Hickory, Dickory, Dock, The Mouse Ran Up The Clock
Recently, a customer in Portland, Oregon, contacted us about a scratching noise she was hearing in her walls. Assuming the sound was coming from mice, she set up a few snap traps and, within about a day, had a dead mouse in one of her traps. Thinking this was the pest making all the noise, she was surprised to hear the sound again later that night. This pattern repeated itself almost daily. She would find dead mice in her traps often only to listen to the noise again at night. Finally, she decided to call a pest control company and have us check it out. Unfortunately, what she thought was a small problem, was a big problem. What we found when we arrived was a large infestation of mice, happily nesting, reproducing and causing damages underneath her home in the crawlspace.
You see, a crawlspace is an ideal home for rodents. It’s safe from predators, it’s warm and has insulation, which provides the best possible bedding and nesting material for a mouse or rat. Rodents are very good at getting underneath your home by finding broken vent screens or just digging underneath the foundation to let themselves in. Once inside, they can live and reproduce for a long time while the homeowner is blissfully unaware. Rodents don’t want to come in contact with humans, so it is not surprising that they can live right underneath you for so long until you finally start to notice.
The problem is that they multiply so quickly. For example, a female mouse has only a 20 day gestation period and can have up to 70 babies (called “pups”) a year! So, you can see how a small infestation of mice can turn into a massive infestation in a pretty short amount of time.
Unfortunately, this is what happened to our customer’s home. The mice had badly infested the insulation in the crawlspace, creating an unhealthy and contaminated environment. They had chewed their way through many of her air ducts and left feces and urine pretty much everywhere in their wake. Once it gets to this point, the only thing left to do is a full crawl space restoration.
At New Leaf Pest Control in Vancouver, Washington, we offer all of these services and can take on the worst rodent infestations, but this is just a friendly word of advice. If you hear scratching in your walls and you think you might have an issue with rodents, be sure to address it quickly. If you need help with a rodent infestation or want to ask somebody a few questions, we are always happy to assist you.
Click on the link for more information on our frequently asked questions for rodent control.