Rodents in your home are a serious cause for concern. These animals can spread disease and cause damage to your home, so if you think that you have rodents in your home, you need to deal with them fast.
Yet what does rodent damage look like? How can you tell whether rodents have taken up residence in your home?
In this guide, we’re going to take a look at some common signs of rodent damage that you should be on the lookout for. If you see any of these, you need to call us about pest control immediately.
Are you ready to find out more about the warning signs of rodents in your home? Then read on!
1. Small Marks Around Your Home
Rodents like to chew on things. Their teeth don’t have roots like human teeth, and they never stop growing. When they chew on things, it keeps their teeth sharp.
If you’ve noticed small bite marks on things around your home, there’s a very good chance that you have rodents. Particular favorite targets for their teeth include baseboards, any cardboard that you have lying around, and wires.
Both mice and rats are prone to this behavior, but bite marks made by rats are larger than ones made by mice, and they have a more ragged look to them.
2. Rodent Droppings
This may not be a permanent form of damage, but no one wants to find strange animal droppings in their house. Mouse and rat droppings are quite easy to spot, measuring up to 3/4 of an inch in length.
If you find droppings in your home, you should make sure to wear gloves before you pick them up to dispose of them. You should also consider wearing a mask, as these droppings can cause a disease known as hantavirus, which can be fatal.
3. Holes in Your Walls
While mouse and rat holes don’t look like the perfect arch that we see in movies and cartoons, rodents do like to make holes in walls. This helps them get around your home.
If you’ve noticed new holes in your walls or in furniture, you may well have rodents in your home. While other creatures can be responsible for holes, rodents are often the perpetrator.
You should note that the holes can be surprisingly small. A mouse can fit through a hole about the size of a dime, so don’t disregard smaller holes in your walls.
4. Greasy Marks on Surfaces
Rodent fur may look smooth, but it contains a lot of oils. Rodents have very greasy fur: this oil keeps them warm during colder months. As rodents often scurry along close to walls, this oil will rub off on the wall, leaving a greasy mark in their wake.
If you’ve started spotting marks like these around your home, there’s a very good chance that rodents have been running around your home without you noticing.
5. Damaged Bags of Food or Produce
Mice and rats have a superb sense of smell. This helps them track down food, even if it’s in sealed containers. Once they find the food, they chew through the bag or container to access the food within.
If you notice a rip or hole in a bag or container of food, something has likely chewed its way in. If this is the case, you should dispose of this food immediately. Never eat any food that a rodent has touched.
6. Short-Circuiting Appliances
You may not associate electrical problems with rodents but these small pests can cause serious issues for your electrical devices. Rats and mice like to gnaw on wires, which can cause a short circuit or even a fire.
However, gnawing on wires is not the only problem that rodents cause for electricals. Large electrical appliances can make a perfect home for rats and mice, who may build nests inside of them. If this happens, all of that device’s wiring is at risk, which means even more chance of a short circuit.
7. Damage to Your Garden
While we often think of rodents as being indoor pests, they’re just as happy to cause chaos outdoors. If you have a vegetable garden, you may find that your plants get eaten by the rats, or at the very least, they may gnaw on them.
They can also burrow into the earth in your garden. If you start noticing holes in your soil, rats or mice may be making nests in your yard.
Rodents can also eat flower bulbs and plant seeds, so if you’ve noticed that your plants aren’t growing when they should be, they may also be behind this.
8. Signs of Burrowing Around Drain Covers
Rats live in drains for obvious reasons: there’s a lot of food down there. Think of all the scraps of food that your dishwasher removes from your plates and flushes down the drains. All of the little bits of rice and the like that go down your sink off your saucepans.
However, if they’re going to come into your house, they obviously need to surface. Take a look at the drain covers outside your home. Are there are any scratchmarks or signs of burrowing?
If there are, this could be a sign that the rats have come up out of the drain and into your home.
Rodent Damage Takes Many Forms
Rodent damage is fairly easy to spot but it can take many forms and can occur in many different areas of your home. If you’ve noticed any of the signs that we’ve mentioned in your home, you may well have a rodent infestation.
If you do, calling pest control should be your top priority. We’ll be happy to help you get rid of these pests once and for all. For more information and to arrange an inspection, contact us today.