Treatment for Rats and Mice

On Sunrise Pest Managements initial visit, our technician will do a thorough inspection of the structure including the crawl space and surrounding yard area. He/she will be looking for any obvious harborage areas, food source, and structure access.

Our technician will place trapping devices within the building according to the inspection findings. We never use bait within a structure because of the risk of the rodent dying from eating the poison in an inaccessible area and causing an odor problem. Bait is often placed outside a structure using a secured locked device so children and pets cannot tamper with it.

Since exclusion is the best way to stop any rodent infestation, the technician will give you a drawn location report with all exclusion recommendations noted. It will also show where traps and bait have been placed.

A bid for Sunrise Pest Management to make the repairs and any clean-up or replacement of the vapor barrier and insulation that may be needed will also be given to you on this initial visit. The technician will go over their findings with you and discuss the exclusion repairs that need to be done.

Once the exclusion repairs have been completed, your left with trapping only those rodents left in the building when it was sealed.

Our technician will return every other week, or as often as needed, to remove any dead rodents and reset the traps until no longer needed. Leaving dead rodents in the traps any longer runs the risk of an odor problem from the decaying rodent, and slows the process of trapping the balance of the population. This process can take 1-3 or more follow-up calls depending on the amount of infestation and how soon the exclusion repairs can be done.

Health Concerns

Historically the disease most commonly thought of involving rats is plague. Fortunately, plague has not been found in rats in the United States for many years, however, there are several other diseases connected with rodents.

In the Pacific Northwest we need to be aware of HANTAVIRUS. Hantavirus causes a serious respiratory illness that can be fatal. The virus is carried primarily by deer mice, although other rodents may be carriers as well. The virus is passed to humans through exposure to the rodents urine, droppings or saliva. Airborne transmissions may occur when dust or objects contaminated by infected rodents are disturbed, such as sweeping or shaking out stored items from a garage or basement where rodents have been.

Whenever you come across rodent droppings, you need to take precautions in cleaning the area. DO NOT VACUUM OR SWEEP the area! Always wear a dust mask or respirator, safety glasses or goggles and latex gloves. Mix a solution of 1 part chlorine bleach and 5 parts water and spray or soak droppings and any nesting materials found. Wipe up area and discard cleaning rags and nesting materials in a sealed plastic bag. Put that in the regular trash.

Why my house?

Rodents will occupy any area they can find adequate food and a good nesting site. With today’s trend towards recycling, composting, feeding wild birds and squirrels, natural landscape and green belts, homeowners are creating perfect feeding and harborage areas for any rodent.

Rodents eat cat and dog food, pet droppings, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds, meats and most any human food.

Mice have a relatively small territory, only a 4 to 50 square foot area, while rats will travel up a to 150 feet between food and harborage. Rodents will live in vegetation such as grass fields and landscaping ground cover, in burrows in the ground or embankments, in rubbish piles, and stored boxes, etc.