Rodents in Home: Winter Activity & Removal – Columbus, OH

Columbus, OH – Rodents in Your Home this Winter

Rodent activity in homes has the ability to ramp up during the winter months. Low temperatures are met with quickly-disappearing sources of food and shelter for many nuisance animals. This drives them to look for shelter where it is most easily accessible: our homes.

Brown rat feeding on a thick branchIdeally, you would hope that the Ohio weather would kill off or drive away all pests for the year. Unfortunately, the cold often causes rodents and other pests into our own houses. Why travel to find shelter when it’s readily available where you are? Food, water, and warm temperatures are in short supply everywhere but your kitchen, and the Columbus rodent population would love take full advantage.

How Do Rodents Get In My House?

Rodents are able to get into houses in a number of ways. They can squeeze into surprisingly tight areas (e.g. 3/4″ gaps) in order to gain entry to your home. Any crevice in your walls, roof, doorways, etc. will present an opportunity for rodent entry. Once inside, mice and rats can hide out just about anywhere there is room: under furniture, in walls, ceilings, vents, in the attic, and many other places.

What Kind of Damage Can Rodents Do?

Mice and rats are walking diseases, capable of carrying Hantavirus and other very dangerous viruses. They spread disease in all kinds of ways: urine, feces, bites, contaminated food, and more. On top of that, they pose a serious threat to the foundational integrity of your home. Rats and mice are known to chew through electrical wires, starting massive fires that are liable to consume large parts of houses. They can even chew through insulation and other important materials.

Mice and rats will be attracted to any part of your home which contains food or water, so the kitchen is definitely in danger. Food may be eaten or, even worse, contaminated with bacteria or a dangerous virus. Rodents will hide in attics or any other sparsely visited location. This is concerning, as large numbers of rodents can go undetected for long periods, possibly doing serious damage to your home in the meanwhile.

How Do I Get Rid of Rodents in the Winter?

Mouse traps are a common DIY item, but mice and rats can usually sense a potential trap. They will likely avoid any traps you set, although natural selection may net you the dumber ones eventually. There is evidence, in fact, that traps can attract even more rodents to your home! A professional exclusion job is a universally good choice for wildlife problems — and that goes double for those involving rodents.

Central Ohio’s Buckeye Wildlife Solutions offers customized rodent exclusion plans to rid you of your mouse and rat problems. We use professional-grade traps to capture any and all rodents in your home and attic. Prevention is also covered, as a survey of the property should reveal any openings that rodents might use to gain entry to your home. 

Our local staff is uniquely qualified to handle the job for you. Years of training and plenty of experience in Columbus area exclusion jobs make us the perfect solution to your rodent problem. Call locally-owned Buckeye Wildlife Solutions today at (844) 544-9453!