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Rodent prevention in your attic is essential to protecting the attic’s contents and eliminating health risks associated with rodents, such as mites, fleas/ticks, and their toxic waste products.
Once rodents are established in the attic, it’s challenging to eliminate them without professional rodent removal. Their attic hideaway also gives them full access to the rest of your home’s interior walls and other nooks and crannies.
The most common rodents we find in client attics are mice, rats, and squirrels. These animals are remarkable when it comes to gaining entrance. Squirrels can gain access to your attic via holes as small as two inches in diameter, while rats and mice can get into dime-sized holes.
By using these seven steps, you’ll be way ahead of the game when it comes to keeping rodents out of your attic and crawl spaces.
As we mentioned above, rodents can get into your home using very small entrance points. The most common of these are:
Rodents are exceptional climbers. The rough texture of stucco or brick makes it easy for them to scale the exterior of your home, especially if they have access to trees, shrubs, or up utility poles and across the cables.
By sealing any potential access points using rodent-proof sealant or steel wool (rodents won’t chew through the steel as it hurts their teeth), you prevent them from getting in. As you can imagine, it’s not that easy to fall dime-sized entrance holes along the roof line, in the attics, and elsewhere, which is why scheduling a professional inspection from rodent solutions professionals means no point will go unnoticed.
Even the smallest amount of crumbs or snacks in chewable food packaging will draw rodents, especially if they’ve had free reign in the past. Plastic or glass food containers with snap-on lids are the best way to store food and snack items that draw rodents.
If any food items are stored in your attic - like candy used for gingerbread houses, camping food, etc. - store it in metal or glass. Determined or hungry rodents can chew through plastic containers given enough time without being noticed.
Even the smallest amount of crumbs or spilled liquids is enough to attract rodents and keep them coming back, so keep a clean kitchen and discourage your children from eating or storing food in their bedrooms.
NOTE FOR PET OWNERS: Squirrels, mice, rats, and ants love hard kibble and often take it from pet bowls to stash it in or near their nests. Rather than allowing pets to free-feed, rodent prevention professionals recommend feeding them smaller meals, twice or three times a day, and then cleaning the bowls up to keep rodents from having a regular supply.
NOTE: DIY trapping works well for mice and rats. However, squirrels, raccoons, and other larger rodents should only be trapped and removed by professionals.
If you already have rodents, it’s time to trap all that you can. Rodents are very savvy, and once you trap some of their rodent family members, they often disappear for a while, giving you a chance to clean and sanitize the affected area and put serious rodent prevention steps in place.
Some of the most common signs of a rodent infestation are:
Mice and rats typically scurry around the perimeters of the room, so follow their dropping trails to learn their routes and place traps against the perimeter of walls, cabinets, etc. The traps should be perpendicular to the perimeter, with the mouth of the trap against the wall, and baited with peanut butter (a rodent favorite).
Check traps daily and discard rodents safely by placing them in a plastic sack and into your outdoor garbage bin. Then clean the traps and reset them. We find that giving them a rub with alcohol helps to eliminate any odor from previously killed rodents that may cause others to shy away from the trap.
Trees and shrubs make it easy to access all of the access points that are more difficult for humans to see or access. Keep in mind that mice and rats can jump as much as two feet if they have a running start. So, keep that in mind when trimming tree branches and larger shrubs near the perimeter of your home.
Take a walk around your house and note any screens that have small holes or that are missing entirely. Replace them with new, high-quality screens. While you’re at it, this is a good time to ensure all of your exterior doors have sturdy weather stripping and that there is no evidence that rodents have been chewing at existing weather stripping or the corners of the doors.
Rodents can use your gutter and downspout system to gain access to small holes in the roof line or vents. You can install gutter guards to keep them out. These screens are attached to the bottom of the downspouts and on top of the gutters, making it harder for rodents to access them.
New rodent populations are drawn to former rodent populations' nesting spaces. For attic rodent infestations, this usually means soft, cozy insulation. Any rodent-damaged insulation should be removed and replaced after the area has been fully cleaned and sanitized.
Your attic ducts are another favorite place for rodents to live. Look for any signs of cracks or separations in the joints. You may want to invest in professional duct inspection and cleanup to ensure they’re not a source of the problem.
While DIY rodent prevention is possible, most homeowners have a hard time completely eliminating attic rodents without professional help. The team at Attic Solutions has been providing rodent prevention and elimination services for decades. Contact us to schedule a free inspection and learn more about how we can help.