Everything You Should Know About Rodents Near You

Rodent peeking out through damage in a wooden log. Everything you should know about the rodents near you.

October 20 to 26 is the Professional Pest Management Alliance’s sixth annual Rodent Awareness Week. It couldn’t be happening at a more relevant time. According to a recent study, rodents are the greatest pest concern facing American homes today. Rats and mice invade 21 million homes every year, mostly in fall! Despite how common they are, however, rodent behavior isn’t very well understood. For instance, did you know that rodents are found in bathrooms twice as frequently as other rooms? The best way to prevent rodent infestations now and in the future is to understand them better.

We want to help! That’s why, in honor of Rodent Awareness Week, Griffin put together this primer on everything you should know about the rats and mice near you. This is what rodents want, how they get into your home, and how you can keep them out for good:

What do rodents want?

Rodents want shelter, warmth, food, and humidity–usually in that order. They enter homes in late summer and fall in order to escape the freezing temperatures of winter. Once inside, they’ll stick around if they can get their paws on food and water. Rats and mice look for warm, dark, narrow, humid shelters where they can find food and water.

How do rodents find homes to infest?

Rodents are very sensitive to temperature and pressure fluctuations. These sensitivities help rodents understand when the season is changing faster than we possibly could. As soon as they sense outdoor temperature chances, rodents start looking for the warmth and pressure differentials created by drafts. When they find drafts, they’ll follow the warmth inside.

In addition to temperature and pressure sensitivity, rodents also possess a highly-developed sense of smell. This sense of smell allows them to sniff out specific information about food, including the best way to get to it. Rodents literally “follow their noses” all the way inside your home. 

Rodent chewing on sunflower seeds near a home

How do rodents get into homes?

Rodents make their way inside by sneaking through tiny, draft-producing nooks and crannies located all around homes. Mice and rats are notorious for their ability to squeeze through tiny gaps. They tend to typically find these gaps in a few particularly likely places, including:

  • Door and window frames
  • Gaps around utility lines
  • Cracks in baseboarding and foundations
  • Breaches in vents or pipes
  • Damaged or rotting siding or shingles

Wait, why are they in my bathroom?

Rodents love moisture, warmth, and darkness. Bathrooms typically provide plenty of all three, particularly if they’re in your basement. Rats and mice live in bathrooms to soak up humidity and warmth and drink condensation. Occasionally, rodents may even swim up through damaged plumbing pipes to enter your home.

rodent climbing on an electrical wire

Why are they a problem?

Rodents are surprisingly dangerous in homes for several reasons. Here are the main reasons you never want rats or mice to establish themselves in your home:

  • Fire Damage: Did you know that 25% of the house fires attributed to “unknown causes” were probably caused by rodents? Rats and mice chew through electrical wiring, which can generate sparks and start fires.
  • Health Concerns: Rat and mice feces, saliva, blood, and fur transmit several dangerous diseases. Rodents may also carry diseased fleas or other parasites.
  • Food Damage: Rats and mice in your home will make a beeline for any pantry food they can find. The damage they inflict can get surprisingly expensive surprisingly quickly!
  • Wood, Fabric, and Paper Damage: Rodents constantly gnaw on any soft materials they can find, tearing them up in the process. Rodent infestations end up damaging wood, fabric, and paper products in your home.

How can I tell if I have a rodent problem?

Unfortunately, if you happen mice or rat inside your home, chances are they aren’t alone. Even if you don’t see your rodent, however, there are a few ways to figure out if they’re hiding near you. Look for the following signs:

  • ¼ to ½ inch long black droppings that look pellet or spindle-shaped
  • Damaged electrical cables or wiring
  • Gnaw marks on cardboard boxes, drapes, upholstery, wooden furniture, or even carpet
  • Damaged food packaging
  • Collections of dirty, soft material like paper, insulation, cardboard, or plastic
  • Dirty or greasy markings along the lower parts of walls

How can I keep them out of my home?

Start by cutting off their access to your home. Repair weaknesses you find around the usual sites up above using caulk, weatherproofing, spackle, or another sealant. If an opening is big enough to see, it’s probably big enough for rodents to use. Pay particular attention to drafty or humid parts of your home such as basements and bathrooms.

