Rodents are one of the most dangerous pests in Singapore. They carry fleas and diseases that can be detrimental to your and your family’s health. Apart from contaminating food, they can also damage your furniture by gnawing at them. So, before you experience the worst, early detection is key to preventing severe rodent infestation.
Signs of Rodent Infestation to Watch Out For
As small creatures, rats and mice are hard to spot. They like to hide in dark spaces and only come out when there’s food on sight. So, if you’re wondering how to identify a rat infestation at home, here are signs you need to watch out for.
Unpleasant odour
Mice are very dirty creatures that travel through sewers and rummage through trash cans for food supplies. To mark their territory or trace their way out, they urinate along their path. This urine emits a distinctly foul odour. When you smell something unpleasant, especially in the dark recesses of your home, there’s a high chance that rodents are hiding in your home.
Mice droppings
Besides urine, rodents also leave excrements along their path. This is another method they use to retrace their steps, mark their territory, or lead other rodents to their current destination. When you spot their droppings at home, avoid touching them. They are full of disease-causing bacteria that can transmit deadly viruses such as hantavirus.
Scratching or gnawing noises inside walls or ceilings
Mice and rats are agile creatures. Although stealthy and fast, they still make soft tapping noises or tiny squeaks when they move about. Generally, you’ll hear sounds near their nest, which tend to be behind the walls or on the ceiling.
Chew marks
Rodents use their teeth to gnaw through food wrappers, furniture, electrical wires, and wooden structures to grind their teeth and prevent them from growing. As such, gnaw marks, and small holes are clear signs of a rodent infestation.
Presence of holes on walls or other thin materials
Mice and rats also gnaw through walls and thin materials to use as entry and exit points into your home. Besides walls, you can expect to find holes on your floors and ceilings when you have a rat infestation.
Effective Methods to Eradicate Rodents at Home
After confirming that you have rats or mice at home, the next step is to eradicate them by following these effective pest control methods.
Use natural rat repellents
An effective rat and mice control method uses natural rat repellents to eliminate them from your property. Because rats are highly sensitive to smell, using potent scents that rats hate can repel them. These scents include mothballs, crushed chilli, garlic, coffee grounds, black pepper, and essential oils like eucalyptus, citronella, or peppermint.
You can even incorporate indoor plants like peppermint, euphorbias, camphor, or lavender at home to enhance the smell.
Remove food source
Rodents are drawn to homes with accessible food and water supply. So, the best way to discourage them is by removing food and water from their reach. This means cleaning crumbs and food spills from the floor, disposing of food wastes properly, and storing your food in sealed containers.
To limit water supply, you can fix dripping faucets, remove stagnant water at home, and repair moisture-causing issues like damaged roofs or broken air conditioners.
Seal holes found at home
Besides food and water, rats also need to find shelter. So, closing off any possible entry points is one way to keep rodents away. If you find cracks on the walls, gaps under the door, or openings on the ceiling, you need to act quickly to cover them up.
Contact Top Pest Control in Singapore
If the problem continues to persist, you need to contact professional pest control services Singapore. Hiring experts can remove pests such as rodents from your home. They are equipped with the proper tools to get the job done in the safest and most efficient way possible.
