Rats can turn your home into a nightmare quickly, derailing you from spending time with your loved ones! These pesky critters are known to cause plenty of chaos if they’ve found their way inside your Florida home, including chewing wires, damaging insulation, and even spreading disease! In this blog, we breakdown some easy preventative tips to help you keep rats out of your home, so you can get back to enjoying time with family!
Tips To Keep Rats Out of Your Home
Seal Rats Out
Rats can squeeze through the tiniest of gaps, so it’s important to inspect your home for any entry points and seal them as soon as possible. Check for cracks and holes around your home’s foundation, walls, and roof. Don’t forget to inspect vents, windows, and doors. Once you find these openings, use steel wool, caulk, or metal mesh to seal it. A good rule of thumb to determine if you need to seal the opening is seeing if a pencil can fit through it; if it can, a rat can too!
Regularly Clean Up
Rats prefer human food and once they find a food source, they will continue to come back to look for more! It’s important to keep your home tidy and free of any available food. Consider these tips:
- Store food in airtight containers
- Take out the trash on a regular basis
- Keep pet food sealed and off the floor
- Clean up crumbs and spills right away
Declutter Your Home
Rats love clutter because it gives them plenty of hiding spots in your home! Look around your property and get rid of items you don’t need any more and anything that might attract rats. These items can include old newspapers or magazines, cardboard boxes, and old blankets or pillows. Keep your attic, basement, and garage tidy, and store items in plastic bins with a tightly sealed lid.
Keep Your Yard Tidy
Your yard is the first line of defense for deterring rats from entering your home! The best way to keep rats away is to make it less appealing to them by:
- Trimming tree branches and shrubs away from your home
- Keep your lawn well-maintained with the grass mowed regularly
- Store firewood and compost bins away from your house
- Clean up fallen or rotten fruit from trees
Call a Professional
If you spot a live rat on your property, it’s best to call a professional Tallahassee pest control company near you. These experts will be able to safely remove any live rodents, identify nesting sites and points of entry, and recommend the best rodent control options and ways you can prevent reinfestation in the future.