When you’re finished rodent-proofing access points, make the rest of your home as inhospitable to rats and mice. Keep your the floor of your basement, crawl spaces, pantries, and attics as clean and clear as possible. Elevate all storage materials, especially cardboard boxes and linen garment bags. Store your pantry food in airtight hard plastic containers. You should even keep your lawn as clear as possible. The harder it is for rodents to hide near you, the greater the distance they’ll keep.

 

Once rodents have established themselves inside your home, they can be difficult to remove without serious help. Luckily, you have serious help–you have Griffin Pest Solutions. 

Our experts can find rodent infestations, remove them, and make sure they can’t get in again. If you become a little too aware of rodents this Rodent Awareness Week, give us a call anytime. We’ve yet to meet a rodent infestation we couldn’t beat.

What Do Rodents Want This Fall?

Rodent near a pumpkin. What do rodents want this fall?

Autumn is a lovely time of year. The overbearing heat of the Midwest summer leaves us alone as the temperatures start to shift. Leaves change color, pumpkin spice becomes the flavor du jour, and everyone starts wearing socks again. In the middle of these positive changes comes one not-so-positive change, however. Rodents start finding their way inside homes and businesses. 

Just like you pull sweaters out of storage as the temps turn, rodents start looking for similar, reliable warmth. If you’re not careful, they’ll find it in your home. This is what attracts rodents to your home this fall, how they get inside, and how to keep them out.

What attracts rodents in fall?

The simplest answer is food and warmth. Cooling temperatures trigger a response in rodents and mice to seek out warmth and shelter. Rodents are extremely sensitive to temperature and pressure fluctuations, so they may sense the changing season before you do! 

When rodents sense cooling air temperatures, they also start fattening themselves up. They’ll seek out high sugar and fat foods, and in larger quantities than usual. Both rats and mice have an exceptional sense of smell. They can smell all the food they want while its inside your home–often while it’s still in its packaging! If they smell the food they want in your home, they’ll try to get it. Fall is a time of survival for rodents. Any place that provides them the things they need to last the winter is a target.

How do rodents get inside during fall?

Rodents are clever creatures. They’re capable of fitting into breaches as small as a quarter. If rodents get into your home, they found one of these breaches. The pests commonly enter homes via crumbling foundation, broken screens, vents, attic insulation, window and door frames, and pipes. You should see all areas that you need to monitor regularly. 

Monitoring entry points doesn’t take much work. We recommend simply conducting a weekly or bi-weekly inspection of your home. Check for any damage such as torn screens, gaps between utility lines, or torn insulation. By minimizing potential entry points, you’ll significantly you significantly lessen your chance of any infestation, including rodents.

How can I keep them out?

Not letting them in in the first place is the first step. After that, you want to be cognizant of the things that draw pests like rodents. They’re not just looking for shelter, they’re looking for food and water as well. Clean and well-maintained garbage cans are less likely to draw pests than dirty ones filled with food waste. 

Fix dripping or leaking pipes immediately so they don’t have a chance to create pest-adored standing water. Maintain your landscape to avoid giving rodents hiding places they can use to approach your home. If they have cover to hide in close to the perimeter of your home, they’re more likely to take the jump indoors. 

 

If you suspect you have a rat or rodent problem, get in touch with Griffin Pest Solutions immediately. Our integrated approach to pest management will draw unwelcome visitors out and keep them from returning. That way you can get back to enjoying the fall properly: in flannel, pumpkin spice latte in hand.

How to Have a Rodent-free New Year

If you’ve ever had a rodent in your home, you know how persistent they can be. You lay out traps, seal off cracks, and even call in pros, but year after year, there they are. It’s easy to get discouraged or even apathetic about the whole process. But not this year. This year things are going to go differently. This year you stop the rodents. We’re here to help.

Sound ambitious? It’s easier than you think! Just follow these four steps, and you’ll be well on your way to creating a rodent-proof environment. Don’t give up! Getting a jump start on this will give you the momentum you need to complete your other resolutions. It all starts here!  

