Rodents-Away
Winter is a tough time for wildlife and rodents. When their food supply dwindles drastically, they seek warm places to take shelter while they wait out the cold spells. Unfortunately, your home can offer them a solution to both if you don’t take steps to prevent them from becoming unwanted long-term residents in your house. The following are a few ways to let wildlife and rodents know they are not welcome in your home.
Tips on Keeping Rodents and Wildlife from Invading your Home
- Check for holes on the outside of your house: Leave the lights on inside and see if you see light coming from any holes in the exterior. Also check for drafts coming from the inside. Both will be clues that you have entry points for small guests to come inside your home.
- Cut back plants near the house: Rodents like to hide behind plants, wood piles, and piles of junk that you may have close to your house. They are trying to stay warm and simply waiting for an opportunity to enter your house at the first available chance when someone forgets to close the door or they can find that secret hole that leads into the house. Also trim trees that have limbs close to the house. Animals will use the limbs to climb onto the roof and enter through a chimney to get in. Cut any ivy or other climbing plants back from your house before animals use it as a ladder to gain entrance to your house.
- Seal off windows and doors: If you think you might have your doors or windows for any period of time, make sure to place a screen to keep pests out. Seal any cracks with inexpensive caulking or foam. Check the weather-stripping to make sure it is still in good condition.
- Cover vents with screens: If you have any open vents on the inside of the home, such as vents in the kitchen area, cover them with screens. That way you can still allow air to flow through, but prevent small critters from coming out to play when you are not looking.
- Don’t leave food out: Rodents and other wildlife have a keen sense of smell for food. Be sure to clean up at the end of the day, putting any extra food in containers or in the refrigerator. Wipe down your counters, sweep your floors, and do your dishes. Be sure to either have a tight-fitting lid for your trash inside the house or take your trash out at the end of the day.
If you suspect that the wildlife around you are trying to gain entrance to your home, or might have already, it might be time to call an expert on pest removal. Or if you simply want to assess your home and make it more pest-proof, why not call the friendly experts at Clark’s Pest Control of South Carolina? Like you, we won’t be satisfied until the pests are gone.
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