The 3 Common Rodents Most Likely To Invade Your Home
Rodents have the ability to invade most homes in suburban Virginia and Maryland. As a homeowner, it can be shocking to find rodents like mice and rats in the home. Unfortunately, these pests can squeeze through the smallest cracks and invade your most private spaces.
The three rodents that are most likely to invade your home are the common house mouse, the Norway rat, and the roof rat. Here is more on these pests.
The Common House Mouse
This is the most encountered rodent in many homes. Common house mice are dusty gray with cream-colored bellies. They have a round-shaped body with four legs. They mostly eat cereals and seeds, but you will also find them eating nuts, insects, and fruits.
They have short hair and some, but not all, subspecies have light bellies. The ears and tail have little hair. The hind feet are short, only 15-19 mm (9⁄16-3⁄4 in) long; the normal gait is run with a stride of about 4.5 cm (1+3⁄4 in), though they can jump vertically up to 45 cm (18 in). The tail, which is used for balance, has only a thin covering of hair as it is the main peripheral organ of heat loss in thermoregulation along with the hairless parts of the paws and ears. Tail length varies according to the environmental temperature of the mouse during postnatal development, so mice living in colder regions tend to have shorter tails. The tail is also used for balance when the mouse is climbing or running. Read more from Animalia…
The scary thing about these mice is how fast they breed. This means you could find yourself dealing with a serious infestation and a house full of rodents in a short period of time. Do not hesitate to call Backyard Bug Patrol at the first sight of one.
Roof Rats
Roof rats are mostly brown or black with long tails, large ears and eyes and pointed noses. They are food hoarders and will mostly stash food such as nuts and seeds. They are sometimes called fruit rats as they eat a good amount of fruit.
The roof rat, sometimes called the black rat, is a common vertebrate pest in citrus and nut orchards. In citrus, it builds leaf and twig nests in trees or it can nest in debris piles, thick mulch on the ground, or in shallow burrows under the tree, especially in hot weather. In nut orchards, roof rats often nest around the base of trees. In livestock feed yards and barns, roof rats often burrow under feed bunks or into hay bales. This agile, sleek rat has a pointed muzzle and tail that is longer than the body and head combined.
Be sure to identify the species of rat present to avoid killing non target or protected species. Read more from UC IPM…
These creatures enjoy eating fresh fruit, plants, nuts, seeds, veggies, tree bark, and even bird feed in addition to meat and grain. Another thing about them is that they are great climbers and highly adaptable, which is why they may prefer to live in attics or in your roof structure, as their name suggests.
Norway (Brown) Rats
They are brown with scattered black hairs and a gray-to-yellow-white belly. They have a heavy body with small eyes and ears. They can grow to anywhere between 10-12 inches long, including their tail. They prefer eating grains, nuts, fruits, and even dead animals.
The brown rat prefers to live almost anywhere humans are. Rats are foragers that can survive on a huge range of foods, which has helped them spread so successfully across the world. Humans often dislike rats, but rats present a variety of benefits to their ecosystems as predator and prey, are popular pets and have contributed to advances in the fields of genetics, cognitive research, physiology, epidemiology and pathology.
Short, dense fur covers their bodies except for the nose, tail and ears, which are bald. Their natural colors range from gray to brown, often with lighter coloring on the underside. Members of this species have been bred as pets to be white, black or brown. Read more from Smithsonian’s National Zoo…
Norway rats mostly live in underground burrows that are close to sources of water. You might also find them beneath garbage piles, around gardens, and in your basements.
Rodents can invade your home and multiply in no time and are very destructive to your home, property, and even your food. Backyard Bug Patrol is well-equipped to help manage rodents and other similar pests in your Loudoun County, VA home. Call us today for safe and effective rodent control services.