If you find evidence of rats or mice living in your home, you probably don’t need to be persuaded of the need for rodent pest control. Instead, your dilemma may be whether to call professional pest control in Toronto or attempt to handle the problem yourself. Unfortunately, the very qualities that make rodents such a nuisance are also those that make them difficult to remove by yourself. Do-it-yourself methods are unlikely to be effective, which is why you need to call for professional rat removal. 

1. Prodigious Breeding

Rats and mice are prey animals with limited lifespans. They make up for this by reproducing multiple times a year and giving birth to large litters. In one year, a single breeding couple can produce up to 200 babies. Not only that, but once the babies are about a month or two old, they are mature enough to start breeding themselves. 

In the wild, predators feed on the rodents, which helps to keep the population in check. However, mice and rats in human homes are afforded some protection from predators, meaning that the population can get out of control quickly. Therefore, DIY pest control tends to be ineffective because, with so many rodents in the home, typically hiding in inaccessible places, it is difficult to find them all. 

2. Agility

Because of their small size, rats and mice can get around without calling much attention to themselves. It helps that they are usually only active at night when most people are sleeping. However, it is their flexibility and agility in addition to their small size that gives them the ability to hide in places that seem like they should be inaccessible. Their skeletons are jointed in such a way that they can bend their bodies and compress them to fit into very tiny openings. An opening only has to be large enough for the skull to fit through for rats and mice to be able to enter a home, and mice and rats have fairly small skulls. Therefore, even if you were able to find all the rodents infesting your home, it would be difficult to catch them as they can hide in spaces that are beyond your reach. 

3. Adaptability

Rats and mice are not demanding or high maintenance. Their requirements are relatively simple: They need shelter, water, and food. Mice and rats are omnivorous, meaning that finding food is not much of a problem because they can eat almost anything. This includes things that they are most likely to find outside, such as bark, twigs, and garden vegetables; things that they almost certainly will only find indoors, such as soap, worn clothes, and leather; and things that they could find in either environment, such as fish, berries, and nuts.

If food is scarce, it is not necessarily a hardship for them as they can survive for long periods eating relatively little food. They don’t have any qualms about eating out of the garbage as long as it provides the sustenance they need to survive. 

Another way that rats and mice can adapt to your home is by building resistance to poisons often used in DIY rodent pest control. At one time, these toxic materials were adequate to kill rodents, but prolonged exposure has resulted in immunity. The rats and mice of today are more likely to take the bait without suffering any ill effects. 

Whom Should You Call for Pest Control in Toronto?

Rats and mice are persistent. Once they find a good shelter, they keep coming back. Truly Nolen’s Four Seasons program tailors control methods based on pests’ seasonal behaviour patterns. Call us for help no matter the time of year and have confidence that our effective exclusion methods will keep them from coming back.