5 Tips on Preventing Rodents in the Kitchen
Who’d want to chase a rat out of their kitchen while they run around all over the space? Rodents need food, water, and shelter to survive and thrive, and your kitchen is the all-in-one place for these. While you can't keep the food and water out of your kitchen, you can make an effort to prevent rodents from entering it. You should because rodents are known to spread fatal diseases, contaminate the area, and cause electrical damage. But, all is not lost when there are several ways to keep your kitchen rodent-free.
1. Prevent Their Entry
Firstly, stop letting them get in before you exterminate the ones already residing in the kitchen. You can't keep your kitchen rodent-free if more of them keep invading. Before exterminating the suckers, find all possible entry points and seal them shut. A rodent can move through a hole having a diameter of about a quarter of an inch. Look for such holes all across your house, especially in dark areas. You can use cement, plaster, caulk, or hardware cloth to close them. The best sealing agent is steel wool. Use a pencil or any sharp object to poke it deep into the hole, completely shutting it. Avoid using wooden material since rodents will have no problem gnawing a hole in it. Make sure none of the windows and doors leave behind any spaces or gaps when closed.
2. Exposed Food
The smell of food is what primarily attracts rodents to invade your kitchen. For this purpose, buy several airtight canisters and containers for storing any leftover food. Ideally, keep limited items in your pantry and store the rest in your refrigerator in the summers. If you own a pet, keep their food covered, especially at night, because rodents are shy animals and normally search for food when there is no hustle and bustle. Once you keep every food item safe and far away from their reach, they will start to starve and will decide to abandon your kitchen for someone else's.
3. Clean Your Shelves and Dishes
Rodents love to feed on small crumbles on the shelves and dishes. It’s tiring to keep the kitchen spotless, but getting rid of rodents is more hassle, so don't take the risk and keep them as far away as possible. Use an all-purpose kitchen cleaner that keeps your shelves spick and span and keeps the germs at bay. Furthermore, a cluttered kitchen can make it harder to spot these rodents, declutter your kitchen to decrease the number of hiding spots.
4. Use Traps
The best way to get rid of the rodents lurking in your kitchen is the use of traps. Traditionally, killing traps were used that kill the rodents upon contact. But, for some people, this idea or method is too extreme. A "humane trap" has been introduced, which only traps the rodents and prevents them from escaping instead of killing them. Once they're stuck in the humane trap, don't release them near your home, or they might make their way back into your kitchen.
5. Rodent-Repellents
Just like the sense of smell, the hearing sense of rodents is way better than that of humans, but you can use this to your advantage. You can use high-frequency sounds that you won't be able to hear, to drive off and repel the rodents from your kitchen. Certain mobile applications on the App Store release ultrasound waves that scare off rodents. Deterrents are devices that also emit such sounds which are inaudible for humans but are an effective rodent-repeller. Rodents, especially mice, really hate the smell of peppermint. A mixture of peppermint, vinegar, and water is excellent at keeping mice as far away as possible.
Final Take
With these tips, you'll eliminate the rodents from your kitchen and prevent new ones from coming in. However, contact a professional pest control company in the case of severe infestation to avoid putting the health and safety of your loved ones at risk.