Replace Weatherstripping

replace weatherstripping to keep pests outWeatherstripping is the long, rubber material that makes up the threshold between doors and windows and their frames. This stripping makes an airtight seal between the door or window and the outside air. Without it, outdoor air would slip through the cracks and enter your home. Over time, weatherstripping can wear down. Damaged weatherstripping may not keep outdoor air out, or it may peel away from the threshold all together. Either way, it provides a perfect opportunity for rats and mice.

When outdoor air seeps in, the pressure difference between that air and indoor air creates a vacuum that sucks heat out. Rodents outside feel this heat escaping and follow it to its source: the damaged weatherstripping. Rats and mice can easily bite through or sneak under weatherstripping that’s already been damaged. Examine all the weatherstripping in your house and replace any that looks worn. You can buy inexpensive weatherstripping materials at most hardware stores.

Seal Utility Lines

Seal utility lines to keep pests outMice only need an opening the size of a dime to wriggle their way into your home. Some of the most common openings they find are around your utility lines. Gas, water, and electrical appliances have pipes, vents, and cords that need to enter your home from the outside. Rodents often follow the smell of gas or water along a pipe. Eventually, they’ll reach the opening where that pipe enters the home.

Cutting off this avenue of infiltration is simple. First, walk the perimeter of your home looking for any utility line access points. When you find them, check to see if there’s an opening rodents could use to enter your home. Remember: it can be a small opening. Use caulk or steel wool to seal this opening as snuggly as you can from the outside. To be doubly sure, go inside and repeat the same process. Utility lines are the #2 way rodents get into homes after windows, so don’t neglect this simple chore.

Clean Yard

Keep the lawn clean to keep pests outBefore rodents are attracted to your home, they’re attracted to your yard. All kinds of things bring them there: food, moisture, shelter, even random debris. Food can mean various things in this context. It could be pet treats, vegetables, fruits, or even bird seed. Moisture could come from bird baths and water features, or from sinkholes and puddles. Shelter is anything they can hide in or under to get away from predators. Random debris can be used for nesting or cover.

Keep your lawn mowed short, and prevent weeds from growing in it. If you have a garden, fence it off and protect it from pests. Be careful not to overwater your plants or grass, and don’t let water sit for hours. Keep your yard uncluttered and clear by picking up fallen seeds, branches, leaves, or fruits. Trim hedges and brush to a short, uniform length. It’s less obvious than the other tips, but yard care is an important way to keep rodents out.

Take Out the Trash

Take out the trash frequently to keep pests outRats and mice have truly incredible noses. Not only can they smell much better than we can, they can discern specific information based on smells. Information like where food is, how much there is, and how easy it would be to take. While rodents may come around looking for shelter, they’re probably interested in your home specifically because of food. Nothing attracts pests, including rats and mice, quite like the pungent aroma of garbage. It’s like an all-you-can-eat buffet.

This is another anti-pest tip that’s surprisingly easy to implement. First: line all your garbage and recycling cans with plastic bags. Make sure all the garbage you put in your cans actually ends up in these bags. Next, take the bags out of the cans and to the outdoor dumpster every night before bed. Seal the bags tightly before you throw them out. Keeping your garbage outdoors and away from your home will remove the main thing attracting pests to your home.

 

If these tips sound simple, it’s because they are. If they sound too good to be true, just give them a try! Even if you don’t solve your rodent problem overnight, you’ll be on the right track to a rodent-free new year.

If you need some help making that final push and driving the last of the rodents out of your home, just give Griffin a call. Our rodent experts have been fighting the furry menace since 1929, and they haven’t beat us yet. Have a great, pest-free* new year!

The Rats of Detroit and How to Stop Them

A recently conducted study found that Detroit is the Ninth most rat infested city in the US. Detroit’s rat population is on the rise.

Why are rat populations in Detroit becoming such a problem? Is there anything we can do to keep the population down, or least keep the rats out of our homes? Griffin wants to answer these questions, so you know where your rats might be coming from and what you can do about it.

A brown rat on a quiet city street, close up

Why Do Rats Love Detroit?

