Common Rodents to Lookout for in North Carolina
Once inside your home, rodents can cause serious damage. These creatures are known to destroy insulation, chew electrical wires, and contaminate your home with their droppings. It’s never ideal to find these wildlife creatures in your home but luckily there are ways to prevent them from entering. Check out the common rodents found in North Carolina and how you can prevent them from entering.
Types of Rodents
- Norway Rats: The largest species of rats, these creatures measure from 13 to 18 inches long. They are known to seek out human activity, where they can easily find a food source and place to inhabit. Norway rats prefer to eat cereal grains, meats, some fruits, and fish. These creatures will also chew through plastic materials and even lead pipes, causing severe damage to homes.
- Roof Rat: Smaller than a Norway rat, these creatures have padded feet to be able to climb and habitat areas such as attics, eaves, and roof lines. These rats prefer to eat fruits and vegetables, often returning to the place they found the food source multiple times for more.
- House Mouse: These creatures measure up to 7 inches, which allow them to enter homes through the smallest gap or hole leading inside. House mice will eat about anything to survive but prefer cereal grains. They are known to be excellent climbers and gnaw on electrical wires.
Preventing Rodents
There are several rodent control measures you can utilize in your house, including:
- Emptying your garbage regularly and putting it in cans with tightly fitting lids
- Keeping your house clean and decluttered, including throwing away old newspapers and cardboard boxes
- Storing food in sealed containers and throwing away ripe fruit
- Bringing pet food and water bowls inside at night
- Sealing any holes found inside or outside of your home with steel wool, latch screen, latch metal, cement, hardware cloth, or metal sheeting
- Keeping your grass mowed short and shrubbery well-trimmed
If you suspect that you have rodents on your property, it’s always best to reach out to your local pest control company to perform a thorough home inspection. These professionals will be able to determine the type of rodent you have in your home, their patterns of activity, what’s attracting them inside, and the best treatment method for elimination and ongoing prevention.