It starts with a sound: a faint scratch in the attic, a rustle behind a wall, a noise so brief that most homeowners dismiss it as the house settling.
Then a few weeks pass.
You notice droppings in the garage. A bag of pet food has been chewed open. Suddenly, the possibility becomes difficult to ignore.
The first mouse you see is rarely the first mouse that entered your home.
By the time a homeowner spots a rodent in the kitchen, garage, or attic, there may already be others hiding behind walls, inside insulation, or beneath a crawl space.
Many homeowners are surprised to learn that rodents are a year-round problem. While colder temperatures often drive rodents indoors, summer can be just as active. Warmer weather brings increased breeding, larger populations, and young rodents searching for food, water, and shelter.
Most homeowners are also surprised by how little space rodents need to enter a home. A mouse can squeeze through an opening as small as a dime, while a rat can fit through a hole about the size of a quarter. These entry points are commonly found around utility lines, roof vents, garage doors, crawl spaces, and foundations.
Rodents are remarkable survivors. Rats can climb, jump several feet, and squeeze through openings most people would never notice. One of the most fascinating and concerning facts about rats is that their front teeth never stop growing. To keep them worn down, they constantly gnaw on materials around them. Their teeth are strong enough to chew through wood, plastic, drywall, and even some softer metals. Over time, this can create new entry points and lead to costly property damage.
They also reproduce at an alarming rate. A single female mouse can have multiple litters each year, and her offspring can begin reproducing within weeks. Under the right conditions, a small rodent problem can grow into a major infestation in just a few months.
Beyond property damage, rodents can present serious health concerns. As a Family Nurse Practitioner, Monique Cotrich, FNP-BC, often reminds families that protecting a home isn’t just about preventing property damage, it’s also about protecting the health of the people living inside it. Rodent droppings and urine can contaminate food storage areas, insulation, and surfaces throughout a home, potentially exposing families to harmful bacteria and other disease-causing organisms.
One of the biggest misconceptions homeowners have is believing that trapping alone solves the problem. While trapping is an important part of rodent control, it only removes the rodents that are already inside. The most effective long-term solution combines trapping with exclusion—the process of identifying and sealing the openings rodents use to gain access. Without exclusion, new rodents often replace the ones that were removed.
The most expensive rodent problem isn’t the one you can see, it’s the one you don’t know you have.
Manny and Monique Cotrich are the owners of First Strike Pest Elimination and will be featured on the upcoming season of The Next Level CEO Educational Series with Daymond John, streaming in 2026.
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