One advantage of being in the home services industry for so many years is that there isn’t a problem too large for our wildlife specialists to handle.
The quaint charm of central Austin and surrounding towns’ historic neighborhoods is magnetic. But older homes have weak, pier-and-beam foundations that have deteriorated over the years, creating the perfect entry points for rodents. Whether the issue is rats, mice, raccoons, or nutria, our team knows where to look to find the point of entry.
Because our guys have been in the business so long, they have some pretty terrifying stories to tell of rodents wreaking havoc on homes in Austin.
Tails of Terror from the Field in Austin
One thing we know is a big misconception is that rodent problems are related to economic status. This simply isn’t true. The bigger the house, the more space for rodents to hide. And the more damage they can do.
One of our technicians told us a story that might surprise you. A family of five living in a 6500 square foot home in the wealthiest neighborhood in town. When ABC’s rodent specialist went up to the attic, he didn’t just find one rodent, he found the entire woodland kingdom.
There were rats, raccoons, squirrels, mice and all of the insects these rodents carried in from the outdoors. The animals really tore up this family’s attic. The rodents dug tunnels through the insulation, and there were feces everywhere. There were so many droppings that the drywall caved in onto the family’s garage. Many of the rodents we found in this house were deceased, which means they had nested for quite some time.
To combat this family’s nightmare, we set a massive trapping operation in the attic with about 30 traps in total. A decontamination team was hired to go in after the animals were all removed. Full decontamination entails sucking up existing insulation, spraying a disinfectant, and re-insulating the entire attic.
This rodent nightmare was quite the task. In the end, we removed the animals and cleaned up the attic. The family had hefty construction costs to fix their damaged garage ceiling, but in the end, they learned a valuable lesson — always call an exterminator at the first sign of rodent problems.
Don’t bet on Rodent Problems Taking Care of Themselves
A man in Cedar Park called us one day, claiming not to have a problem. His wife said she smelled something strange and was hearing noises. She insisted her husband call ABC, but he was skeptical because he hired another company to check their attic for rodents several months beforehand. This man suspected that his wife was worrying over nothing, but he knew that ABC provided free inspections, so he called.
When our rodent control specialists went up to the second story attic, he knew right away that someone else had done a hack job. There were dozens of traps in the attic that another Austin pest control company had previously laid out. And every single trap was occupied with dead rats. The man said that another company had serviced their attic 3 months prior, and he thought that all traps had been removed. Unfortunately, he was wrong.
In the end, the husband agreed to pay ABC to remove the live and dead animals inhabiting his attic. But he had one condition. We had to promise not to tell his wife that she was right all along.
These are Extreme Cases
If you spot a mouse on your property, chances are it’s a small problem that can easily be fixed. The stories we have described above are very extreme cases of rodent infestations. But the one takeaway Austin homeowners should remember is that ignoring a problem doesn’t fix it. If you think you have rodents or if your tenants mention issues with rodents, call a professional.
If you’re concerned about future rat and mouse problems, take measures to seal up your home, cap your chimney, and trim your trees so that animals can’t climb onto your house.