RODENT PROBLEMS-MODERN SOLUTIONS

 

Rodent Problems-Modern Solutions

Rodent problems? The rodents most commonly found in houses are the Norway rat and the House mouse. The Norway rat goes by many names including the roof rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, house rat and brown rat. Rats may be over fifteen inches long , with small eyes and ears and a scaly, two-color tail. The coat is shaggy, scruffy and coarse. Mice have large ears and bright, black eyes: their tails may comprise over half their total length.

Rats and mice are known for their intelligence in avoiding traps, accessing food and water, their ability to climb, run and jump and for squeezing into amazingly small places. Rats can crawl through a half-inch opening: the house mouse can fit into a space half that size. Many rodent problems can be avoided by caulking the cracks in walls, floors, foundations and attics.

Both rats and mice are usually detected by tracks or trails, partially-eaten food, gnaw marks on baseboards or cable and droppings. They both carry disease through the parasites (fleas and ticks) on their bodies: the most frightening disease still carried by rats is the bubonic plague. Rodent problems are more than aesthetic concerns: tapeworms and diseases such as salmonellosis can be spread to humans or animals.

The latest technology in rodent control is an ultrasonic device whose high-frequency tone creates confusion and fear in rodents and insect pests as well. They can't stand to be around the tone which is inaudible to humans, and they never grow used to it: they leave the house for quieter realms. An electromagnetic ultrasonic device also sends the tone throughout the grounded wiring in a house, preventing rodents from taking shelter in the walls. House wiring, dogs, cats and people are unaffected by the tone.