Rodent Control & Removal Service

Rats are members of the rodent family and the genus Rattus. Currently, there are more than 60 species of rats around the world, and the most common is the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), also known as the Norway rat.

These rats were introduced to Eastern Europe via Chinese trading ships in the early 1700s. During the 1800s, they made their way to the US and can now be found on every continent except Antarctica.

The rat is a close cousin to other rodents, such as gophers, squirrels, and mice. Female rats are called does, males are called bucks, and baby rats are called pups. A group of rats is called a mischief.

Rats are common in the natural world, but they can also make their way indoors and wreak havoc for home- and business owners.

When they do, it’s critical to get rid of them as quickly as possible to prevent a full-blown infestation.

Rats reach breeding age by about 3-5 months of age. Females build nests in secluded places like behind walls or in the clutter in crawl spaces or attics. They give birth to 4-7 litters each year, each with up to one dozen young.

Adult rats live about 9-12 months (and occasionally as long as two years) in the wild. In urban environments, rats live in sewers, garbage dumps, basements, open fields, and anywhere else they can find food and shelter.

Whether they live indoors or outdoors, rats are mainly nocturnal. Rats dig burrows or build nests and forage for food. Their diets are diverse, consisting of discarded human food scraps, mice, birds, small lizards, insects, seeds, grains, fruit, nuts, and more.

Like other rodents, rats are highly vocal creatures, using vocal cues like squeaks and chirps to communicate.

They have excellent senses of hearing and smell. They are highly sensitive to tactile communication, able to sense minute vibrations in the ground and feel their way through pitch-black environments with their whiskers and paws.

Rats are easy to identify because they are larger than mice and can be distinguished by their unique features.

In California, common species of rats grow to be more than 15 inches long (from nose to tail) but vary in color and behavior. Norway rats, for example, are reddish-brown with gray undersides.

Roof rats, meanwhile, are black with grayish-white undersides. They are adept climbers and are likely to be found in higher areas. Unlike Norway rats, they are poor swimmers.

All rats have disproportionately long feet, prominent hairless ears, oversized heads, and long, scaly tails.

The reason rats are so challenging to get rid of is that they can live virtually anywhere. Wherever humans exist, rats are likely to follow. Additionally, rats are curious, cautious creatures.

We can’t control rats by trying to appeal to their appetites or assuming they’re looking for food. Because they’re such versatile eaters, rats usually have more than enough food.

The only effective way to control rats is to understand their curiosity, obsessive habits, and dislike of anything new.

Here’s an example:

Because rats follow scent trails everywhere, traps don’t usually work for the first few weeks.

This makes sense: if we put something new in a rat’s environment and it doesn’t smell like rats have been in or on it before, rats just go around it, avoiding the trap for days or weeks.

For traps to work, we must leave them for a long time. We may even need to use rat scent to make them effective.

If you’re trying to get rid of rats, be patient and seek professional rat control services. That’s the most streamlined way to get rid of these rodents and reclaim your space as quickly as possible.

Minor infestations may be resolved within a week, while larger colonies can take several weeks to eliminate completely.

Long-term success also depends on sealing entry points and removing food sources.

They can if the property isn’t secured. That’s why we combine extermination with exclusion and prevention to ensure they don’t return.

Rats carry diseases and, therefore, should be considered dangerous. They can transmit diseases like hantavirus, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, and rat-bite fever, among others. It is best to avoid contact with rats, their droppings, and their urine to prevent health and safety risks.

Rats that get into a home or business can also cause extensive property damage. Thanks to their strong, prominent teeth, rats can chew through almost anything, from wood to drywall to plastic.

Rats will gnaw insulation to create burrows, chew holes through walls, and destroy the insulation around electrical wires, creating a serious fire hazard. Rats will also consume stored human and pet food and contaminate dry food with droppings and urine.

Outside, rats can destroy newly-planted crops in gardens, burrow into landscaping, and consume fruits, vegetables, crops, and seeds.

Rats are nocturnal and rarely seen during daylight hours. If rats appear during the day, it could be an indication that their numbers are significant. Common signs of a rat infestation include:

• Feces and urine
• Scurrying and scratching sounds
• Gnaw marks on wood, plastic, and other hard surfaces
• Nests inside structures, outside structures, and even in trees or other landscaping.
• Oily rub marks in areas where rats travel

Common complaints from Smith’s service area residents include rats in their chicken coop during the daytime, gardeners who have noticed rat activity, and signs of rat infestations, like chewed wires.

To prevent rats from infesting your space, good sanitation is essential, as is making your property less attractive to these destructive pests.

• Here are a few rat prevention tips we recommend:
• Keep trash cans tightly covered
• Remove crates and boxes from loading docks and from around dumpsters
• Pick up and remove ripened fruit and vegetables from gardens
• Eliminate water sources
• Seal cracks, gaps, and openings that rats could squeeze through (rats can fit through holes the size of quarters)
• Remove food sources like bird feeders and keep pet food sealed in rat-proof containers
• Keep trees, shrubs, and hedges trimmed back at least 3’ from your home
• Use store-bought rodent repellents to deter rats from entering your home or business

Mice are small rodents belonging to the family Muridae, the largest of all mammalian families on earth.

Mice are found on every continent except Antarctica. They are adaptable and remarkably good at living alongside humans without being noticed.

In the wild, they serve an important role in the food chain, feeding hawks, owls, foxes, and snakes.

Inside your home, they are breeding fast, hard to detect, and capable of causing major damage to your property and your health.

