You love and care for animals, and you also want a rodent-free home. This does not have to come at the expense of wildlife, the environment or put your pets at risk!
The most effective and humane way to solve rodent problems is prevention. Prevention minimizes the use of harmful control methods like rodenticides and glue traps and keeps your household safe by limiting exposure to rodents in the first place!
Rodenticides and glue traps cause rodents to suffer slow and painful deaths. They also risk the lives of other animals, including your pets! Predators, like owls, that feed on rodents can suffer from secondary rodenticide poisoning. Other animals, such as squirrels, birds, and even pets, can eat poisoned bait by mistake or get caught in a glue trap and suffer the same slow and painful death.
Prevention tackles the root problem and makes your home less attractive to rodents. You can break the cycle of temporary fixes and returning unwelcomed guests.
4 simple steps to prevent rodents from moving in:
Step 1 – Remove attractants
Rodents are drawn to areas with accessible food and shelter (i.e. places to fill up and chill!). Make your home less attractive to mice and rats by removing as many of these attractants as possible.
Around the exterior of buildings, remove items that are stacked close to the building foundation. Trim and thin out plantings, remove debris and consider eliminating some plants to make a gap the size of a person around the perimeter of the building. Don’t provide convenient hiding spots close to your house!
In your yard, laneway, carport or balcony, secure garbage and compost, keep people and pet food indoors, and clean up any fallen fruit or spilled bird seed. This will help ensure you don’t accidentally feed rodents and other species of wildlife like squirrels, skunks and raccoons.
If rodents have already entered your home, minimize attractants inside. Keep food inside glass, metal or plastic containers, in secure drawers or cupboards, or in the fridge. Pet food can be a big attractant for rodents and you may need to reconsider where and how to feed your furry family members. Store food waste in secure bins or the freezer until it is time for your green waste pick up.
Step 2 – Locate entry points
Take a walk around the exterior of your home or examine your balcony if in an apartment. Scan up to the roofline as rodents are excellent climbers. Can you see any gaps, open vents, or other potential points of access? Remember, mice can enter a home through holes the size of a dime!
Next, examine the interior of your home, searching for gaps that rodents might enter through. Pull out large appliances from the wall, move boxes and furniture away from walls and open cupboards. Carefully examine where pipes or wires come through drywall as this is a common point of entry. Look for holes, rodent droppings (small rice size is a mouse, almond size is a rat), and any signs of gnawed wood, wire or insulation. You may need a flashlight to thoroughly examine each room.
Step 3 – Exclude and repair
To rodent-proof, you will need to close off all points of access that you have identified. Use rodent exclusion materials like heavy or 16-gauge wire mesh with 1 cm x 1cm gap size to cover holes, metal mesh filler to stuff into holes around pipes, and expanding foam sealant to spray overtop of metal mesh and to fill other gaps and cracks. Seal all potential entry holes or gaps in walls, foundations, sheds, crawl spaces and under porches. If needed, consider installing rodent-proof door sweeps to remove access through spaces underneath doors. Note that weather stripping is not the same as a rodent-proof door sweep that forms a tight seal and is filled with rodent-proof metal mesh. Use vent covers where needed.
If the work is extensive and involves a lot of ladder climbing, it may be best to hire a rodent-proofing professional. Find AnimalKind companies recommended by the BC SPCA.
Step 4 – Maintain, maintain, maintain!
Rodents have large, strong front teeth built for gnawing that can chew through almost anything (including metal!). That’s why the last step in keeping your home rodent-proof is to regularly check for signs of renewed rodent activity and make repairs promptly.
Download our checklist to help rodent-proof your home. It also includes questions to ask any pest control company you are considering hiring for the job.
Download our rodent-proofing checklist
When you rodent-proof your home, you are using the most effective techniques for managing rodent problems and preventing animal suffering and the use of harmful control methods.
Remember, there are animal-friendly ways to deal with rodent problems that do not cause harm to animals or damage to the environment.
What if I already have a rodent problem?
If you are dealing with rodents, an AnimalKind-accredited company can help you use the most animal-friendly methods. If you are choosing a different company, make sure you use the questions in the guide & checklist (PDF).
Be informed, be choosy, ask questions, and help keep animals safe!
I want to do more!
Rodenticide poisons have been the default strategy to manage rodent problems – thankfully both the risks of poisons and the effectiveness of alternatives are increasingly being recognized. In 2023, certain second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) were banned for sale and use in residential and non-essential commercial settings in B.C. This policy change is a big step forward for animal welfare, but there are still a few gaps in these regulations. Learn more about rodenticides and what you can do to help keep animals safe in your municipality.
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