Have you ever had someone excitedly say to you, “Hey, guess what! A whole bunch of rodents have moved in with us!” No? Why not? Could it be that no one in history has ever enjoyed having rodents invade their space? After all, they are creepy, dirty–and they steal food while you’re sleeping. But rodents, even if they are only outside your house, are not only a nuisance, they can pose some pretty serious dangers.

Rodents bring parasites and disease:

Rodents are foraging animals, and their travels bring them to places such as garbage dumps, trash cans, sewers, dumpsters and the like. This means they pick up all sorts of filth, harmful parasites and bacteria, as well as diseases. Do you really want these nasty creatures hanging out in your yard or inside your home?

Mice and rats can carry a whole host of parasites both on and inside their bodies. Some of these parasites are fleas, fur mites, lice, ticks and worms. The worst of these are fleas because fleas have the capacity to transmit the plague which, although relatively rare today, killed 25 million people in less than 5 years during the middle ages. And, even if it doesn’t kill you in these modern days, it is still no fun to have.

Rodents also carry some pretty scary diseases, some being fatal in extreme cases. A few of the diseases rodents can carry include hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, leptospirosis, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, plague (as mentioned), rat-bite fever, salmonellosis, and tularemia. Some can be contracted simply by breathing in dust that is contaminated by rodent urine or droppings. Others are contracted by eating food that is contaminated. And some require direct contact with a dead, infected, rodent carcass, or an actual bite from the infected animal.

Dangers rodents pose to your home:

When rodents such as mice, rats, or squirrels, make their way into your house, not only do they chew holes in the walls, they can cause all sorts of other problems. They leave their urine and droppings which can build up and cause a terrible odor, and they chew on everything in sight. Since they have teeth that never stop growing, they have to chew. They chew on insulation, walls, treasured keepsakes in your attic and wires. The worst of these is wires because there is a distinct possibility of fire risk if these rodents chew on live wires.

Dangers rodents pose to your car:

Did you know that hundreds of thousands of vehicles are damaged by rodents each and every year? It’s true. Mice will make nests under the hood and happily chew away at wires, creating all sorts of problems. One article in 2011 reported a vehicle that required over $3,000 in repairs because rodents chewed up the body harness. That’s some pretty serious cash to be shelling out!

If you are seeing rodents, or rodent signs, in or around your property, it is time to call in the professionals. It is possible to avoid the costly damages that rodents can cause by getting year-round pest control from Active Pest Control. With this convenient plan, not only will we take care of rodents on your property, but a whole host of other household pests as well.