Rodents are a nightmare for any homeowner. It is a hassle to trap rodents if they get into your home, not to mention the extensive cleanup process that follows. They can also spread disease and may bite your family members. The best thing you can do is to take the steps to help prevent rodents from getting in your home. Here are some things you can do to eliminate rodents from making your home their haven:

Prevent Rodents by Keeping Your Home Clean

Rodents are attracted to smells and readily available food. If you have a teenager that loves to leave food in their room or in the family room, you may be attracting the rodents into your home without realizing it. Doing the dishes each night and taking out the trash can help. Keeping your food stored in airtight containers and keeping your home free from clutter will also help prevent rodents from setting up a nest in your home.

Prevent Rodents by Repairing Your Home

Rodents are opportunistic. They will take advantage of any weak areas in your home and work to find their way in. Be sure that you regularly check the areas where the pipes and drains come into your home, as this is often an easy access point. Your crawlspace and along your foundation can also give access as well as your roof and under the eaves. If you see weak wood or holes repair them to stop the rodents from coming in.

Prevent Rodents by Addressing Your Property

Taking care of your property can help prevent rodents from finding their way into your home. If you have a lot of junk on your property, there are more places for them to hide. If you allow your lawn to become overgrown, you can also increase the chances of rodents hiding in the grass and then moving into your home as the weather becomes cold. If you keep the trees and bushes trimmed away from your home, you make it more difficult for the rodents to get into your home.

Prevent Rodents by Covering Your Trash

It is important to make sure the trash stored outside of your home is covered and sealed tightly. Open trash cans or overflowing trash cans attract animals and rodents. Once they are on your property, they are more likely to move into your home and cause issues there. Keeping the cans closed tightly can make a big difference overall.

Rodents are more than just an inconvenience. They can spread a number of diseases and create problems that can affect you and your family. Once you understand the dangers of a rodent infestation, you will understand why you must act quickly to deal with the infestation and prevent a new one from happening. Learn the five dangers of rodent infestation.

1. Rodent Bites

Although most rodents try to avoid humans, some can become aggressive. They may bite you when you see them and try to capture them or they can bite you when you are asleep. According to the CDC, the chances of contracting rabies from rodents is very low, but you can catch other diseases from rodents and the bites can become infected. If you are bitten, and you can catch the animal, you should take it in to get it tested. However, you should have a rodent bite checked by the doctor to make sure that there is nothing infected.

2. Damage to Your Home

Another issue is that the rodents can cause damage to your home. They may destroy items in your home including bedding and food as well as damaging your walls. They may leave holes in the walls or foundations that other animals can get inside. They may also chew up the furniture or insulation. This can be expensive to repair, and you may end up needing to replace a lot of items.

3. Fire Hazards

Mice and rats will chew through everything. They can also through electrical wiring, which can cause a fire hazard. If they make their nests in your attic or basement and it is an area that you rarely go, you may not notice the signs of an infestation until significant damage is already done and the fire hazard already exists.

4. Diseases that Rodents Spread

The biggest danger from rodents is the diseases that they can spread. Many of the diseases are in the urine or feces like hantavirus. They can also spread the plague, salmonellosis, tularemia, and rat-bite fever. They can also bring in ticks or fleas which also carry diseases that they can spread to you like Lyme disease, Powassan virus, scrub typhus and West Nile virus. It’s recommended that when removing rats and mice from your home you always contact a professional who will not only understand all the locations where they live, breed, and thrive, but will also remove them in a safe and humane way. Find out how you can prevent rats and mice from entering your home.