How to Prevent and Remove Rodents

NOVATO — When it comes to keeping your home free of pests, rodents are a primary concern. Here are a few tips on how to both prevent rodents from entering your home and remove them after the fact.

Prevention
The most basic way to prevent rodents from accessing your home is to identify and seal any exterior openings that may potentially serve as entrances. Walk around the perimeter of your house and look for cracks, gaps or breaches that are larger than your little finger. Additionally, inspect the condition of all basement screen vents to make sure they don’t provide any kind of access. When repairing damaged screens, be sure to use quarter-inch galvanized mesh, which is strong enough to deter rodents.

Removal
If rodents have already made their way inside your home, there are several ways to deal with them. While poison is a common treatment, it’s not recommended, as rodents that ingest the poison are then free to roam throughout your home before expiring, which makes carcass recovery a difficult task. In contrast, traps are a much more convenient method. When using traps, make sure you choose bait the rodents are attracted to, like nuts, fruits or vegetables. Using the right bait on the trigger will improve your chances of getting rid of these pests.