Residential Pest Control: Understanding the Health and Safety Risks that Rodent Can Cause
Rodents like mice and rats seek warmth. This is the reason they usually invade homes in winter. Despite their size and innocent appearance, rodents can cause serious home damage. Also, the health and safety risks they pose are real. If you have an existing rodent issue, contact a residential pest control professional to help you address it. The following are the health and safety risks that rodents pose:
Property Damage
As rodents want to stay warm and safe, they do everything to get inside. Some of them will chew through the roof to access your house. Others will burrow into your house under its foundation. If your home has tiny openings, mice and rats can easily squeeze through them. Once they are inside, they gnaw on your things. As scavengers, these rodents will usually find anything to eat by tearing through materials like boxes, walls, and bags.
Rodents will find undisturbed spots to create their nest like your attic or basement. They will look for materials they can use, so they chew on and shred almost anything they can find like upholstery, newspaper, and insulation. Also, your electrical wiring is not safe from them. This will cause a short circuit and pose fire risks.
Food Contamination
As rats and mice loom around your house for food, nesting materials, and water, they leave behind droppings and urine. Such wastes can contaminate your home’s surfaces and tell other rodents that your house is abundant in food and safe. Given their sharp teeth, rodents can chew through stored foods and contaminate them. In fact, they can spread different diseases through them.
Spread of Diseases
Rodents can spread different diseases directly through their droppings, urine, and saliva or indirectly through the things they contaminate. These diseases include hantavirus, salmonella, tapeworm, and rat-bite fever. Rodents can pose health risks to both humans and pets. They can also raid your pet’s food storage.
Reproduction Concerns
The presence of one rodent in your house may not be a cause for concern. However, rodent populations can quickly grow. Female rats can produce up to seven litters every year. Every litter can have 14 babies. Meanwhile, female mica can produce 150 young in one year.
Rodents are a threat to your home’s structures and your health. If you are dealing with a rodent issue, hire a pest control professional as soon as possible. Do not wait until the population has gone out of control to seek help.
