Rodent Control & Exterminator in Southern California
The presence of rodents in your yard, and especially within your home, is both unnerving and frustrating. Thankfully, this is one fight you won’t have to fight alone.
Contact the Professionals Immediately
Finding evidence of mice or rats inside or around your home is the worst nightmare for many people. Rodents can damage property, eat your food, and spread disease. Without corrective action, these unwanted pests can quickly take over as they breed efficiently and have the ability to penetrate nearly every part of a structure and yard. Worse, because they frequent areas like sewers where filth and disease are abundant, they can transmit illnesses to humans and pets like typhus, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, and the plague. Further, they are frequent carriers of fleas and ticks, often being the vehicle to spread these pests to the family pets. People don’t often see rodents because they are active at night, but signs of their presence are easy to detect. One of the best ways to identify rodent species is by their droppings. In Southern California, there are 3 main types of rodents that will enter a structure and do damage.
Types Of Rodents
Norway Rat
Sometimes called brown or sewer rats, these stocky, burrowing rodents are larger than roof rats. Their burrows are often found alongside building foundations, beneath rubbish or woodpiles, and in moist areas in and around gardens and fields. Nests can be lined with shredded paper, cloth, or other fibrous material. When Norway rats invade buildings, they usually remain in the basement or ground floor.
Roof Rat
This is the most prevalent rat in our area. They are sometimes called black rats and are smaller than Norway rats. Unlike Norway rats, their tails are longer than their heads and bodies combined. Roof rats are agile climbers and usually live and nest above ground in shrubs and trees. In buildings, they are most often found in attics. They love to eat fruit that has dropped from trees, garbage left out, dog food, birdfeed, and vegetables from the garden.
House Mouse
House mice are small rodents with relatively large ears and small black eyes. Adults are brownish or gray and about 2-3 inches in length. House mice thrive in a variety of conditions. House mice consume and contaminate food meant for humans, pets, or livestock. They cause considerable damage to structures and property and they can transmit pathogens that cause diseases such as salmonellosis, a form of food poisoning.
Signs of a Rodent Problem
Rodents are active throughout the year; that is why it is important to check for their signs periodically. Once rodents have invaded your garden or landscaping, it is only a matter of time before you find evidence of them indoors. Experience has shown that it is less time consuming to control rodents before their numbers get too high.
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Do you see rodent droppings in your attic, under the sink, or near pet feeding areas?
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Do you hear noises (like scratching) coming from the attic or walls?
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Have you found remnants of a mouse or rat nest in the garage, barbeque, wood pile or attic?
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Does your dog or cat bring home a rodent carcass?
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Is there evidence of rodents feeding on your fruit trees?
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Do you see rodents traveling along fences or utility lines just after dusk?
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Are there smudge marks caused by rats rubbing their fur against beams, rafters, pipes, walls?
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Did that bird really have a rat tail hanging from your bird feeder?
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Are there rat or mouse droppings in your recycle bins?
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Have you had to remove a drowned rodent from your pool or pond?
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Have your electric wires in your vehicle been damaged or gnawed on?
The Best Solution
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then it is time to call Preventive Pest Control. We provide a free inspection to assess the rodent infestation and provide solutions to rid your home of these unwanted pests.
Preventive Pest Controls’ Rodent Control, Extermination & Mitigation
Trapping
Trapping is the safest and most effective method to control rats and mice once they have entered a structure. Our technicians will thoroughly inspect your home or office and place traps in secluded areas where the rodents are likely to travel or have been before. Rats are wary animals, easily frightened by unfamiliar objects. Knowing where to place the traps and how many traps to place is critical to our success. It may take several days to a few weeks for the rat to recognize the trap and determine it is safe to feed there. Our trapping efforts include returning to check the traps every two weeks for 1 month. We will also remove the dead rodents caught in the traps.
Exclusion (Rodent Proofing)
The most successful long-lasting solution to keep rodents out of a building is exclusion. Sealing any cracks or openings larger than ¼ inch is necessary to ensure future entry is prevented. Likely entry points include; around the foundation, cable and phone line openings, water pipes, dryer vents, drain spouts, air conditioner condenser lines, and all along the roofline. After inspection, our technician will point out areas that need to be sealed or plugged and provide a quote for this service.
Baiting
When food, water, and shelter are available, rodent populations can increase quickly. While the most permanent form of control is to completely exclude them from entry, direct population control outside of the structure is often necessary. The use of toxic baits should only be done by licensed pest control technicians. Rodenticide should never be placed indoors since the rodents could potentially die in inaccessible locations, like behind walls. Our bait box service is a great way to keep the overall rodent population down in your neighborhood. However, if evidence of rodents is found inside, then the baiting should be suspended until the rodent is caught or several weeks of non-activity is observed.
Bait Boxes
An effective way to mitigate rodents. Tamper-resistant for kids & pets. The box can only be accessed with a proprietary key.
Keeps non-target wildlife out. The ramped entries and baffles keep bait out of reach of non-target wildlife for peace of mind.
Rodent Mitigation Effectively reduces the rodent population in your neighborhood
This is not a trap. The rodents enter to feed then go back to their nests and die within a couple of days.
Cannot be used inside a garage or attic.
Bait Box Pricing
We recommend 1 to 4 rodent bait boxes for most Southern California residences.
Cost is a one-time fee of $25 per box, then we add a small fee per visit to check and refill the box with new bait;
1 to 2 boxes = only $5 per visit (added to your regular service fee)
3 to 4 boxes = only $10 per visit (added to your regular service fee)
5 to 6 boxes = only $15 per visit (added to your regular service fee)
7 to 8 boxes = only $20 per visit (added to your regular service fee)
Preventing Future Issues
When it comes to rodent issues, the best course of action is to be proactive and prevent rodents from gaining access to your home in the first place. Here are some things you can do to make your home and yard less desirable to rodents:
- Rid your yard of any piles or mounds of leaves, trash, or other items rodents can hide in.
- Make sure garbage cans are tightly sealed both inside and outside of your home.
- Air your house out regularly to prevent stale odors from settling and attracting rodents.
- Get rid of any bird feeders you have outside of your home.
- Have a professional assess your structure for any easy access points a rodent would use to gain entrance into your home.
- Frequently scope the perimeter for any warning signs of rodents
Extermination is Important
Rodents are known to carry diseases and illnesses that can leave humans very sick. These sicknesses can easily be spread through contact with rodent waste, which you may not even realize you’ve touched. The summer and fall tend to be the worst time for rodent infestations, and the invaders are typically either rats or mice.
Satisfaction and Re-Service Guarantee
We believe in the quality of our work. That’s why we proudly offer 100% Satisfaction Guarantee & Re-Service Guarantee.