Santa Clarita Pest Control: Do I Have A Rat Or Mouse Infestation?
Unipest, a Santa Clarita pest control company, is teaching the community how to identify a rat versus mouse infestation.
“In order to treat for rats and mice, you have to know exactly which one you’re dealing with, because not only are their biologies totally different, but so are their treatment methods,” said Cardon Ellis, Unipest’s owner.
On one hand, mice are inquisitive and have a small infestation circumference, which will directly affect what type of traps are used to take care of an infestation, Ellis noted.
“Mice love checking things out, exploring things, and they’re a lot smaller, so when you treat for mice, you’re generally going to use much smaller traps and scented glue boards, because you want to attract them to the glue board through the smell,” Ellis said.
However, Ellis described rats as neophobic, which means that they are the exact opposite of mice and will usually make every effort to stay away from something unordinary or new.
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“They hate new things in their path — they aren’t inquisitive, they don’t want to check them out,” Ellis said. “So when you’re treating for rats, you have to use unscented glue boards that are placed in their pathways that they will trip upon. These are two completely different biologies and two completely different treatment methods.”
The key to correctly identifying a rat versus mouse infestation is to inspect the feces, Ellis said.
He continued that mice feces are smaller with pointed ends, whereas rat feces are larger with blunted ends, and also seems to “glisten” if examined when fresh.
“Mice have totally different anal glands and they’re much smaller,” Ellis continued. “Rodents, especially the roof rats and the Norwegian rats that we deal with here in Santa Clarita, have much larger poops.”
Ellis concluded, “At the end of the day, if you want to know what kind of (infestation) you’re dealing with, you’ve got to check out the poop. If you suspect you have a rodent infestation in your house, call us, mention this video, and we’ll give you a free inspection.”
The Santa Clarita pest and termite control company Unipest is the premiere residential and commercial pest control company for Los Angeles County. If you’re looking for pest or termite control in Santa Clarita or surrounding areas, Unipest prides itself on being your one-stop solution, and offer orange oil treatments, bee hive removal, fumigation, escrow inspections, removal of bed bugs, organic pest control and more. Residents and business owners are encouraged to call Unipest for immediate assistance!
