Rodent Exterminator in Miami
The most destructive pests in Miami are rodents. Rats, mice, and squirrels thrive near humans. Densely populated cities like Miami, FL, have an abundance of waste and food that attract rodents. The warm climate allows these pests to constantly look for safe places for shelter and food sources. Your house provides those things in abundance.
Finding Mice in Fort Lauderdale
Mice are small, furry rodents with long, hairless tails, relatively large ears, and small eyes. They are found in a variety of colors, most commonly gray and brown. South Florida homeowners may be alerted to rodents’ presence in several ways, including hearing noises from the attic and within walls or finding their poop throughout the home. Scratching sounds are likely to be heard at night and droppings are typically located close to baseboards and walls, where mice travel most.
Problems Associated with Mouse Infestations
Mice chew wood, plastic, siding, electrical wires, carpet, fabrics, clothing, mesh, and some thin metals. In your home, this translates to chewing baseboards and structural beams. It also means gnawed cabinets, pipes, vents, rugs, drywall, cardboard, and storage containers. Their behaviors can cause power outages, heating and cooling system failures, and broken water lines.
Mice contaminate your living space by leaving feces and urine wherever they travel. Mouse feces are known to host mold spores that humans should not inhale. If living in your wall or ceiling, urine and feces can seep through, creating ugly stains.
Mice can spread Hantavirus, salmonellosis, and other diseases through direct contact with their waste or indirectly via ticks and fleas that migrate from their fur into homes.
Mouse Exterminator in Miami
The most effective mouse control includes an aggressive trapping program, exclusions, and bait stations for maintenance. Mice can reproduce at an alarming rate so population control is vital. Critter Control exterminates the mice population with a trapping that lasts five to fourteen days. During that time, we seal all potential entry points around the house to stop other mice and rodents from getting inside your home. Exclusions are an eco-friendly mouse control option. Once your house is protected, we suggest a maintenance program to control mice on your property. Preventing mice from establishing themselves in your yard or under your porch will protect your house from future infestations.
Roof Rats in Miami
The roof rat is the predominant species of rodent in South Florida. Otherwise known as black rats, these pests prefer to be high above the ground in fruit trees, roofs, and attics. These rats are typically around a foot long, with tails longer than their bodies, and can range in color from dark brown or gray to black. Roof rats got their name because they are excellent climbers. They are often seen on roofs, attics, trees, walls, trusses, and beams. Roof rats are usually part of a colony. If they can’t find a way to shelter up high, they will build nests in wood piles, basements, clutter, or shrubs. They prefer to have a roof of some kind over their heads.
Signs of Rat Infestation
Typically, roof rats build nests in attics and inside the walls of yourSouth Florida home. That means colonies of roof rats can live closer to you and your family than you’d like. Seeing a roof rat, dead or alive, is a sign of an infestation. There is rarely only one rat living in a location.
If a roof rat is in your attic, you will likely see shredded insulation and drywall, chewed electrical wires, and nests plugging vents and ducts, all creating fire hazards. Other signs include the following:
- Sounds. Roof rats make distinctive noises when active at night. Squeaking, squealing, chirping, chattering, purring, and grunting are a few of the sounds a roof rat can make. The noises become incredibly annoying when you try to fall asleep, and your local rat colony is just beginning its nesting and feeding activities for the night.
- Droppings. Roof rat droppings or feces are usually about ½” long and have pointy ends. If the droppings are moist and soft, they are fresh. They are old if they are hard and dry or easy to crumble. Both are unsanitary. Adult roof rats can leave fifty or more droppings every day.
- Gnaw marks. Roof rats, like other rodents, have teeth that continually grow throughout their lifetime. The larger their teeth get, the more painful. Roof rats will chew and gnaw on any material to keep their teeth short to avoid this pain. They can chew through wood, plastic, vinyl, fabric, etc. It is likely due to rat activity if you see gnaw marks on furniture, baseboards, wires, or anything else.
- Odor. Roof rats leave a strong, musky odor in areas where they are active. Much of the odor results from urine trails, which they leave everywhere they go. The stronger the smell, the larger the infestation.
