Rodents Head Indoors for Fall and Winter

(ARA) - A cozy home is the perfect escape when temperatures begin to dip. Unfortunately, rodents think so too.

According to pest control professionals, cooling temperatures and dwindling food sources send rodents scurrying into 21 million American homes each winter.

"Rodents normally feed on seeds and plant life, but when these are eliminated by freezing temperatures or drought, rodents are forced to invade human structures in search of food," says Stoy Hedges, entomologist and director of technical services for Terminix.

Mice and rats enter homes through small exterior openings. A 1/2-inch opening is large enough for a rodent, and mice can squeeze through voids as small as a 1/4 inch.

Rodents are also great climbers and can scale rough surfaces like trees or vertical pipes to gain entry to homes through vents and utility openings.

Living with rodents can be harmful. They are considered a fire hazard because of their habit of gnawing through electrical wiring, and they are a health threat because of the diseases they spread through their bites and excrement.

Rodents are known to carry more than 200 human pathogens. Some of these diseases, such as Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome and the plague, are potentially deadly.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HPS, which is spread through the airborne urine, saliva or fecal material of infected deer mice, has been identified in 30 states during the last 14 years. Of the 465 reported cases, nearly 35 percent have been fatal.

Although rare, approximately 12 cases of the plague are reported in the United States each year.

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