How to keep a rodent free home
Rodents are everywhere this time of year, all looking for the same things: food, water, heat and shelter. Don’t kid yourself; my house is bullet proof against mice and rats. They are lined up to get in. Arboreal rats have no problem jumping on to the house, moving in, and finding their way to your generous supplies. The key to rodent-proofing your home is to prevent them from entering. Here are a few common sense principles that will keep them and me, the pest fixer out.
Clean the crawl space. Rodents can carry some nasty diseases such as Hantavirus so you may want to wear high-quality respiratory protection.
On the outside of your crawl space look any opening 1/4″ or larger. Small openings can be stuffed with steel wool. Medium openings can be filled with 1/4″ hardware cloth (mesh) screwed over the opening. Make sure to check where plumbing, electric and heating enter and exit your house.
Fill gaps where the house meets the ground to prevent entry. On the roof, fill holes where vents exit the roof and where two roof lines intersect. Bring along hardware cloth and fillers as used in the crawl space.
Trim back any trees with branches near the roof to slow down roof jumping. Clear all debris from the sides of your house as this is their staging grounds.
A garage door weather seal made of rubber can be vulnerable to chewing by mice and other rodents. Instead, a flexible metal strip can be secured to the garage door weather seal where the seal meets the ground.
http://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/deltabc-1.983313/blog-how-to-keep-a-rodent-free-home-1.2077041
