Understanding Rodent Proofing
One of the first things I tell customers about rat and mouse control is a tough truth: “Rodent proofing a house is impossible”. While that sounds discouraging, it is the fundamental reality that guides our strategy at Aspen Pest. It means we focus on maintenance and control, not a one-time, permanent seal.
Why Permanent Proofing is Impossible
Even if you sealed every obvious hole, rodents will find a way in. They are relentless, highly adaptive, and physically capable of getting past barriers.
- They Tunnel: They will find a way in, even by tunnelling under the foundation.
- They Enlarge Holes: Mice and rats share similar entry points, but a rat can often enlarge a mouse’s entry point to fit.
- They Ignore Noise: Those ultrasonic noise products advertised to scare rats do not work, as rodents are highly adaptive and often ignore sounds and banging.
Because they will find a way in, we rely on continuous external bait monitoring to dissuade them from entering the home.
The Crucial Role of Sealing Entry Points
While permanent proofing isn’t possible, sealing up what you can is a crucial component of our service. Our service process for an initial issue involves finding and sealing all entry points.
When you’re sealing holes—especially into the crawl space through vents or unsealed lines—you need to use the right gauge and materials. These materials are abrasive and difficult for rodents to chew through:
- Use hardware cloth of quarter-inch gauge or smaller.
- Use abrasive steel wool.
Why Travel Range Matters for Trap Placement
The type of rodent you have affects our trap and bait placement strategy:
- Mice: With their poor eyesight, mice may live their entire life within 10 to 20 feet of where they found food and shelter. This means if you see activity, the nest is very close.
- Rats: Rats can travel more than 50 feet to food sources. This means their point of entry might be far from where you see activity.
This is why we place secure bait stations on the exterior perimeter and in the crawl space or garage, where the ongoing outdoor activity can be managed and prevented from growing in the crawl space.
When to Call a Professional Mouse Exterminator or Rat Exterminator
Don’t wait for a full-blown infestation. You should call a professional pest control service as soon as an issue is suspected. This includes seeing droppings, a physical rodent, smelling something unusual, or hearing noises in the walls.
If you try DIY trapping first, you run the risk of the rodents developing “trap shyness”. This approach was successful in one instance, but it was much more tedious and expensive for the customer and required a second trapping process.
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