Rodent calls increase 65% in January
In Delta, I experienced an increase of 65% in rodent related calls in January from last year. The onset of winter drives rats and mice into man-made structures to avoid the wet cold night. It really is because of the change in the weather. When the weather was nice out, up until December when there was a dramatic drop in the temperature, this forced the rodents to come inside and look for a warmer place to live. Here are a few tips to avoid rodents from getting into your house. Take a look around the exterior of your house to see if there are any visible holes where the rodents could be entering into the house, remembering that it’s about the diameter of your pinky finger for mice and the diameter of your thumb for rats. If there are noises in your house here a couple indications what rodent you may have. If you hear scratching noise all day long, both day and night, then it is likely a mouse. Mice usually hang out around the kitchen, leaving many deposits for you to see. If the noises are only when it’s dark outside, then it’s likely a rat. Rats tend to be outside during the day light looking for food and water. If you hear sporadic noises during the day and night and it sounds like a cat jumping around the attic, then it’s likely a squirrel. Squirrels tend to get into your house from the roof, so trim back those branches that touch your roof, at least three feet. http://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/deltabc-1.983313/blog-rodent-calls-increase-65-in-january-1.2171841
