SAN ANTONIO AREA SERVICE

Rodents

In San Antonio attics and garages, you're typically dealing with the roof rat or the house mouse. Norway rats are less common here but show up around commercial dumpsters. All three chew wires, contaminate food, and breed fast.

Scientific name: Rattus rattus (roof rat), Mus musculus (house mouse)  Service area: San Antonio + within ~15 miles (Helotes, Stone Oak, Leon Springs, Fair Oaks Ranch).

At a glance

Size	Mouse: 7–10 cm body; roof rat: 16–20 cm body + similar tail
Color	Mouse: gray-brown; roof rat: dark brown to black
Active period	Nocturnal; peak activity 30 min after sundown and just before dawn
Habitat in homes	Attics (roof rat especially), wall voids, behind appliances, garages, sheds, under decks
Famous trait	A mouse can squeeze through a hole the size of a dime; a rat through one the size of a quarter

Identification

Droppings are the clearest sign — mouse droppings are rice-grain sized, rat droppings are larger and more spindle-shaped. Greasy rub marks along walls. Gnaw marks on wires + cardboard. Scratching sounds in attics at night.

Risk profile

Chewed wires are a fire hazard (a real one — many house fires trace to rodent damage). Contaminate food + surfaces with droppings/urine. Carry diseases including Hantavirus, salmonella, and leptospirosis. Allergens in dried droppings trigger asthma.

How we treat it

Trapping (snap traps + tin cat boxes — we don't use rodenticides indoors because of secondary-poisoning risk to pets and predators), exclusion (sealing entry points), and sanitation. Roof rat work usually means attic + roofline inspection. Recurring monthly during the population pressure is standard.

Towns where we treat this

This is a San Antonio area service. We cover the close-to-office radius (within ~15 miles).