Rats and Mice
Rats and mice are commensal rodents.
The word commensal means the " sharing of
one's table."
This is an appropriate term as rats and mice
have been " sharing" people's food and shelter for many
years.
The word rodent means
" to gnaw" and like all rodents, rats and mice possess chisel-like incisor
teeth
which grow continuously throughout their lives.
These incisors are kept filed down and sharp by the
constant grinding of the teeth
against each other, and also by the rodents constantly gnawing of food
and various other objects
The Norway rat, Roof rat and The House mouse
are the most persistent rodent populations
in need of
control since
they are the most widely occurring species and, therefore,
the most destructive in terms
of the amount of money lost
because of damaged food items,
structural damage resulting from their
annoying habit of gnawing, and having to
hire a pest control company to rid your residence and/or
business of these furry rodents.
Rats and mice attack our food in farm fields,
orchards, and livestock facilities and during
processing,
storage and transporting of those food
items. They attack our food on supermarkets,
restaurants and
homes and what they
don't eat, they spoil and contaminate with urine, feces, and fur.
The loss of food
to rodents on a worldwide scale, is astounding.
It is estimated that rats and mice will
destroy enough food in one year to feed 200 million
people. That is why it is so important
to rodent
proof residences, offices, food warehouses and
other building which house food items. It
is also highly
recommended that a rodent pest control program
be set up so that you are protected from these
clever
varmints. A few minutes spent visiting
with a pest control professional can be invaluable in preventing
an infestation. You will learn how to store
food so that it is not easily accessible to rodents and how to
look for places on the outside of your home that
will allow rodents entry and how to patch
and eliminate
these entryways.
Rodents are not only economic pests but health
pests as well. They are responsible
for the spread
of numerous diseases
to both people and animals including Plague,
Murine Typhus, Rickettsial pox,
Salmonellosis, Rat-biteFever and Weils disease
( or leptospirosis).
Below are links to the three main rat and mouse
rodent pests, as well as links to other
important
subjects which are of concern not only to the
average citizen but to the pest control professional,
as well.
. NORWAY RAT
. ROOF RAT
. HOUSE MOUSE
. INSPECTIONS
. SANITATION
. RODENT PROOFING
. POPULATION
REDUCTION