Skip to Main Content

Protecting your Home Against Rats & Mice


And then the season became Fall. In some parts of the country, the leaves are changing colors and the air is getting cooler and crisp nights. In Southern California, if you look at the right trees you’ll see some changing colors. The nights certainly are cooler. We avoid that snow however and the freezing temperatures that many parts of the country will begin to experience in the next few weeks and months. But the cool nights will drive rodents looking for shelter closer to our homes and yards. Rats and mice have some of the same instincts and needs as humans. They need to find a warm and dry place to sleep on a cold rainy night. Rats and mice need to eat and drink to stay healthy.

Mice will enter into an opening the size of a dime. A rat needs an opening the size of a quarter. Yep, the size of a quarter! If the rodent can fit its head into an opening, then he’s in. The rest of the skeletal body will collapse down so that the rodent can squeeze in.

With this in mind, can you think of areas around your home where these rodents may be able to breach? Start by looking at the thresholds of all your exterior doors. Look where the AC utility line comes into the house. Check the weep screen all the way around the base of your home. Have you found openings the size of a dime?

Now jump up in your attic. Look where all the plumbing and other venting comes through the roof. Is it screened\sealed tight so as to not allow rats to get in and out? Remember we’re looking for the size of a dime opening.

Avoid rats and mice this season. Seal your home and attic tight so they can’t get in.

Look around your yard. Overgrown vegetation, (IE: ground cover plants, bushes, trees touching the house or roof, dead palm fronds, etc…) clear it, these are all great areas for rodents to take shelter. Do you have firewood stacked outside? Move it as far away from the house as possible. Mice and rats will love to nest in it.

If you believe that you have a rodent problem contact Main Sail Pest today! And allow one of our specialists to create a comprehensive plan to help you deal with your pest problem.