Rodents rarely live where you see them — they live in the attic insulation, the crawl space, and the garage clutter, and commute to your kitchen at night. Along the Wasatch Front and Back, every cold snap pushes mice and rats toward the nearest warm structure, and a gap the width of a dime is a door.
What are the signs of rodents in hidden spaces?
- Attic — scratching or skittering at night, tunnels and nests in insulation, droppings along joists.
- Crawl space — burrow openings near the foundation, gnawed vapor barrier, musky odor.
- Garage — gnawed cardboard and pet-food bags, droppings along walls, chewed wiring — a real fire risk.
- Yard — surface runways and clipped grass trails signal voles; raised ridges signal moles or gophers.
When is it time to bring in a professional?
The moment you hear activity or find droppings. Rodents reproduce fast — a pair of mice can become dozens in a season — and they gnaw constantly, including on electrical wiring. Because rodents can carry disease, droppings and nesting material also need careful handling, not a shop vac.
Why traps alone fail
Traps remove individual animals; they don't close the door the population is using. The classic failure mode is catching two mice a week all winter because the garage-door sweep, utility penetrations, and foundation gaps were never sealed (exclusion). Poison placed casually creates its own problems — a rodent that dies in a wall cavity, or bait accessible to pets and wildlife.
How Black Arches handles rodent work
Our rodent service starts in the spaces rodents actually use: we inspect the attic, crawl space, garage, and exterior foundation line, identify entry points, and combine tamper-resistant bait stations and traps with exclusion recommendations that fix the route — not just the runner. Recurring plans include monitoring on every quarterly visit, backed by our re-service warranty: if activity returns between visits, so do we, free.
Reclaim your hidden spaces
If your attic or garage has gone from storage to habitat, start with a free inspection. We'll show you the entry points, the activity, and the plan — with a clear quote and no-contract options.