Lori Paul, who contributed an article about living with wildlife not long ago, said we could reprint this 2010 email to the Chaney Trail newsgroup about living with rodents. A juvenile Cooper's Hawk was recently found poisoned, probably from eating a poisoned rodent. Poison-based pest control methods have a habit of making their way into the environment, and here are some suggestions to avoid that.
by Lori Paul
Mice and woodrats invade garages, attics, subfloors, and even the engine compartments of RVs and vehicles that are parked in one place for a prolonged time. Fortunately, woodrats are not "sewer rats," they are the native "pack rats" that live in our foothills and arroyos, though they will travel into urban areas and become a nuisance. They often have white or tan bellies, large ears, prominent "ink drop" eyes, and very long (often slightly furred) tails. Mice and rats seek what all wildlife needs... food, water and shelter. Garages, tool sheds, engine compartments, etc. inadvertently provide one or more of these needed things. Find out what the rats are there for. The more needs you meet for them, the more incentive these animals have to enter your garage, attic, storage shed, or home.
Pictured: a bushy-tailed woodrat, from Wikipedia Commons.
Remove all sources of water and food that intruding mice and rats might find (such as bags of dog kibble, wildbird seed, or old camping food supplies). Reduce "nesting areas" by eliminating boxes full of items the rodents can shred, such as old newspapers, magazines or clothes (they'll be ruined anyway by the rodents nesting in them). Put stored clothes, blankets, books and valuables in plastic storage containers with snap lids instead of cardboard boxes. Such plastic file boxes and storage containers are very inexpensive at Big Lots and many 99 cent stores.
Most importantly: plug up wherever rodents are getting in. If you don't, in spite of all your efforts and expense, more rats will return for every one you kill or live trap out. Put fine mesh (available at OSH and most hardware stores) across holes or outside vents (also important for reducing fire risk from embers blown into your garage or attic!). Add metal weather stripping flanges on the bottom of your garage door. Don't leave your garage door open for prolonged lengths of time, especially when you are not around! Rodents will enter that way, as well as lizards and snakes. Plug holes around pipes with fine aviary wire mesh bent around the opening and then pack steel wool around the pipe (Brillo pads work well, because the soap in the steel wool is an added deterrent). Mice and rats will not chew through the steel wool.