Top 6 Reasons the Beaverton, Oregon Area has Mice and Rats

#1) Backyard Gardens and Chicken Coops

Beaverton is one of the few urban cities that allows you to keep chickens on your property. Plus, plenty of our Beaverton neighbors grow glorious backyard gardens near their coops.

While participating in these relaxing activities, remember that rats enjoy both garden vegetables and chicken feed. So, some preventable measures are in order.

If you keep a compost pile, put it in a lockable bin. Put away your chicken feed at night to help discourage mice and rats, and consider growing your vegetables in a garden box or using netting to protect them.

#2) Mice and Rats in Aging Buildings

We have many buildings dating back to the late 1800s, but even homes from the 1920s are now over a century old. As these properties age, they develop more cracks and crevices for mice and rats to squeeze into.

While routine maintenance will do its best to seal those cracks, often, they're a bit more than most can keep up with. Ask the Beaverton Croach® Pest Control team about rodent control services, which include pest exclusion.

#3) New Buildings Attract Mice and Rats

Yep, with rats, sometimes, you just can't win. Even new construction is susceptible to these pests. New construction both stirs up local rodent populations and gives them more hiding places. 

As local populations get stirred up, they also meet new breeding partners. Rodents breed quickly, so more recent housing developments and home renovations can lead to a short-term population explosion.

#4) All the Hot New Restaurants

Beaverton is a foodie city, and most people like it that way. But all the restaurants we have carry a cost. The cost is more dumpsters full of tasty half-eaten food, creating a prime scavenging ground for mice and rats.

If you go out, clear your plate or take your food home if you don't want the rats to get a fair portion of a pricy dish.

#5) An Aging Sewer Infrastructure

About ⅓ of Beaverton’s sewer pipes are more than 50 years old. Rats and sewers already go together like peanut butter and jelly, but older infrastructure gives them even more opportunities. As pipes break down or joints get faulty, rats find more safe sewer spots to nest in.

On one hand, that keeps the bulk of them underground. On the other, mice and rats can easily follow the great sewer superhighway right up through your toilet and into your house. It's nightmare fuel and, unfortunately, something Beaverton homeowners have had to deal with in the past.

#6) A Growing Population

Beaverton’s population is the sixth largest in the state of Oregon. While the most recent news reports suggest the population is starting to decline again, the truth is that 97,494 people live here as of the 2020 census.

Rats are just a natural consequence when you get that many people together. You might say it's the literal "nature of the beast."