Why Are There So Many Rodents In Portland?
Similarly to people, mice and rats are attracted to the natural elements within urban areas and the wide-open spaces of rural areas in and around Portland. The mild climate in the Portland area likewise encourages rapid rodent reproduction. And furthermore, an expanding human population and ongoing development ensure a plentiful food supply and shelter for rodent pests.
Common Mice and Rats Around Portland
(Neotoma Cinerea)
(AKA Sewer Rat or Wharf Rat)
(Peromyscus Maniculatus)
Effective Rodent Control is Essential
- Rats and mice can contaminate your food supply and cause salmonella food poisoning.
- They spread serious illnesses and diseases including bubonic plague, leptospirosis, tularemia, and hantavirus.
- Rats and mice shred fibrous material (insulation, paper, cardboard) for nesting, which damages electrical and utility components (pipes and wires). These rodent activities cause risk of fire and property damage.
Deer Mice are the main spreaders of the Hantavirus. They nest in trees, fences, outdoor animal dens, and indoors in empty drawers, boxes, and clutter. An identifying feature is their two-toned tail.
House Mice spread Salmonella, tapeworms, and other diseases. Like Pocket Mice (also common in Oregon), house mice are small, cautious, and sneaky. They survive on human-provided food and shelter, readily contaminating whatever might be in your pantry.
Roof Rats are powerful jumpers and climbers. For this reason, they often nest up high, and enter their habitat from branches and cables. Black furred, they can reach over eighteen inches in length, and have a tail longer than their body.
Wharf Rats prefer to live amongst garbage or under concrete structures (i.e., sewers). Indoors they stick to dark, low traffic areas. Brown in color, they love to chew and can work their way through a material as hard as lead piping, causing significant damage to homes.
Woodrats are one of the dirtiest species of rats. They line their nests with urine and feces and easily spread disease. Several species of woodrat inhabit Oregon. Unlike most rats, some woodrats have furry tails.
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Signs of a Rat or Mouse Infestation
Mice and rats hide when they can, and they're mostly active at night. But you easily can identify these signs of an infestation:
- Rat or mouse droppings.
- Nests made of fibrous materials located in dark, out of the way places like drawers.
- Disrupted food, often sweets or dry goods, or food trails.
- Signs of chewing or scratching on pipes, wires, cables, wood, plastic, carpeting, paper, and cardboard.
- Scurrying or scratching under floors or in walls.
- A smell of musky ammonia from urine, often the first signal of a hidden infestation.
- Compressed plants or grass from continued travel outside.
- Seeing rats or mice, an indicator of heavy infestation.
The Croach® Approach to Portland Rodent Control
Croach® takes a three-step method to rodent control, as follows:
- Our technicians place properly sized traps along rodent travel routes, and ensure they're kept out of your family's way. Although initially part of active removal, traps ultimately become a last line of defense against the most daring of mice and rats.
- We locate bait stations around the exterior of your home to catch rodents before they get inside your property. Rest assured, these stations are baited with a certified one-time kill product that is not harmful to your pets.
- Using exclusion techniques, we seal rodent access points into your property in order to prevent re-infestation after rat extermination or mice extermination.
Prevention and Rodent Control Aftercare
These simple steps will help prevent future mice and rat infestation.
- Clean regularly and thoroughly.
- Replace cardboard boxes with metal or plastic, and store them off the floors and walls.
- Seal entry points in the roof and walls. Repair or replace the damaged insulation.
- Avoid feeding birds during initial treatments. If you must, use feed with no husks or shells.
- Replace containers of human food and pet food with lidded glass, metal, or heavy plastic.
- Remove debris and unnecessary plants and plant matter from the yard.
- Trim back branches in contact with your house.
- Store trash in heavy plastic or metal bins, and secure the lids.
- Get professional ongoing rodent control treatment.
- Treatment in the entire neighborhood removes hiding places and prevents return. Refer your neighbors for Portland mouse control.
