Critters: The War Continues
Today I put on my Junior Rat Patrol hat and met with the inspector from the pest control company. I had asked him to come out for what's called an "exclusion inspection." That's where they look at all the potential entry points into your house to figure out what changes you can make to keep critters out.
Having declared war on rodents, I've already done quite a bit. I've had all holes in crawlspace vents blocked. I've trimmed trees back from the roof so as not to provide a jumping off point. We removed the Yucca Palm monster that may have served as a nesting place. We don't leave any food outside, not even birdseed.
I never knew I could be like this - rodents used to scare me - but I'm good at rising to the challenge when confronted. After all, this is war. It's important to learn the behavior of the enemy, to think like they think in an attempt to second guess them. You have to know the evidence of their armies, too. I've been known to walk along the exterior of my house with my ultraviolet flashlight, looking for signs of critters at the crawlspace vents. I will trap if I need to, but I'm sending out the message: I do not want to have to kill again. Don't make me.
I did not tell all of this to the inspector. I just accompanied him, bright-eyed, while he conducted his inspection. First, he looked at our crawlspace (also known as The Underworld) to see what was up. We have a vapor barrier over the bare earth and he said that was unfortunate, because we can't see how the critters are getting in. I told him that I had suspicions that they were tunneling, judging from the tiny piles of dirt I saw around one seam of the plastic covering. He took this into consideration.
Next we walked around the house slowly, looking at every access point. None of the crawlspace vents had been compromised. However, when I pointed out two attic vents (very hard for humans to access) that were open, he told me that roof rats can climb straight up a stucco wall. Ew! He pointed his flashlight at an attic vent and said we were looking for swing marks. Those are the greasy marks their bodies leave when they leap to a vent and pull themselves inside. Thankfully, there were none.
(I've lost my readership, haven't I?)
Finally, he walked to the edge of our back deck (which backs onto open space) and leapt over the railing. (Hey, warn me before you do that!) He looked around a bit, then carefully made his way back to tell me that there were signs of rat burrows. His best guess is that they are indeed tunneling underneath the cement patio and into the crawlspace.
So what can we do? Honestly, he said, all you can do is trap them if they get in. LOVELY.
Before he left, he congratulated me on the good job I did with exclusion. I'll admit I puffed up with pride. Yay, me! Junior Rat Patrol!
No one is ever going to invite me to a party, are they? At least until I develop some more socially acceptable topics for discussion....
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