Why You Shouldn’t Try to Treat Rodent Infestations Alone

Rodents are extremely difficult to keep out of the home and if they infiltrate your home, rodents are very hard to detect. Even when you discover the presence of rodents in your home, getting rid of them is not easy. The reason they are awfully hard to eliminate is that rodents are good at concealing themselves and are highly adaptive.

At the same time, a rodent problem that is allowed to fester will only get worse as the creatures do more damage. If they are not removed, rodents will multiply to the point where they drive out the human occupants of the home. Letting rodents live in your home can expose you and your family to threats on several fronts, warns Pro X Property.

Why You Shouldn’t Try to Treat Rodent Infestations Alone

With rodents in your house, expect the following:

• Massive food wastage and contamination: Rodents consume an incredible amount of food. But they will contaminate far more food than they eat by leaving bacteria, urine, and fecal matter on food that they walk over. Rodents will destroy food containers and spill their contents or make them go bad.
• Property damage: They will damage the materials in your home by chewing on them. Rodents will destroy stored paper, fabrics, electrical wires, plastic pipes, wood items, insulation, and drywall. They will get into appliances and cause malfunction. Rodents are a safety risk and financial drain.
• Exposure to diseases and germs: Eating food contaminated with rodent urine, feces, and saliva will expose you to illness. Rodents also carry dangerous diseases which they can transmit to humans. A bite by a rodent may cause illness or even death in the victim.
• Discomfort and embarrassment: Rodents will foul up the home with their waste and presence. They will damage the aesthetics of the home. Rodents will frighten and embarrass you and your guests. Their noise can keep you up at night.

If you have found rodents in your home, you should attack the problem at once. But the solutions you use must be speedy and comprehensive. Applying ineffective or half-hearted measures will only make the problem worse.

If you have found rodents in your home, you should attack the problem at once. But the solutions
you use must be speedy and comprehensive. Applying ineffective or half-hearted measures will
only make the problem worse.

This is why you should never deal with a rodent infestation by yourself. With every failed
attempt to remove rodents from your home, the cost, and effort of fixing the problem increases.
The reasons for this are explained below:

Why treating rodent infestation on your own is a bad idea

First, rodents are not the main problem. Yes, rodents are a problem but there are other things that make rodent presence in the home possible. These are:

• Rodent entry points
  Most homeowners have no clue how rodents get into their homes. Even when they see possible points of entry, they don’t think the openings are large enough to let the creatures in. An exterminator, on the other hand, knows where to look for entry points and how to seal them.
• Rodent food sources
  Rodents can’t survive unless they have access to food and water. Homeowners are often unintentionally feeding the very creatures they are trying to get rid of. A professional exterminator implements a comprehensive solution that gets rid of potential food sources.
• The condition of the home’s exterior
  The home’s exterior can help to sustain the rodent population inside the home. If the outdoor areas offer favorable conditions for rodent survival, the problem may not be solved. Professional exterminators will take these into considerations when taking action.

The second reason it is a bad idea to tackle rodent infestation of your home by yourself is you may underestimate the rodents in your home. How is this important?

• Rodents are very smart
  Rodents are mammals. Like other mammals such as dolphins and dogs, they are very intelligent. If you try to eliminate a rodent with a specific method and fail, the method will never work with that rodent again. Furthermore, the rodents will teach their offspring to avoid whatever method you used.
• Homeowners don’t study rodent behavior
  Rodents are always watching you; that’s why they are able to get about undetected. They understand your habits, but you don’t know their habits. To deal with rodents effectively, you should know their numbers, life stages (do they have babies), and habits. Professional exterminators study the animals to get this information before they choose the best solution. 
• Trap selection and placement is not so straightforward
  Rodents will take baits out of a trap without setting off the trap. Professional exterminators know how to counter this. Homeowners mostly use rodenticides, but these pose a danger to small children and pets. Professional exterminators have diverse solutions including capturing the creatures and releasing them into the wild.
• Rodent extermination is not a one-off exercise
  After rodent extermination is done by an exterminator, they will follow up with visits to the home to make sure no rodents are left. Homeowners don’t do this and the baby rodents which escaped simply grow up and repopulate the home.

Finally, when you use a professional exterminator, you can avoid such unpleasant outcomes as a poisoned rat dying inside the walls and fouling up your home.