The holidays are about being with family and friends and appreciating your relationships and each other. Normally, all of these great holiday memories happen in your home or a relative's. Last month, we focused on the many types of rodents that can infest your home and what you can do to prevent that from happening and control methods for treating if you have already seen signs of rodents. As we get closer to the holidays and the weather turns colder, your home is more at risk at being seen as a safe and warm haven for these homeless rodents.

Rodent pests can cause considerable damage to your home while contributing to the unsanitary aspect of it. Especially in households with children who are more susceptible to illness.

Enjoy your time with family and friends this holiday season by making sure your home is rodent-proof and rodent-free.

Rats

The general types of these rodents that exist in your home can include the Norway rat, the roof (or black) rat and the house mouse. Roof rats usually stake out attics or cabinets and can climb quite well. Norway rats choose to live in the ground by digging burrows against foundations, tree trunks, and gardens. Their burrows can lead into crawl spaces and small openings around pipes which can enable them to inhabit your kitchens and bathrooms.

No matter the type of rat that lives in your home, you can be sure that it will be attracted to any food item you have in your pantry, especially high-quality food products such as meat and fresh grain. If you have pets, be extra cautious about foods being left out, because rats will smell and detect dog food that is sitting out.

Rats need one-half to one fluid ounce of water everyday when consuming dry foods. They have extremely sharp senses of taste, hearing, and smell. Once they are aware of what is within their reach and given their keen senses, rats will do anything to get to food or shelter. Overall, rats are able to enter a building through openings that are wider than half an inch across. Rats have a very short life span -- most die within a year. However, rats can breed rapidly, so even though they die off quickly, their young will survive them. Female rats produce five or six litters of about half a dozen to a dozen young each year.

Now that you know a little about the rat's habits, how can you tell that you have rats living alongside you in your home? Spotting droppings or visible signs of fresh gnawing should be an obvious indicator of rats. Rat tracks can appear on dusty surfaces or mud. Rats usually build runways and burrows to get into your home and they can be found next to buildings and under debris and low vegetation.

Rat Exclusion

Here are some simple rules of thumb you can adopt to prevent a rodent invasion in your home:

• Store all your accessible food in rodent-proof containers such as glass or metal

• Place your trash in tightly covered metal cans to prevent smells from escaping or potential rodent entry.

• Check your faucets to make sure they are functioning properly and to fix leaks as they occur, since gaps or holes around pipes can serve as easy entry points for rodents.

• Seal up any unnecessary openings with concrete or sheet metal. For other access points, a 1/4 inch hardware cloth or steel wool should do the trick.

• For pet owners, put any uneaten pet food away before you go to bed, as any pet food left out is subject to rodent consumption!

• Carefully watch your bird feeders. Be sure you are not feeding the local rodent population instead of desirable song birds!

Squirrels

Most people are familiar with squirrels and some may even find this particular rodent to be cute and charming. Gray squirrels are small rodents found throughout Texas.

Squirrel Control

Trapping

Traps are often effective where there is a small population of gray squirrels or in urban areas where a toxicant cannot be used safely. Small cage traps are available from feed stores, sporting goods stores and many garden supply centers. Traps should be baited with grain or oats and placed near the entrance to the burrow. Rat traps are also an effective way to catch smaller gray squirrels. The traps should be baited and placed near the burrow entrance.

Traps with an expanded trigger can be placed in the squirrel’s travel path. Set this way, the trap does not have to be baited. The animal will step on the trigger as it moves along the path.

Identifying the rodent you may have in your house and utilizing appropriate control methods is key to keeping your home clean and ready for the holidays.

Author Resource:-> Fran Phalin is a freelance editor and writer specializing in home improvement topics. She is based in Austin, TX.

For pest control services on any rodent, whether you need assistance in preventing them or need a pest control professional to control and trap rodents for you, please visit Anteater Pest and Lawn at: www.goanteater.com.

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Humane mouse traps are increasingly becoming the traps of choice in dealing with unwanted mice or rats in the home. There are many reasons for this. This article will explain why other solutions to rodent control are less than desireable, and are even dangerous to use. Also included is a brief overview of the humane traps that are available.

The conventional methods for catching mice are spring loaded traps, glue pads, and poison.

Spring loaded traps

Spring loaded traps have been used for a very long time. You think of it as baited with cheese (peanut butter and grains work better)ready to lethally slam its metal bar on the unsuspecting mouse.

But on closer inspection it has major drawbaacks.  For example, mice are very quick and sneaky.  They don't always trigger the spring, but instead simply steal the bait.  

Secondly, think about what the mouse trap is supposed to do.  If it actually does catch the mouse, the mouse may still be partially alive, squealing in agony but unable to get away.  Or the mouse may bleed to death, possibly spreading infection on the flooring surface, both from the blood and from evaacuating its urine and feces.

Mouse Cube The Gentle Mouse Trap Mouse Cube is for those pesky mice who simply refuse to leave no matter what you do. These great little traps do no harm to mice. Just bait with a little peanut butter and crackers and they walk right in through the one way door for a little taste. Once they're trapped just pick up the trap you don't have to touch the mouse jump in your car and drive the little mouse to it's new home. Note be sure to check the traps twice a day so Mickey or Minnie don't get too upset . You'll receive four humane reusable mouse traps and full directions for use.

Thirdly the trap may catch the mouse, kill it, wet the home owner has no clue that the mouse was caught. So the mouse may lie dead for days, decomposing.  And the bait may also begin to rot, possibly attracting insects.  So for these reasons the traditional spring loaded trap poses health risks.

Glue Pads

Glue pads are rectangular items that lie flat on the floor.  You place them where you think mice travel, along baseboards,around furniture.   It's guesswork.  It is possible to bait them, but you have to devise your own way to do it.

If a mouse does travel over the pad its legs will stick to the pad. So the mouse will be trapped there alive.  And afraid.  And squealing and angry.  When you find the mouse it will most likely be alive.  Picking up the little critter - withot getting bitten - is a dicey affair.  And if it's still alive do you kill it? This is far from the best solutin.

Poisons

Poisons are not a great solution either. Yes they will kill mice. They eat the horrid stuff then go somewhere to die a painful death by internal bleeding.  If their carcass is hard or impossible to get to, they will decompose over time emitting a horrible stench.  And of course poison not only kills mice, it also kills pets.  Andlittle children who poke around and find it.

Humane Mouse Traps

So the modern solution is humane mouse traps.  These come in various shapes and sizes.  Some are made of transparent plastic.  Others are metal, with trating to allow you to see what's inside and to permit air to flow into the chamber.

You bait them with a peanut butter and grain mixture and when the mouse enters the main chamber a flap shuts to capture it. But without harming the mouse.  Some models cantrap 2 or more mice at a time.  They present no problems like contamination from infected blood,urine and feces.  

You simply pick up the trap, take the mouse to a remote location, set it free into the wild, and go home.  The traps can be reused. And they are very affordable.

People who use them say really good things about them.  So if you have a mouse problem I suggest you try humane mouse traps to solve that plroblem.

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