They’re always looking for easy access into your home. Well, today I’m going to show you how to create your very own security system both in your garage and on the inside of your house that are going to keep those prowlers out. Ha ha! Have a look at this. A lot of people call it a workbench. I call it research and development.

Now I’m going to show you what I was talking about. See in order to gain access to your home, all a rat need is a very tiny entry point. A gap in the wall or something about the size of…yeah…a quarter. And for mice, it’s even smaller. But I’ve got a quick fix for that. First you’re gonna take a little bit of steel wool, you’re just gonna wad that steel wool up, and you’re gonna plug up this hole. Now for those of you with delicate fingers, you might want to put some work gloves on. But I don’t need them because well…I’m the Orkin Man. Wad your steel wool up in a nice little ball like that and just plug that hole. Get it nice and packed in there.

And then you’re going to seal it off… with some caulk. Just caulk all that over. Get all of that in. Whoooooooo! Very nice. Make sure you use something to flatten that out to make it look nice. And yes, I also do weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. Here’s the thing about burglars, they’re after your tools, right? They want all of this expensive stuff up on your wall: your wrenches and your lawn equipment. Rats and rodents aren’t looking for that stuff. They want to make a comfy nest. Something like an old baseball glove. Some sweats that you keep out in the garage. Or some old shoes, and definitely newspapers. Keep this stuff up off the floor. I mean, they’ll even get into your freezer and get the insulation behind this bad boy. Now lets take a look inside the house. Now you want to check for chewed up paper or cloth, as well as for their droppings. Um…lets see…yeah…

Now mice droppings are about the size of a grain of rice. Where as rat droppings are about the size…of raisins. Mmm, oh, I didn’t realize how hungry I was. Now if you think you might have a rodent problem, but you’re just not sure, I’m going to show you a quick little experiment you can do. All you’re going to need for this is some crackers or short pieces of bread, some peanut butter, and some common all purpose flour. Take one of your crackers here, just spread a little bit of peanut butter on it. Then take your peanut butter cracker and your all-purpose flour over to an area where you think rodents might hang out. In this case, we’re right in front of the pantry. You’re gonna take that. Gonna spread it all around. Then you’re gonna take your peanut butter cracker and put it right smack dab in the middle of all that white stuff.

Then you’re just gonna go away. If you come back the next morning and you see little tracks that look like this… that’s the possibility of a rodent problem. Now let me tell you something about rats and mice. These critters looove food. All kinds of food. Meat, nuts, grains, processed cereal. Even dog and cat food. So it’s always a good idea to take stuff like this out of the original packaging, ‘cause it’s cardboard or plastic and it’s easy to gnaw through, and put it in containers that seal nice and tight…and are impossible to break into. Now rats and mice have lousy vision, but their senses of taste, touch, and smell are very, very keen.

So you wanna make sure that your shelves and pantry are very, very clean. If you find a spill, make sure you sweep it up…right away. Some other things you can do are make sure your garbage lids are always on tight. And after every pet feeding make sure you seal that pet food up and put it away. Also, you wanna trust your own senses. Don’t just rely on what you can see. Listen to the walls for the sounds of gnawing or scratching. These can be telltale signs of rodents. And if you smell musty odors, that’s almost certainly signs for mice. If you see any of these signs, make sure that you contact somebody immediately.

Don’t procrastinate! Because these things breed faster than bunnies on a honeymoon. They reproduce a litter every couple of months. If you ever have to handle a dead rodent or its droppings, make sure you’ve got a breath mask and disposable gloves to prevent the transmission of disease. Oh…that’s where those are. Or you can always give us a call. We’ll take care of ‘em for you.