mouse in kitchen Usually, when you think of pests small ones like insects come to mind. This is understandable considering just how many of them exist. However, one type of pest that spells trouble for all Philly homeowners is the rodent. While this encompasses many animals, the most common are mice and rats. This is largely because they commonly invade homes and cause property damage and more.

You could be forgiven for thinking these two pests are basically the same, but in truth, they are as different as night and day in both appearance and their behavior. A breakdown of their traits is below for your review:

Mice: The mouse is usually a dusky grey color and can grow to nearly four inches long. You can further identify them by their rounded furry body and long thin tail. Also, they possess large rounded ears.
Rats: At first glance, they look similar but they are much larger and possess bigger jaws. Also, they have smaller ears in comparison and possess a tail that is thick and scaly. Rats can grow up to 16 inches long and are usually black or brown in color.

The one tiny bit of good news about these two rodents is they rarely invade the home at the same time. In conditions where food is plentiful, this might happen. However, their different nesting habits and the territorial nature of rats make it nearly impossible for the two species to coexist peacefully.

Rodents Are A Dangerous Pain

From the onset, both members of the rodent family are a danger to your property. Their scampering and climbing leave surface scratches. However, it's the chewing that causes the most damage. Their teeth never stop growing so they have to gnaw and chew to grind the teeth down to a manageable size. As such, problems like chewed wires, holes in the wall, and other signs of gnawing are fairly common during an infestation.

Along with property damage, rodents threaten the very health of the people living in the infested building including yourself. They spread disease and illness through the pathogens they carry plus their traveling habits. Some common illnesses associated with rodents are salmonella, tularemia, rat-bite fever, and others.

Besides the diseases they carry on their own, rodents also carry fleas, which cause health problems on their own. Finally, even the urine and droppings left behind by rodents cause illness in people. For these reasons and more, the best solution is one that keeps them out of the home entirely.

Rodent Prevention with Pestmaster® Services

As soon as you see a rodent, you'll likely want to break out the traps, poison, and other resources to get ahead of the problem. This isn't a good idea. All of those solutions deal with rodents on a one-to-one basis, which is ineffective in light of how fast rodents reproduce. It's never just a handful of mice or rats you're dealing with, it's actually dozens upon dozens.

Another reason why DIY isn't recommended is that rodents are intelligent. They know when you're trying to get them, which means they'll hide and avoid "danger" at every turn. Instead, you need the assistance of a professional rodent control company to handle the problem.

With us, you get rodent control that goes beyond the initial removal. Instead, we provide an integrative approach designed to ensure long-term success while providing environmentally friendly solutions so you receive pest management done with environmentally.

Are you in need of effective rodent control? Then call our team at Pestmaster® Services or go online to schedule your free inspection and start benefiting from rodent control services provided by our team.