Animal In My Basement
Many of the most common access points pests use to infiltrate homes happen to lead to basements. Gaps around utility lines, cracks in the foundation or flooring, holes in insulation, and openings around ground-level windows all provide great opportunities for pests looking for a place to stay. Basements can be so easy to access that many pests accidentally find their way in! Mice and rats like the smell of gas, and might follow a gas utility line into your home. Boxelder bugs and other temperature-sensitive critters may find cracks in the weatherproofing while they are soaking up sunbeams on windows.
There are several animals that might be active in your basement gnawing and taking your bait. The most likely would be a roof rat or a mouse. Both animals will routinely take bait (like bait blocks or place back seed) and hoard it for future use. In other words, they will readily take the offering but not eat any. This would explain why it keeps disappearing; basically you’re just throwing away all this bait because they’re not really interested in it but think it’s worthy enough to store in case of emergency.
Below are some steps to get these critters out of your basement
GET RID OF TRASH AND THEIR ATTRACTANTS
If you really want to take control of pests in your basement, the first step is to stop making it so attractive for them. Pests go where the food is, and garbage serves as the perfect odor to draw them in. Even if you can’t smell the rotting trash, be aware that many pests have a heightened sense of smell.
USE GRANULAR PESTICIDES AROUND THE BASEMENT
Using a granular pesticide is often more beneficial than a spray because it is longer lasting. Regular applications of a pesticide that is meant to treat several types of pests can go a long way to keeping your basement free of them.
GET RID OF CLUSTERS IN THE BASEMENT
Basements that have a lot of clutter serve as perfect hiding places for pests. Pests don’t like to stay out in the open, and if you have a lot of clutter in your basement, somewhere among your belongings may be a pest or two.
SET TRAPS
Most animals want a safe place to raise their young. You can actually set traps in the basement, but you will have a better luck trapping outside, near the entry hole. If you do have an animal in the basement, be sure to search for a litter of young ones. You don't want to trap and remove an adult, and leave a litter of babies behind to starve and die and decompose, which will cause odor problems.
SCREEN THE VENTILATION THAT LEADS OUTSIDE
To get inside your basement, pests must obviously have a conduit in which to do so. One way to take control of pests and keep many of the smaller ones out is to place a screen over any vents that lead outside. This will stop a number of insects and arachnids from getting inside so easily. However, keeping animals out of the basement is an ongoing challenge for any homeowner. Between the ones that contaminate foods, send chills up the spines, and literally destroy homes foundation, preventing pests from invading the sanctity of homes can be a difficult task but with the right strategies in place, they will become a thing of the past.
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