Problems Caused by Rats in the House
Rats can carry various parasites and spread disease with their bites. At the first sign of an infestation, contact the trained professionals at Critter Control. Our wildlife removal experts have the tools and training to safely and effectively eliminate rats from Fort Lauderdale homes.
Professional Rat Control in Miami
There are several effective methods for getting rid of rats, all of which should be done by trained professionals because they know the correct methods to address infestations. There is rarely just one rat in the area. Additionally, there is a risk of worsening the infestation if initial methods do not work. Professionals know how to eliminate an infestation the first time successfully. Below are some examples.
Rat Trapping
The size of the infestation determines the number of traps to use and the right bait. Snap traps are usually the first line of treatment. One trap for an infestation of twenty will not go well. Even with the correct number of traps, the process can take up to two weeks.
With both traps and stations like those detailed below, expect Norway rats to take several days to adjust to something new in their environment. Professionals recommend placing bait traps somewhere between the rats’ nest and food source, but not directly in their path. Place them along baseboards or near burrows.
Baits for Norway rats can include tiny portions of peanut butter, meat, chocolate, gummies, cheese, or fruit. Because rats are omnivores, they are not picky eaters.
Prevent Roof Rat Infestations
Setting baits and traps without implementing exclusions means you will soon have another rat infestation. Exclusions are what keep roof rats from entering your home in the future.
Exclusions are best when done by a professional who can adequately seal every entry point ½” or larger with heavy-duty materials that the roof rats cannot chew through, like concrete or thick metal. For smaller or harder-to-reach areas, caulk buttressed with hardware cloth or galvanized steel mesh will stop roof rats.
Bait Stations for Long Lasting Rodent Control
With larger infestations, bait stations may be a better option. It may take over two weeks to eliminate all the Norway rats in your house. Bait stations are boxes that allow rodents to enter. Once inside, they consume toxic bait. Most Norway rats do not leave the box, but if they can, they carry the toxic materials back to their nests, where other rats will also consume them.
Squirrels in Miami
In Miami, squirrels can pose a unique challenge for pest control due to the area’s subtropical climate and urban environment. The most common squirrel species in Miami is the Eastern Gray Squirrel, which is highly adaptable and thrives in both residential and commercial areas. Miami’s warm climate allows squirrels to be a year-round pest problem increasing chances of infestations. Squirrels in Miami often seek shelter in attics, chimneys, and other parts of homes, particularly in the colder months. They can chew through insulation, wires, and wood, causing damage.
Exterminators for Squirrel Control in Miami
Our goal is to remove the pest squirrels as humanely and quickly as possible. Detterents, repellents, and rat poison are not effective means for squirrel control. Exlcusions, not extermination is the best squirrel pest control in Miami.
Signs of a Squirrel
Squirrels jumping around your trees generally are not a problem. Squirrels become problematic when they nest in the attic, inside the walls, in the gutters, down chimneys, or on your roof.
Squirrels easily access your roof by climbing tree branches. They only need a gap the size of a golf ball. Typically entry points are on soffits, eaves, fascia boards, and chimneys. The most common signs of squirrels include noises in the attic or walls, droppings around the house, gnaw marks inside and outside the house, and bad odors.
Squirrel Trapping in Miami
If you have a squirrel problem, we inspect your roof and attic for entry points, squirrel damage, and squirrel nests. Both live traps can in either one-door or two-door traps. The best squirrel removal is either a trap or a one-way door. If Snap traps or mouse traps glue traps will not work on most squirrels.
Exclusions, not Squirrel Extermination
Squirrel trapping solves the immediate squirrel infestation. Your home has already been shown to provide ample resources for squirrels. Without exclusion, you are still at risk for future squirrel infestations. Because squirrels only need a small entry point, finding all the potential weak spots takes skill and experience.
Exclusion methods keep squirrels and other nuisance wildlife from entering your home. Some measures to take in this effort include removing trees and branches close to your roof that provide easy access. Sealing all vulnerabilities in your roof, soffits, vents, and chimney are also important.