How To Get Rid Of Rodents In Jacksonville Without Breaking The Bank

Mice and rats in Florida won’t just be a health hazard or a destructive force on your property – they can also wreak havoc on your wallet. For many homeowners, rodent control can feel stressful (and expensive), but it doesn’t always have to break the bank. Not when you’ve got Trad’s Pest Control in your corner.

Here’s what Jacksonville homeowners should know about the types of rodent control, how electronic rodent control works, whether professional rodent control is expensive, and how pest control in Jacksonville can help.

What Kinds Of Rodent Control Are There?

There are several different types of rodent control you can use in your Jacksonville home, such as:

The benefit of using professional pest control is that it often includes a satisfaction guarantee. With home remedies or DIY rodent control, there’s no guarantee that these tactics will keep rodents away permanently – or even eliminate the infestation at all.

When you use professional rodent control, you don’t have to worry about rodents returning. If they make a return appearance, you’ll be able to use the satisfaction guarantee to call in the pros – usually free of charge.

You’ll also get a customized treatment plan based on the size and type of your infestation. Professionals will be able to discern which treatments will work (and which won’t), so there’s no need for homeowners to guess.

DIY Rodent Control

Unfortunately, some homeowners learn the hard way that rodents aren’t easily bested, especially by DIY solutions and home remedies. However, this is usually the first way that homeowners try to solve rodent infestations. Here are some of the most common DIY tactics that people use on tiny rodents:

• Mouse and rat traps: One of the most popular rodent control tactics is trapping, but this solution isn’t as effective as it may seem. To even catch rodents, these traps need to be placed correctly. For instance, traps that are placed near the center of the room are unlikely to work since rodents prefer to stick near the walls. And if your smell is too prominent on the trap, rodents may avoid it altogether. Even if you’re able to catch one or two rodents with your traps, the remaining rodents may realize you’re trapping them and stop interacting with these devices.
• Ultrasonic rodent repellers: Ultrasonic rodent repellers emit a frequency that’s meant to be disruptive to rodents like mice and rats. While this method may seem to work when you first implement it, most of the results are only temporary. You may see a decrease in rodent activity at first, but it’s unlikely that the mice or rats in your home have actually left. Rodents are clever, and if they figure out where you’ve placed the ultrasonic rodent repellers, they may just find an alternate pathway to access food and water.
• Mothballs: Ever heard of putting mothballs near rodent holes? Mothballs contain naphthalene, which can serve as a deterrent for moths and other small insects. However, there’s not enough naphthalene in mothballs to truly affect rodents. The number of mothballs you’d need to repel or harm rodents would have to be large enough to also harm humans or pets in your home, so this isn’t a safe solution for rodent removal.
• Peppermint oil: If you’ve ever taken a whiff of peppermint or peppermint oil, then you know this oil has a strong scent, but is it enough to repel rodents? Homeowners may dab peppermint oil on cotton balls and place them near rodent holes to deter mice and rats, but this isn’t an effective solution. Peppermint oil may be strong, but there’s no evidence to suggest that it can harm or deter rodents. Even if the rodents decide they don’t like the stench, they’re more likely to just find a new hiding place in your home than they are to completely leave.

DIY treatments may temporarily reduce rodent populations but they are seldom a permanent solution.

Rodenticides

As their name suggests, rodenticides are chemicals and poisons used to eliminate rodents in Florida. Because they can be toxic and need to be used carefully, these chemicals aren’t usually used in small or new infestations. If you think the infestation is severe enough to warrant rodenticides, you should call the pros in for treatment.

You can place rodenticides in bait stations, and when rodents eat the poisoned bait, they’ll die. The problem with using rodenticides is that they won’t just harm rodents – they can harm any animal or pet that tries to eat the bait.

Live Traps

Live traps will trap mice or rodents without killing them. This is different from regular mouse traps. While this may be a more humane way to deal with rodents, the downside is that you may have to interact with a disease-ridden animal.

Many rodents, including rats and mice, can carry diseases or parasites. They may also lash out if you get too close, which can make dealing with them dangerous.

The other problem with live traps is that they have the same problem as regular mouse and rat traps. You have to place live traps in exactly the right places (and use a lot more than you might assume you need) to actually root out the infestation.

And, as clever as rodents can be, there’s a chance they may catch on and just start avoiding your live traps entirely – regardless of what kind of tasty bait you use.

Does Electronic Rodent Control Work?

The most common form of electronic rodent control is ultrasonic rodent repellers. As mentioned above, these repellers may work temporarily but not permanently. Homeowners may assume that the repellers work when they don’t see rodents hanging around for a while, but that doesn’t mean they’ve completely left your home.

The sound may scare rodents away from a specific area, but they’ll eventually just learn new routes around your home. If there’s a rodent infestation already embedded into your home, it’s unlikely that these repellers will drive them out.

Rodents are clever enough to reroute or find new hideouts, so you shouldn’t rely on electronic rodent control as a primary tactic. You can use ultrasonic rodent repellers in combination with other types of rodent control, but it will always be more effective if you’re also consulting with the pros.

Is Professional Rodent Control Expensive?

It’s a common misconception that professional rodent control will break the bank, which is why so many homeowners may try to use DIY tactics first. Although pricing can vary from company to company, professional rodent control is more affordable than you might think.

Remember that professional rodent control includes more than just treatment – when you use a professional service, you’ll also be getting an inspection, effective treatments, exclusion, and follow-up visits.

And if you go with a pest control company with a satisfaction guarantee, you won’t have to worry about the cost of rodents returning either. You can’t say the same for DIY methods. If rodents end up returning to your home, you’ll be spending the same time and money – again.

So, while professional rodent control may seem costly, it’s usually not more pricey than what homeowners spend on DIY methods to get rid of rodents.

There Are Rodents In My Home! Can Trad’s Pest Control Help?

So, you know or suspect you’ve got a rodent infestation. What now? Rather than waste your time and money on DIY rodent control or home remedies, you’re better off using professional and effective pest control to get rid of all rodents. That’s where Trad’s Pest Control can help.

Rodents are extremely opportunistic pests, and they’ll take any chance to get inside your Jacksonville home. As dangerous as they can be, the safest way to rid your home of rodents is with professional help from Trad’s Pest Control.

Our specialists have the reliable, effective treatments and solutions you need to get rodents out of your home. Our job won’t be done until these pests have left for good. If you think you may have a rodent infestation, there’s only one thing to do – call us today at Trad’s Pest Control to hear more about our rodent control services or to schedule an inspection of your home.