10 Signs of a Pest Infestation You Should Not Ignore

The signs people wait too long on

The first sign of most pest problems is not a sighting of the pest — it is a sign the pest left behind. Droppings, nesting material, tracks, rub marks, shed skins and damaged building material all tell you something is living there. The reason these get missed is that people look for the animal, not the evidence, and most nocturnal pests are gone by the time you go looking.

Droppings that mean different things

Size tells you the species. Mouse droppings are rice-grain sized, about 1/8 inch. Rat droppings are up to half an inch and you often find them along attic beams and near entry points. Squirrels leave larger, cleaner droppings and usually leave obvious entry damage in the roofline. Cockroach droppings look like coarse coffee grounds, often along the back of a shelf or inside a cabinet hinge.

The quiet ones

A faint musty smell in a closet or under a sink often means roaches, long before you see one. Bubbling or buckling paint on exterior trim means termites are tunneling underneath. A line of greasy rub marks along a wall at three to four inches high means mice are moving along it repeatedly — and it is the classic giveaway that most people never look for.

What to do when you find one

Identify before you act. A photo in a sealed bag, brought to a technician, gets you a definitive answer for free. Do not spray a product you found under the sink without knowing what it is — the wrong pesticide against the right pest can make an infestation worse by killing off the natural competitors while leaving the colony intact.

Need a professional look?

If you are not sure what you are dealing with, that is exactly what a free inspection is for. A licensed technician will identify the pest, find where it is getting in, and give you a firm price before any work starts.