As if waking up in the middle of the night to squeaking and scuttling in your walls isn’t unsettling enough, rodents can actually pose legitimate risks to your health.
With an estimated 30% of American homes infested with rodents, rodent proofing your home can assist in keeping you out of this growing statistic.
Biological Risks of Rodents
There are many ways rodents can bring disease into your home, including through bites, feces or urine. Often rodents are hosts to parasites that carry disease. Some commonly reported diseases include:
• The Hantavirus – transmitted through air and dust which has been in contact with rodent feces or urine.
• Lyme Disease – typically comes from fleas and ticks which enter your home by hitching a ride on rodents first.
• Bubonic Plague – comes from infected rodents or fleas and ticks. Additionally, if you are renovating your home, dead mice may complicate the process enormously. Even if mice are long dead, fleas might have survived. These are guests you don’t want to invite into your home as they can be just as difficult as rodents to eliminate.
You will also need to ensure you are extremely careful with the enormous amount of dust created from drywall, as rodent urine and feces can turn dust into a real health hazard.
Risk of Fire
Rodents love chewing on electrical cables. Unfortunately, sufficiently damaged cables can cause fires within your walls, quickly engulfing your home in flames. Many sources claim anywhere between 8%-20% of house fires from the last 10 years were caused by rodents.
Often, you may not even notice anything wrong with your electricity until a fire happens.
How to Protect Yourself
It’s much easier to perform rodent proofing than rodent removal! Attics are a dream-home for mice with lots of pillowy and warm insulation to make a home undisturbed by humans. If you recently removed a rodent infestation, it may be a good idea to follow up with rodent proofing your home.
An experienced professional can make a difference. Attic Projects has years of experience learning rodent behavior. We can quickly identify rodents’ points of entry and discretely seal your home.
If you are looking for rodent solutions, visit our website or contact us directly.
