Rodent removal

Rodent control is essential to maintaining a safe and healthy environment in both homes and businesses. Rodents such as rats and mice carry diseases and damage property. Their destruction can range from gnawing through electrical wiring to contaminating food and living spaces with droppings and dried urine. 

It is crucial to take proactive measures to prevent infestations and promptly address any signs of rodent activity. Ehrlich Pest Control offers specialized rodent removal services that can help you eliminate rodents and prevent their return. Contact us to schedule your first inspection!

How do I keep rats and mice away?

Rats and mice have earned a notorious reputation for invading homes and businesses looking for food, water, or shelter. Fortunately, there are proactive measures we can take to keep rodents at bay. Here are a few steps you can take when it comes to keeping rodents off your property:

• Seal cracks and gaps: You should seal all entry points of your home’s exterior and interior. Use sealants to repair cracks or pipe entry points on your home’s exterior. Avoid using cement products near pipe entry points to prevent possible damage caused by weather changes and specific metal interactions.
• Proper food storage: Rats and mice often sneak into homes searching for food sources. It’s important to keep food tightly sealed, empty your garbage, properly store pet food, and clean up any spilled crumbs. 
• Declutter: Rodents may live in cluttered areas in your home or yard, so removing any unnecessary items is essential. 
• Trim vegetation: Keep trees and shrubs trimmed away from your home, as branches can serve as bridges for rodents to access your home.
• Nesting items: It's crucial to get rid of any shredded paper, fabric, insulation, or leaves lying around your property, as rats and mice tend to look for nesting materials.
• Professional rodent control: Rodents can be a headache when it comes to removal, and it is best to seek professional help. Our technicians are trained experts in rodent treatment services and will inspect your home and establish the best plan to keep your home rodent-free.

What are the signs of rodents?

While finding rodents in your home or business may not be ideal, it's important to know the signs of a potential infestation to develop an action plan for rodent removal. Here are the top six signs of a rodent infestation:

• Droppings: Rat and mouse droppings are one of the most common signs of a rodent infestation.
• Gnaw marks: Rodents can chew through several building materials, including plastic, wood, sheetrock, and the coating on wires.
• Nests: Rodents' nests are typically in secluded areas with less chance of disturbance.
• Rub marks: Rodents leave dark sebum(grease marks) or dirt marks on areas frequently traveled.
• Strange noises: Scratching noises in the walls often occur when rodents are active at night.
• Sightings: Rodents breed rapidly. If you spot one, it’s likely there are others.

The difference between the signs of rats and mice is subtle but important — size. Droppings, sebum(grease marks), and holes created by rats are larger. Mice are smaller — gnawing smaller holes in walls and leaving smaller droppings behind.

What is the best way to get rid of mice or rats?

Rodents are opportunistic creatures that tend to hide in places where they can easily survive, have easy access, and remain unnoticed. The most effective way to get rid of rodents involves a combination of proactive measures, targeted treatments, and seeking help from a professional rodent exterminator. However, there are a few steps you can take when you want to eliminate rodents from your property. 

• Inspection and identification: Always wear appropriate protective equipment before beginning an inspection, and inspect only within your comfort level. Cover all dimensions, including high and low areas, exterior perimeter, and permitted adjacent areas, and document your findings to determine the extent of the infestation.
• Rodent exclusion: Exclusion measures can eliminate or significantly reduce the need for rodenticides by removing access to entry points. Mice can fit through openings as small as a dime, while rats can squeeze through as small as a quarter, which they can enlarge by gnawing. You should check for potential entry points such as pipe entry points, foundation vents, doors, soffit vents, and gable vents. 
• Sanitation: Rats and mice may enter your home searching for food, so it’s essential to eliminate any water or food sources that they can access. Removing any clutter will eliminate hiding spots.
• Rodent traps: Placing traps or monitoring stations at known entry points near high activity areas can be an effective method for rodent removal. Using a non-toxic bait with a monitoring station can confirm activity and protect the trap from non-target interference.
• Professional rodent control: Seeking professional help is the most effective way to ensure complete control of rodents. Ehrlich technicians have the experience, tools, and knowledge to tackle any rodent problem. Your technician will use secure and tamper-proof rodent stations to monitor rodent activity and place non-toxic bait, rodenticide bait, snap traps, or rodent tracking gel. Our technicians will look for droppings, rub marks, gnawing, insects, and feeding if bait is used.

What treatment methods does Ehrlich use for rodent control?

At Ehrlich, we incorporate an integrated pest management (IPM) approach in our rodent removal services, designed to provide effective and environmentally friendly control and management solutions. Our rodent treatment methods vary and include the following:

• Property inspection: Property inspections are essential to determine why you have rodent activity and where it is coming from.
• Exclusion: Exclusion involves sealing cracks, gaps, holes, and crevices to stop rodents from entering your property.
• Exterior rodent stations: Our technicians will use exterior rodent stations to bait and/or trap rodents on your property. 
• Vegetation management: Vegetation management services (VMS) will eliminate weeds or unwanted plants.

An inspection before quoting will provide the most accurate cost for our rodent removal service, as service cost can depend on infestation severity, property size, property type (commercial or residential), and the number of follow-up treatments required. Ehrlich also provides additional pest control options for other wildlife that may harm your property, such as chipmunks, moles, voles, gophers, and squirrels.

When should I call for rodent control?

No homeowner wants to deal with a rodent problem on their own. These creatures are notoriously good at hiding, so it almost always takes a trained professional to get rid of a rodent infestation completely.

1. Rodents can cause illness. Mice, rats, and occasionally squirrels want two things: food and shelter. When rodents get into your cabinets, they can contaminate your food when they leave behind urine and feces. In addition to being gross, rodents carry diseases and pathogens! It’s also possible for people in your family to have allergic reactions such as hives or asthma attacks.
2. Rodents can cause extensive damage. A rodent’s sharp incisors never stop growing, so it is driven to continually gnaw on things just like a teething baby. A rodent can chew through just about anything, including some kinds of metal, most kinds of wood, and even wires, which can potentially create a fire hazard.

If you catch sight of a rodent in your home, it’s important to call a professional immediately before the situation worsens. Give us a call at 855-807-9571 to schedule your first inspection. 

Frequently asked questions