The Trick To Getting Rid Of Rodents On Your Frisco Property

In our area, mice, rats, and sometimes squirrels, can become a problem. All of these are rodent pests. A rodent is an animal that has strong teeth that can chew through wood and other building materials. If a rodent gets the bright idea to live inside your Frisco home, there isn't a whole lot you can do about it. The key to keeping them out is to prevent them from having that bright idea. Here's how it works.

Why Rodents Get Inside

When a rodent runs along your foundation wall, it doesn't know that just on the other side of that wall is a temperature-controlled environment. It doesn't know that there is food aplenty. It has no idea that your home has hidden compartments inside the walls for a rodent to make the perfect nest. All it knows is what it is experiencing on the outside of your home. Here are a few ways you can discourage rodents from entering your home.

• Remove attractants. If you have lots of rodents near your home, you have a greater chance of having rodents get into your home. One of the first things to consider is attractants. We'll get into that in our next section.
• Remove rotted boards and address conditions that lead to wood rot. If a rodent finds a rotted board, it might decide to gnaw on that board to file down its teeth. The teeth of a rodent never stop growing. They must be filed down. If this exposes a void within your home, the rodent is likely to climb right in.
• Fill in gaps and holes. If a mouse or rat comes upon a gap around a water pipe, it is likely to explore it. Why? Because they're drawn to tight spaces. What's worse is that a mouse can squeeze through a hole the size of a dime, and a rat can fit through a hole the size of a quarter. When you use a caulking gun to fill in gaps and holes, you don't provide tight spaces for rodents to explore.
• Make sure your exterior doors are sealed. If a rodent explores an exterior door and smells the scent of food or notices cool air coming out on a hot day, it might be inspired to make a small hole larger, or make a hole. It doesn't take long for a rodent to chew through weatherstripping and door sweeps. A good seal will help to prevent rodents from getting the wrong idea.
• Remove obvious food sources. If you feed squirrels nuts and then place the bag of nuts inside your screened-in porch, don't be surprised when you find a hole in your screen, and a hole in the bag.
• Protect louvers and vents. Some rodent species are incredible climbers. They can scale many exterior walls with ease. If you have an unprotected louver or vent, a rodent could chew its way inside simply to get out of the weather. Hardware cloth can help to prevent this.