It’s a warm, quiet summer evening and everyone is finally in bed and you are taking a moment to enjoy the quiet. Then you hear a noise coming from behind your home’s walls, but what could those scratching, squeaking sounds be? It couldn’t be a mouse or any other type of rodent because they don’t invade homes during the summer, or do they? The New England pest professionals at Big Blue Bug Solutions are here to tell you that, unfortunately, rodents do invade homes in the summertime and that if you are hearing scratching sounds in your walls, you are likely dealing with rodents that have taken up residence behind your home’s walls. Rodent infestations aren’t just an issue in the winter; they can happen during any time of the year, even during the summer!
Rodents like mice, rats, and squirrels are attracted to homes and properties that offer them easy access to sources of food and shelter and during the summer there are typically plentiful sources of food and shelter both inside and outside homes! Examples of the many food sources that could attract rodents to your home in the summer include the seed from bird feeders, uneaten pet food, garbage that hasn’t been disposed of in secured trash cans, food scraps left out from a barbeque, compost piles, and even fruits and vegetables that have fallen to the ground near garden areas. Many animals prey on rodents so these pests are always looking for safe places to call home — overgrown shrubs and bushes, piles of construction materials from summertime building projects, and piles of firewood that are you stacking for use this winter can all provide sources of shelter for rodents.
Once on your property, it is only a short matter of time before these invasive rodents find a way to get inside your home. Rodents typically enter homes through spaces found along your home’s roofline as well as through uncovered chimneys, torn screen doors or windows, doors that have been left open for long periods of time, holes in your home’s siding, or through vents or spaces found around air-conditioners. Once inside your home, they can cause a whole host of serious issues:
- Rodents can introduce several serious diseases and bacteria such as Salmonella and Hantavirus into your home that can cause you and your family members to become very sick.
- Rodents will contaminate the food sources and the surfaces in your home with their urine, feces, and saliva.
- Rodents will damage the structure of your home by chewing on and through wires, pipes, drywall, ductwork, flooring, and more.
- Rodents will destroy personal property like clothing, books, pictures, furniture, and storage boxes.
- Rodents will create entrances into your home that will provide insects and other household pests to gain access to your home and create even more pest problems for you to deal with.
To combat rodent infestations during the summer and throughout the rest of the year as well, that best step that you can take is to put a year-round pest control plan into place. Implementing a year-round residential pest control plan will provide you with the expert services needed to eliminate any current problems that you may be experiencing with rodents and other common household invaders as well as the continuous services needed to prevent future pests invasions throughout the rest of the entire year! Year-round pest control provides protection for yourself, your family, your home and your property from the dangers and damages that rodents and other pests can inflict!
To learn more about how Big Blue Bug Solutions’ year-round Home Owner’s Policy can help protect your New England home from rodents and other common pests like ants, spiders, flies, pantry pests, beetles, earwigs, and more, give us a call today!