Mice vs. Larger Rodents

Rodents are characterized by their continuously growing teeth, which includes two prominent incisors on the upper jaw that must be kept short through any means possible. The order of “rodents,” coming from the Latin rodens meaning “to gnaw,” is made up by mice, rats, squirrels, chipmunks, porcupines, and beavers. Rodents chew their way through most materials for the upkeep of their dental hygiene; which can be particularly devastating for some homeowners, with home damage from rodents estimated to be in the millions each year. There is no discrimination for rodents when it comes to finding things to chew on: plastic trash cans, fire wood piles, ransacked birdfeeders, and home-grown vegetable patches are all susceptible to the toothed vandalism of rats, squirrels and chipmunks.

If you are beginning to see the signs of damage on your property from the filing of rodent teeth, a good first course of action would be an assessment of the scope of damage and attempting to identify the nest and size of the rodent colony. A helpful rule of thumb is that the smaller the rodent implies a large colony. No matter their size, having more of the same rodent often means more damages, which will help determine the chemicals and methods used in the specific rodent pest control mission. If a larger group of rodents, such as squirrels, have been feeding on your home’s exterior, setting up traps intermittently in corners and along the walls could just as effectively send the message out to all rodents and have them avoid your home in the future. If mice control is needed in your home’s infrastructure, it would be more effective to release a wide-scale fumigation procedure so that all the mice are exterminated on the spot, which is best administered by a rodent control professional. While mice control may be a great annoyance, the lingering smell post-disposal may be even worse.