By: Morgan Kacalek
If you live in or near Vallejo and Benicia, you may have noticed more mice and rats than usual . You might be finding them in your house and even seeing them out and about outdoors. Either way, there has been a noticeable increase in mice and rat activity in communities in the area.
According to Contra Costa Vector Control (CCVC), when comparing 2022 to 2023, there has been a 37 percent increase in the number of requests for public health inspection. Maria Talacona, who runs Mighty Men Pest Service, says, “We’re receiving about 10 times the amount of phone calls.” She explains, “People have mice running through their kitchens, in their drawers, in their clothes, through their A/C units, getting into the ducting system.” It seems that if you are having a rodent problem, chances are you are not alone. Most of the time, neighbors 300 to 400 feet away will have a rodent problem as well.
Solutions Pest and Lawn, a Texas based, national do-it-yourself pest control company says the best way to find evidence of rodents is their poop. Since they don’t have control over their bowls, they often leave droppings wherever they run. Mice tend to leave more droppings, while rats will not leave as many. Be sure never to vacuum the rodent feces though, because that can contaminate the air you breathe. Always sweep the droppings into a dustpan and dispose of them safely.
Experts say this influx in mice and rat presence is due to the four months of continuous rain that we saw at the beginning of this year. Nola Woods with the CCVC says, “That created more habitat and more resources and, frankly, more places where mice and rats would have the ability to propagate.” President of Official Pest Prevention also says that this could be a bigger problem in cities like Benicia and Vallejo because they are hilly areas surrounded by large bodies of water. He says this creates a, “perfect place for mice to congregate as they come out of the hills and are hemmed in by the water.”
If you live in the area and find yourself victimized to these rodents, make sure you keep a clean home and pick up any trash or food that may be left out. Mice and rats want to be where the food is, so make sure to keep your food where they can’t get it. If you are seeing them in your house, you should consider searching every room for any holes in the walls where they might be getting in, and be sure to seal it with something durable. At this point, we can only wait for nature to run its course, and hope for some better weather this year that will keep rodents out of our homes!
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