Kitchen Maintenance: Keeping Rodents Out of Your Kitchener Home

The kitchen is the heart of the home. It is where families and friends gather to share meals, drinks, and laughs. The amount of activity that goes on in a kitchen, especially around food, is awfully enticing to rodents. Before you need rodent control in Kitchener, it is a good idea to adopt some healthy and helpful habits to reduce your rodent infestation risks. Rodents and other wildlife, including insects, need three things to survive: food, water, and shelter. Your house provides access to all three survival needs. Really, your kitchen offers access to all the essentials a mouse or rat could need. Discover four methods for keeping rodents out of your kitchen.

Rodent Control in Kitchener Kitchens

As a homeowner, you can protect your property against common neighbourhood pests. You do not need to resort to poisons or traps. You can use common, preventative tactics that don't risk your family's health. Discover the four things every homeowner can and should do to limit their risk of a mouse or rat infestation.

1. Sweep Daily

When families eat meals around a kitchen island or table, they can cause a bit of a mess. The mess may not even be perceptible. Some food crumbs are so minuscule that they disappear against the grain of the floor or into the cushions of the dining chairs. Even if you can't see the crumbs after a meal, a rodent can smell them, especially if they already live in your house. To limit access to food scraps after meals, families should get in the habit of sweeping and vacuuming after meals. If you don't want to perform the chore after every meal, you should do it at least once daily. Also, as rodent pest control near me, Truly Nolen suggests washing all dishes following every meal and wiping down the counters before sweeping. Cleaning and wiping down surfaces can help eliminate food remnants that may attract mice and rats to your house.

2. Keep Garbage Sealed

Keeping garbage sealed and out of the house is another way to prevent the need for rodent control in Kitchener. Open waste baskets inside do nothing to stop the odour from wafting through the house or protect the trash from tiny foragers seeking their next meal. All garbage cans in the house should have tight-fitting lids. You or another household member should remove all garbage inside the home at the end of each day, especially food waste. Outdoor trash cans should also have tight-fitting lids or critter guards. If possible, store exterior cans inside a locked garage or shed to increase security and limit access for pests.

3. Seal Exterior Entry Points

Houses can have many entry points for rodents, excluding the obvious windows and doors. Cracks in the foundation or access holes for plumbing and electricity can also act as highways to the indoors. While homeowners can use a caulk or sealer to seal all exterior entry points, they may miss several because they are not accustomed to looking for mouse-sized holes. A professional with Truly Nolen can ensure all access points are correctly sealed, ensuring no critters get trapped inside.

4. Don't Leave Food Out

Whether having a picnic with the family or leaving your dog out for the afternoon, many homeowners make the mistake of leaving food out unsupervised. Food is an attractant for pests. Leaving it out on a patio, in a kitchen, or in a dog food dish means giving access to potentially unwanted guests. Never leave food out. Always store it properly.

Truly Nolen: Rodent Control in Kitchener

Your kitchen is one of the most vulnerable spaces in your house regarding rodents and pests. By taking the proper steps and precautions listed above, you can prevent rodents from finding their way into your kitchen. However, if the problem persists, it’s important to reach out to a professional like Truly Nolen for help. Don’t let rodents interfere with the security of your home – contact us today to see how we can help protect you!