Rodent Removal of Winter Haven Florida
While Florida is host to a great many species of wildlife, rats tend to be a much larger problem than just about anything else within the State. Mice are also present but tend to pose issues less frequently within the home than rats. While the term “rodent” technically encompasses rats, mice, squirrels and even rabbits…typically squirrels and rats are the most common perpetrators of home invasion. Rodents can be incredibly damaging to the home and MUST be removed quickly to ensure that your home sustains the least amount of damage as possible.
What kind of damage can rodents do within the home?
Rodents are known to chew. This is because biologically, their upper teeth known as the incisors are a continuation of their skull and grow continuously throughout their life. The result is, painful ulcers that can develop in their mouths if they don’t dull them down. Even if rats and mice aren’t hungry, rodents will still need to chew and gnaw on harder surfaces such as the roof trusses and even wall studs when they manage to get down into the walls. But they don’t stop there.
Rodents chew on literally anything and everything that they can get their…teeth on. That includes electrical lines, ductwork for air conditioning, soffit, exterior walls, interior walls, cabinetry, and rubber or PVC water supply lines.
Squirrels routinely chew on the lead boots that wrap over your plumbing vents on the roof. This can create slow water leaks inside the wall when it rains which most homeowners will never be aware of until they have an unexplained black mold growth in the home.
Rodents chewing on things within your home can end up costing you THOUSANDS of dollars in damage. And if you want the REALLY bad news? Most home insurance companies will NOT cover the damage as most policies have a “rodent clause” that absolves them of the liability if rodents cause a flood (by chewing water lines) or a fire (if chewing electrical lines) or any other form of home damage.
If you live in Winter Haven Florida or surrounding areas, please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you believe you are having a rodent issue. Our inspections are free and could likely save you thousands of dollars in the long-run, not to mention a very great deal of stress.
How will I know that I’m having a rodent issue in my home? I haven’t seen anything chewed up in my kitchen.
The first thing that you have to keep in mind is that MOST rodent problems do not result in the rodents gaining entry to the living area of the home. In fact, most cases of rodent issues in Winter Haven, Florida tend to take place in the attic, crawl space or inside of the walls of the home. So how will you typically know that you have this issue?
Rodents, as stated above, are chewers. They tend to make their presence known quite readily during the middle of the night when everyone else in the house in quiet. The old adage, “When the cat is away, the mice will play.” applies here. Once the home goes quiet, rodents then begin their routines of chewing and gnawing, creating new routes through your insulation and finding safe nesting areas for their offspring. You will typically hear noises that many people associate with “a bird or something on their roof” when in fact it is rodents in the attic making the noise. You can either hear chewing noises, or hear scratching and/or tapping noises in the attic as if something is scampering across the ceiling.
Occasionally, depending on the type of insulation you may have, some older homes may have the thicker dusty insulation that really can’t be burrowed through. So they are forced to only walk on top of it. As such, you will generally want to poke your head up in your attic and look for these signs:
· Little pellets of fecal matter. You will find them in various spots around the insulation and they are far easier to see if you have a garage that doesn’t have insulation on top.
· Urine staining or fecal matter on top of your ductwork or diverter boxes for your ductwork
· Chewed up plastic, cardboard or other assorted materials that you know were not that way when they were placed into the attic.
If you have the fluffy fiberglass type of insulation, there are a few other things that you can be on the lookout for:
· Tunneling through the insulation. This will look like little holes about 2-3” in diameter. Usually you will find urine staining or fecal matter droppings right near those entrances.
· Beat down pathways and trails through the insulation. This type of insulation can be worn down if repeatedly walked over. Rodents generally like following their trusted routes and will use the same general travel pattern repeatedly.
So, I just checked the attic and definitely found activity from rats. Now what do I do?!
Firstly, you just need to stay calm. I know it's a little gross to think about rats being in your home, but we're going to get this handled. Secondly, we now need to look for entry points. This part gets tricky and this is generally where you're going to want to get in touch with Nature-Tech Wildlife Solutions LLC for your rodent removal needs in Winter Haven, Florida. Rats and mice can gain entry to your home in a number of ways, including through soffit, roof vents, exterior AC connections, holes in walls and even underground plumbing! While many entries are fairly easy to spot, that doesn't mean you'll necessarily find all of them, which is critically important. And what's worse is, going over the home with a fine tooth comb only to determine that you can't find ANY entries...which means there's another issue going on such as a plumbing breach and they're coming in through underground plumbing.
Rodent removal can be tricky business. Some jobs are quick, easy and straight forward. Some can be a tough, lengthy process. Setting rat traps is the easy part that literally most people are capable of. However, truly evaluating a rodent issue in your home requires knowledge and experience with not just the wildlife, but also construction. Understanding how homes are built, materials that are used and what rodents may have access to is critical in bringing a stop to your rodent issue.
If you are in need of rodent removal services in Winter Haven, Florida and surrounding areas, look no further than Nature-Tech Wildlife Solutions LLC. Our experts will offer a FREE consultation to assess your situation and formulate a solution to resolve your rodent problem once and for all.
If you are in Winter Haven, Haines City, Bartow, Davenport, Lakeland, Lake Wales, Kissimmee (Polk side), Polk City, and surrounding areas, call us today!
863.345.2547 or 813.699.9079