone trail for others to follow. There is no way for humans to detect this trail, and it actually leads other mice into your home.
• They eat as often as 20 times a day, so they are always searching for food.
Raccoons
• Raccoons are survivalists.
• These rodents can see using their hands to feel their surroundings.
• Raccoons can enter spaces as small as 2 inches because they are able to flatten their spine and stretch out.
• They have small hands without opposable thumbs, so they cannot grab things.
• Raccoons like to live inside walls, attics, crawl spaces, and chimney smoke shelves.
• These animals carry fleas and ticks, which leads to an additional infestation problem for the homeowner.
Prevention
Be sure to keep the things that attract these pests minimally. Keep your kitchen clean so that they do not smell the remnants of food. Washing with warm water and soap is a good start for keeping surfaces clean, but you should follow with an antibacterial cleanser to completely eliminate odors. Store any food securely. Anything you have in the pantry that has been opened needs to be air-tight to keep the pests away. Mice especially enjoy cereal, bread, and peanut butter. It is not a good idea to use food to bait either critter because you could end up missing your chance to catch them and attract more to your home instead.
Empty your garbage regularly. Leaving a trash can that has food scraps in your home overnight will only attract raccoons and mice. That’s why you often see videos of raccoons getting into the garbage inside of someone’s home. Outdoor trash cans should be stored a little way away from your home and should be closed at all times.
If you suspect you have a problem with rats or raccoons, call one of the excellent Rockford exterminators available at Pearson Plumbing & Heating, so your problem doesn’t get worse.