Mice are nocturnal. They do their foraging, gnawing, and nesting while you sleep, which is exactly why most homeowners do not realize they have a problem until it has already grown.

If you spot one mouse, there are almost certainly more you have not seen yet.

Mice are opportunistic omnivores. They eat seeds, grains, fruit, insects, and almost anything edible they find in your kitchen or pantry.

House mice can survive on surprisingly little water, pulling moisture directly from the food they eat.

Once they locate a reliable food source in your home, they nest as close to it as possible, inside wall voids, under appliances, behind stored boxes, or tucked into attic insulation.

What makes mice such a persistent pest is how fast they reproduce.

A female house mouse reaches sexual maturity at just six weeks old. She can produce up to ten litters a year, with three to eight pups per litter, and she can mate again within days of giving birth.

Indoors, where food is consistent and predators are absent, mice breed year-round. Two mice that sneak into your home in autumn can become dozens by spring!

Mice are also creatures of habit. They travel the same routes night after night, staying close to walls and rarely crossing open spaces.

Their incisor teeth never stop growing, which drives them to gnaw constantly on whatever is nearby. Wood, plastic, wiring, insulation: nothing is off limits.

That compulsive chewing is a big part of why a mouse problem quickly becomes an expensive one, as they can damage your valuable belongings.

Mice are small, have large ears, a pointed snout, and a long, thin tail. Body length typically runs between 2.5 and 4 inches, not counting the tail.

Young rats are sometimes mistaken for mice, but rats are noticeably heavier with a blunter nose and coarser build.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, the two species you are most likely to encounter are:

House mice (Mus musculus): The most common indoor pest mouse in California. Grayish-brown with a lighter belly and a nearly hairless, scaly tail. House mice thrive in human environments, breed year-round indoors, and can squeeze through a gap the size of a dime. They are expert climbers and rarely stray more than 30 feet from their nest.

Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus): Slightly larger, with a two-toned appearance: brownish-gray on top, white on the belly and feet. Deer mice prefer wooded or semi-rural areas and commonly show up in garages, crawl spaces, and homes that back up to open land. They can carry hantavirus, a serious respiratory disease, which makes them a more urgent health concern than the common house mouse.

Mice cause two categories of serious problems: property damage and health risks.

They chew through wood, drywall, plastic pipes, insulation, and electrical wiring.

Gnawed wiring inside walls can start fires, which can develop silently within concealed wiring systems before homeowners become aware of what’s happening

Mice also shred insulation and soft materials to build their nests, and they contaminate everything they touch with droppings and urine.

House mice can spread salmonellosis, leptospirosis, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis through their droppings, urine, and saliva.

Deer mice carry hantavirus, which people can contract simply by disturbing contaminated dust in an enclosed space.

Mice also carry fleas, ticks, and mites into your home.

Since mice stay hidden during the day, you usually find the evidence before you ever see the rodent.

Here is what to look for:

1.Droppings

Small, dark, rice-shaped pellets along walls, inside cabinets, under sinks, and around food storage areas.

Fresh droppings are dark and moist. Older ones dry out and lighten in color.

If you find droppings in multiple rooms, it means the infestation has already spread throughout your home.

2. Gnaw Marks

Chew marks on food packaging, baseboards, door frames, and wiring are a clear sign of mouse activity.

Fresh gnaw marks are lighter in color; they darken as they age. Gnawed wires near appliances or inside wall voids need attention right away.

Contact the professionals to evaluate the damaged wiring and promptly replace any compromised insulation to eliminate potential fire hazards.

3. Scratching Sounds

Mice are most active at night. Scratching, scurrying, or squeaking inside walls, under floors, or above ceilings after dark is a reliable indicator of their activity.

Pets often pick up on mouse presence before their owners do. If your dog or cat keeps staring at a particular wall or cabinet for no obvious reason, it might mean they have scented mice.

4. Nests

Mice build nests from shredded paper, fabric, insulation, and other soft materials.

They tuck them into hidden spots: inside appliances, behind stored items in a garage, inside wall voids, or under attic insulation.

If you find a mouse nest, it means you have an active infestation, not just a passing visitor.

5. Grease Marks and Tracks

Mice leave dark, greasy smear marks along the walls and baseboards they travel repeatedly. You may spot tiny footprints or tail drag marks in dusty areas like attics or behind appliances.

Use these trails as a guide for where to place traps.

To prevent mouse infestations, you need to:

• Seal cracks, gaps, and openings around your foundation, pipes, vents, and utility lines. Mice squeeze through a hole the size of a dime, so be thorough.
• Install tight-fitting door sweeps and weatherstripping on all exterior doors. Repair any damaged window screens.
• Store food, pet food, and birdseed in airtight, rodent-proof containers. Do not leave food out overnight.
• Keep trash cans tightly covered and stored away from your home’s exterior.
• Clear out clutter in garages, attics, and storage areas that mice can use for nesting material and cover.
• Stack firewood off the ground and away from the house.
• Trim shrubs, trees, and vegetation back from your roofline and foundation to eliminate climbing routes and hiding spots.

House mice, roof rats, and Norway rats are the most common species in Northern California.

Roof rats tend to nest in attics and trees, Norway rats burrow in basements or under foundations, and house mice prefer walls, pantries, and storage areas.

Yes. We use eco-friendly products and tamper-resistant equipment designed for safety around children and animals.

Pricing depends on your property size and infestation severity. Call (408) 871-6988 for a free inspection and quote tailored to your needs.

DIY traps or poisons may catch a few rodents, but without addressing entry points, infestations often return. Professional help ensures a complete and lasting solution.