Rodent Identification

Rodents are small mammals whose main goal is to survive by finding reliable food and shelter sources. Unfortunately for Cedar Hill, TX & surrounding area residents, our properties provide rodents with suitable food sources, plenty of natural and man-made shelters, and a warm climate that allows them to remain active throughout most of the year.

There are many different types of rodents living in our region, each with its own unique appearance, behaviors, and food and nesting preferences. Rodents that call our region home include roof rats, white-throated woodrats, cotton rats, and mice.

Rodents are very damaging pests. All rodents have front incisors on the top and bottom jaw that continuously grow throughout their life. To keep their teeth from overgrowing, they chew on almost anything they come across. When inside our homes, their incessant chewing causes damage to things like wires, cables, pipes, floors, walls, wood trim, boxes, cabinets, clothing, upholstered furniture, and more.

Rodents are not only problematic inside our homes; they are also problematic outside. They will feed on and damage crops, gardens, trees, and more. Rodents are a huge concern for gardeners, farmers, and inside food storage and processing facilities.

Though the damage they cause is troubling, they're also responsible for causing a variety of serious health concerns. They spread diseases like hantavirus, dysentery, and salmonellosis through their feces, urine, and saliva. Their shed fur and feces also trigger allergies in people causing runny noses, congestion, skin rashes, and watery eyes.

Rodents live outside all around us, and you'll find them in large numbers in both urban and rural areas, using our yards as a place to obtain their basic needs. When living close to our homes, they often find their way inside while searching for more food sources, water, and safe, temperature-controlled shelter.

Things like shrubs, bushes, woodpiles, tall grass, and weeds allow them to move into our homes unseen. After some time, rodents may decide to shorten their commute and move inside to nest and raise their young.

Rodents live all around us, creating nesting sites in various areas, with different species preferring different areas of our homes and yards.

• Roof rats are agile rodents that have excellent climbing abilities. They prefer to live up off the ground in trees, on roofs, in attics, and on top of cabinets.
• Mice are frequent visitors to our homes. They have adapted quite well to living with people. Their small, flexible bodies allow them to move indoors through the tiniest of spaces whenever they see fit. Wall voids, crawl spaces, attics, and basements are common nesting sites for mice.
• White-throated woodrats are also known as pack rats. Properties located near wooded areas are most likely to experience problems with these pests. They will build their complex, multi-roomed nests in rock piles, woodpiles, under shrubs, and within construction debris in our yards. If they move inside our homes, they will nest in large spaces like attics and wall voids.
• Cotton rats like to nest in tall grass, fields, or garden areas. They nest directly on the ground or in shallow burrows, making trails in the grass as they move back and forth from the nest to food sources. These rats do not usually nest indoors but may come into our homes to forage for food.

At Proactive Pest Services, we are committed to always going above and beyond to provide the most thorough and comprehensive pest services possible. "Protecting What's Important" is our daily mission! Our professionals understand rodents and how to keep them out of Texas homes and businesses.

We provide innovative pest control services that utilize the latest technology to keep rodents out of Cedar Hill homes and businesses. Using electric monitoring, UV tracking powder, and infrared camera technology, we can eliminate rodents in an extremely effective manner and provide home and business owners with peace of mind knowing their rodent problems are solved!

To learn more about controlling and eliminating rodents through our effective pest control offerings, reach out to us today.

Take action to prevent problems with rodents by partnering with the professionals at Proactive Pest Services and implementing our helpful prevention tips.

• Complete a regular and extensive inspection of your home's exterior. Seal up any openings that you discover.
• Keep covers on chimneys and vents leading into your house.
• Store your family's food or your pet's food in the fridge inside sturdy containers with airtight lids.
• Clear out the clutter from your Texas yard and home where rodents can hide.
• Keep grass cut short.
• Remove a rodent's easy access to food outside of your home. Keep lids on trash cans, harvest gardens regularly, remove bird feeders, and keep outdoor eating areas free of food debris.