When uninvited mice, rats, and squirrels invade your home you need to know how to get rid of them. Here are some suggestions as well as how to prevent them from entering.
You may be careful to keep your doors closed from uninvited mice, rats, squirrels, and other critters that try to enter your house. However, if you don’t cover up the openings where they enter, you’ll still have unwelcomed rodents as houseguests.
How Squirrels Come Inside Your House
Rooflines and eaves. Rarely do squirrels enter your home through opened doors. Instead, they usually get in at the roofline. If you have an unfinished attic, chances are squirrels could nest in the attic wall, where you can easily hear them in a room below your ceiling. On the other hand, in finished attics they’re more likely to hunker down in ceilings and walls.
Fireplaces. Squirrels can also fall through your chimney. Just ask Martha K. of Raleigh, North Carolina. Not only did one fall through, but a pregnant one at that. To make a long story short, a mother squirrel, along with her four babies barged out of her fireplace, causing more than $4,000 worth of damage. To prevent this from happening to you, make sure your fireplace is closed when not in use.
How to Get Rid of Squirrels
Set up a cage with bait. Although some will advise you to use peanut butter, it doesn’t always work. Instead, use nuts, fresh fruits (apples are effective), and vegetables. If you catch a live squirrel, drive far from your house to let it go.
Barricade the squirrel in one room. Close the door, if possible , keeping the squirrel isolated. Quickly remove as many items in the room as possible so the squirrel won’t be able to hide.
Open a window, giving the squirrel a way to escape.
Grab a broom or a fishing net. Contrary to what some animal rights advocate may say, if a cage with bait fails to work, the next option is to nail him, dead or alive.
How Rats and Mice Enter Your Home and How to Get Rid of Them
Rats---Rats can enter your home through either the top or the bottom. They can come into basements and attics or wherever stuff is hoarded in piles. They can also enter wherever food and garbage is not tightly covered. They’re especially attracted to dog food stored in garages. Besides living in the insulation of walls or ceilings, they also live inside crawl spaces, as well as behind kitchen cupboards, bathtubs, and shower stalls. What’s more, they live near furnaces and hot water heaters. To kill rats, poison bait traps work best. However if you have small children or pets, it’s better to use glue traps.
·Mice---Mice usually enter through small holes in your house’s foundation, so you’ll want to regularly check for openings and then caulk or cement. It’s also a good idea to caulk outside clothes dryer vents, as well as inspect utility lines near your house, ensuring they are also sealed. Check your garage door to make sure the rubber strip (alongside the bottom) is gapless. Unfortunately, if you’ve seen one mouse, it’s more than likely an entire family is also hiding out in your house. Although there are a variety of traps and baits, the most effective one (although non-humane) is a glue trap.
Of course, the best solution is to rodent-proof your house before these annoying critters arrive and set up housekeeping. However, if you’ve already been invaded, don’t panic. Just make sure you immediately get rid of them before they further multiply.
The copyright of the article Getting Rodents Out of Your House in Home Management is owned by Venice Kichura. Permission to republish Getting Rodents Out of Your House in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
