Passaic County, Paterson Rat Control Situation:
I've been searching the web to find a way to get rid of mice that's been running around the house for past couple of weeks. I never thought of a situation where I would actually face a mouse in my living room! I saw it coming from the kitchen so I bought bunch of snap traps that's covered and placed it along the walls but it did not work at all. I bought glue traps and placed it along the walls and under the washer/dryer areas but that didn' t work as well. it left 2 dropping on the countertop and 3 droppings near the fridge this morning. It looks like it knows where all the traps are! it usually comes out from the kitchen area to the living room but it couldn't last night because I placed the glue traps on the kitchen entrance. I have 2 kids so I'm extremely worried about any diseases those things might carry. Can you please suggest any solution that might actually work?
I work for a return center (warehouse) and I saw your site. We are trying to get rid of a mouse problem. We have many pallets of food here. We understand that there may be a few, but we have lots of them right now and customers complaining about their product coming back chewed up. We have glue strips around the facility and traps as well that are maintenanced by the pest control. We have created a "quarantine" built with wood and metal sheeting around our good product to try and keep the mice out and they still get in. We cannot use poison because we have food here.... any thoughts you may have would be appreciated. We are pretty sure that the mice are coming off of inbound trailers. Is there anything we can do before we unload the truck to remove the mice?
Paterson Rat Control Tip of The Week
Using Exclusion Funnels To Get Rid Of Rats Without Killing Them
Rats are probably the second most common species of rodent to be found in our towns and cities after rats, and like their larger relations, they can also often find their way into many different areas of the domestic property. Because rats can carry diseases, and can also transmit them by soiling food and water sources, it is natural to want to get rid of them as soon as possible. Exclusion funnels are one approach that can be used to try and get rid of rats from your home.
How Do The Exclusion Funnels Work?
Ultimately, the funnels are designed so that the rats can easily get in through the wide end of the funnel, and can then push themselves out of the narrow end of the funnel when they are leaving a particular area of your property. However, when they try to get back in the narrow end of the funnel the entrance is too small and cannot be prized open, meaning the rats are not able to get back into the area where they are causing the problem. The key aspect with exclusion funnels is that the rats really do need to be contained in one area of the home.
Preparation Work To Install Your Exclusion Funnels
The first step before you install any exclusion funnels in your property is to carry out a detailed search of where they are active, and then to identify all of the holes the rats are using to get in and out of that area. The reason for this is that you need to be able to deal with each entry point the rats may use so that when you install the funnels, they cannot simply come back in through another entry point. While carrying out this work, it is usually a wise precaution to wear long sleeved clothing and gloves, along with a breathing mask and goggles to protect yourself from any disease transmission.
Where To Place Your Exclusion Funnels
It is usually best to only place one or two exclusion funnels, and then seal the remaining access points that you can find in the area where the rats are nesting. When choosing which entry points to install your exclusion funnels, the best options are usually those that have the heaviest traffic, and should be indicated by a greater buildup of rat droppings and urine stains.
Monitoring The Rat Activity In Your Home
Once you have installed the exclusion funnels, the next step is to monitor the area to see how effective the funnels have been. In some cases, this part of the work can actually prove to be quite trial and error, as the rats will often have other secret entry points that you may not have found on your first search of the area. In this instance you will then have to search the area again, and try and find the other access point the rats are using to get in and out.
The Challenges Of Using Exclusion Funnels To Deal With Rats
One of the key benefits of using exclusion funnels to deal with rats is that it doesn?t kill the animals so you don?t have to dispose of any carcasses. However, this also means that the rats can try and find other ways to get into your home, which means it can take longer to deal with them than if you were to use lethal means to deal with a rat infestation. The other issue with using exclusion funnels for such small animals is that because of their size, it is very difficult and detailed work to actually find all of the holes they are using to get in and out.