Mercer County, Trenton Rat Control Situation:
David, I was looking at your website about mice/rat dropping cleanup. We bought our house from a previous owner and the house has a crawl space. The crawl space is insulated in white plastic. The crawl space has a lot of mice droppings, easy to see on the white insulation, and I would like to get them cleaned up but I'm having a difficult time finding someone in the Trenton NJ area that will cleanup the mouse droppings--many services will provide rate control but they don't do the cleanup. Any suggestions in this regard? Couple of other questions: I was thinking about cleaning it up myself but I'm concerned about the virus you can catch by doing so. The CDC has some different suggestions than what you state including: 1) They recommend not vacumming as it can cause the disease in the feces/urine to be airborne. 2) They recommend spraying with a bleech solution but you recommend using Dawn dish detergent first. How would you apply the Dawn to the feces--do you spray a dawn/water mixture first with a pump sprayer? Then, do you spray with a bleach/water mixture after the Dawn? 3) After you use the Dawn and then a bleech mixture, how should you clean it up since it will be wet--wipe up with a rag? Thanks for you help.
Trenton Rat Control Tip of The Week
Rats And Black Pepper
Rats eat almost anything. In their search for food, they can gnaw on plastic, wood, and even electrical wiring. A rat presence in your home can cause a lot of economic damage.
When this expense is added to the health problems rats' body fluids can cause, the best thing a person can do is getting them out of the house as soon as possible. The most common extermination way is using traps or rodenticides. However, there are more natural methods such as the use of peppers that cause unpleasant odors and tastes for the rodent and quickly drive them away.
Odors That Repel
Using repellents with unpleasant odors for rats is a way to keep them away from you in a friendly way. The advantage of not having to deal with the rodent's carcass can be worth the effort of constantly using these temporary methods. Rodents use their sense of smell to socialize as well as to survive. An odor such as ammonia often drives them away because it is very similar to the urine of large animals that could devour them. Spicy odors are perceived as dangerous chemicals that are also often avoided at all costs.
Black Pepper
Spicy food odors are unbearable for rats, thanks to their high capsaicin content. These natural compounds give the food its spicy effect, but they are also often very irritating to the mucous membranes and lungs of rodents. If ingested, they can cause a burning sensation in the taste buds and olfactory glands. Pepper is known to be able to scare away rats temporarily although this is not scientifically proven.
For all those people who are afraid of having to deal with poisons or homemade traps, finding new and less harmful options is a headache; however, homemade repellents like black pepper avoid harming other animals and humans, being a perfect choice. In any case, even if they are harmless odors, it is advisable to seek the advice and follow the instructions of a professional in the field.
