Lee County, Fort Myers Rat Control Situation:
We have a call in to Wildlife Control here in Fort Myers and am awaiting their call back (I guess that is you?) In the meantime, I hope you can offer us some tips on what we can do while we wait. Our garage (and attic) is a mess and I am sure it has attracted the mice. In fact, the garage is the first place we noticed the mice. But, in the last week and a half, we have noticed the noises in our ceiling (or the floor to our second story)...apparently, there is a hole from that space into our pantry, because they have helped themselves nightly to our pantry. Upon closer inspection of the garage, we noticed someone left a gapping hole in our dry wall behind the heater (about 10 x 12). In addition, they did not seal where the pipes go up into attic very well. We just had an addition placed on our home last year so my husband is going to talk with the builder to see if he will seal these holes, otherwise, I am hoping this is a service that is available from animal control in Cape Coral. I did try to set up a trap without success....they ate the bait, but it didn't snap. While we wait for the animal control, can we try to block off where we believe the mice are coming into the pantry? I really would like to put an end to that right away. We were going to get wood and cover the openings as well as seal any smaller holes we can reach with the expanding foam. I was going to get some peppermint oil and put all over pantry...i'd much rather smell peppermint than know mice are running around in there! Then, I want to sanitize the pantry and get rid of any food they came in contact with. I don't want to jeopardize or complicate the process of eliminating our infestation, but would REALLY like them out of my house! I would appreciate your assistance, Thank you, Dina
Fort Myers Rat Control Tip of The Week
How Do Wildlife Rehabilitators Deal With Rats?
Even though rats do cause a nuisance in homes, they also need to be treated humanely when indisposed. In a situation where you find a stray and injured rat in your home, the best thing you can do is to contact a wildlife rehabilitator to help evacuate the rat immediately. While waiting for the rehabilitator, you need to avoid any physical contact with the animal, as rats are often carriers of different kinds of pathogens and diseases.
Wildlife rehabilitators are licensed professionals that help to evacuate animals from people's home, treat them if they have health issues, and release them back into the wild. Unlike other animals, wildlife rehabilitators handle rats specially.
Since stray rats do find it very difficult to survive on their own if relocated into the wild immediately, the first thing wild rehabilitators do is to nurture the rats for days or weeks to ensure that they are in good health. To do this, the rats are introduced into a box filled with woodland debris to make them feel comfortable and are properly fed with good food. This nurturing process continues until the rats can survive on their own without the help of anyone.
After successfully nurturing them, the wildlife rehabilitator can then go ahead and release the rat back into the wild. The release of the rat into the wild is not just done indiscriminately. Wildlife rehabilitators look for areas with a possible place of shelter for the rat with an abundant source of food.
Wildlife rehabilitators make sure evacuated rats stand a chance of living. Therefore, don't hesitate to contact a wildlife rehabilitator if you have stray, injured rats in your home.