The key to pest management is to deny them shelter and nesting sites. Follow these steps:
- Avoid storage boxes and other items that may give shelter to pack rats on patios or along the sides of buildings and walls.
- Store fire wood off the ground and away from any wall or other obstruction.
- Keep carports clear of stored items to eliminate hiding places.
- If pack rats have been in a car engine compartment, have it steam cleaned to destroy the scent and leave the hood open at night. Leaving the carport light on at night will help.
- Rodent-proof/exclude all possible entry points; be sure the pack rat is not trapped inside the building!
- A pack rats can squeeze through a half-inch hole.
- Be sure doors fit correctly and have door sweeps.
- Be sure windows are screened properly.
- Exhaust fans and ventilation vents on the roof/attic level should be Screened.
- Keep ground covering plants cut/mow low to the ground.
- Do not allow Agaves, Aloe, Yuccas and other cacti to grow in tight groups.
- Do not allow a skirt of dead branches to form on Agaves and Yuccas.
- Keep the bases trimmed.
- Thin out dense cactus and landscape plantings.
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- Trim off any paddles that turn sideways providing overhead shelter.