Like most pests, rats have simple needs and want to fulfill those needs as easily as possible. They flock to the parts of the world where the things they need are abundant, easily found, and as risk-free to pursue as possible. Cities like Detroit meet these criteria exceptionally well. Here’s what rats need, and how Detroit gives it to them:

Food

Most rats rarely wander further than their “home range” of 50 to 150 feet in any direction from the nest. Rats have poor eyesight, and prefer to know the environments they live in well to limit risk of predation or starvation.

A rat’s environment has to ensure that they can get enough food to survive while staying close to home. Cities solve this problem. High population densities create a lot of trash, which rats can use to feed themselves without ever leaving the nest. The next time you see a rat, check to see if there’s a dumpster nearby. Chances are, their nest isn’t far off.

Water

Just like pretty much everything else, rats need water to survive. Rats have to find a way to get a sustainable source of water close to their homes. It also has to be safe and relatively consistent, since rats are vulnerable while they drink. Cities solve this problem too.

Not only is there always a surplus of free water for rats somewhere, that water is often safe to linger around. Adult brown rats require only an ounce of water daily. Leaking pipes, broken valves, or condensation are more than enough to sustain them. Cities provide more chances to find water sources that can be accessed safely than any other environment would.

Shelter

The other thing all rats need to survive is warmth. When Winter comes, rat’s fur isn’t enough to protect them from freezing. They have to seek shelter in warm enclosures.

Cities provide for this need better than anywhere else, too. Old buildings, buildings that have fallen into disrepair, abandoned buildings, and unstaffed warehouses are all perfect places for rats to wait out the winter. They have all they can eat while they wait! The nooks and crannies of cities provide more safe shelter than anywhere else, and rats take advantage.

large grey rat peeking out of overturned cookie basket

Keeping Them Out

Know that you know why rats are coming into your city, you can apply that knowledge to keeping them out. Rats go to places where they can easily get what they need. If you want to keep them away, you have to make sure they can’t.

Food

The most important way you can avoid attracting rats is by depriving them of food sources. Use tightly sealed, thick garbage bags to store and transport all your trash. Rinse out empty food containers before disposing of them. Keep your home’s garbage in a sealed container and keep it off the ground. Take your garbage out frequently, and make sure the dumpster you’re taking it out to is 15 feet or more away from your home.

Clean up your kitchen and dining surface immediately following each meal. Vacuum the rooms you eat in frequently and thoroughly. Make sure you put away groceries in their proper places. Don’t leave food out on the kitchen counter, especially not fruits or breads. Don’t leave snacks out after you’re finished with them, and don’t leave dishes in the kitchen sink.

Water

Once you’ve dealt with the food sources, look for places where rats could be getting water. Make sure you don’t have any leaking faucets, shower heads, or pipes. Invest in a humidifier for humid areas of your home. Look for drafts that could be letting air in. Make sure other water-based appliances like your dishwasher and refrigerator aren’t leaking either.

Finally, look for moisture. Make sure you’re always running your bathroom fan when bathing. Dry and put away dishes as soon as the dishwasher’s done with them. Rinse out bottles and cans before recycling them, even if almost all the liquid in the container is gone. Seal recyclables in bags and take it out frequently.

Shelter

Keeping food and water away will help, but if you really want to keep rats out, you have to make sure they have no way of getting in. Rats can squeeze through openings no larger than the size of a nickel, so don’t assume any cracks or gaps are rat-proof. Seal cracks in your foundation or walls with caulk. Replace worn weatherstripping, screens, and wooden frames. Make sure your windows and doors are properly sized and seated.

One of the most common places rats sneak in is around utility lines entering the building. Inspect that area and seal any gap you find between the lines and the house. Rats can also scurry up surprisingly steep surfaces such as trees to get on top of a house, so make sure your landscaping doesn’t create any likely paths to your roof. While you’re at it, try putting screens over your chimney and plumbing vent.

 

Remember: no matter how bad the rat problem, we can help you. We’ve been dealing with rats in Detroit and beyond for a long time, and we’re sure we can handle whatever they throw at us.