While any kind of animal waste can seem like a disgusting mess, rodent droppings are particularly problematic. In some cases, rodent dropping cleanup should be handled by a professional. Here’s a quick look at when to call a pro and when (and how) to handle this mess on your own.
The Dangers Of Rodents & Rodent Waste
Rats, mice and other rodents can carry a variety of serious diseases. Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome is a life-threatening disease that can be caused by exposure to rodent droppings, rodent urine and even the saliva of these animals.
Salmonellosis and rat-bite fever are two serious illnesses that can be caused by consuming foods contaminated by rodent droppings. Believe it or not, bubonic plague is still around, and you can contract this disease by coming into contact with rodent droppings. While plague is rare, with only about five cases per year in the United States, this simply further illustrates the dangers of rodents and how they pose a serious public health risk.
Small Rodent Issues
In some cases, you might have just a few droppings from one rat or mouse. In this case, you probably can clean up the mess yourself although we are always happy to help. If you do decide to clean up droppings on your own, be sure to follow the correct safety procedures.
Begin by mixing a bleach solution with one part bleach to nine parts water in a spray bottle. You also will need to wear plastic gloves or rubber gloves. Then, spray the bleach solution on the rodent droppings or urine until is soaking wet and let the area rest for at least five minutes.
Once the bleach has penetrated the area, you can use a paper towel to wipe up the mess. The dirty paper towels and droppings all should be placed into a plastic bag. Then spray the bleach solution on the area where the droppings were located and mop up the area or clean it with a sponge. The mop head and sponge also will need to be disposed of in a plastic bag.
Spray your gloves with disinfectant or warm water and soap before removing them. Once removed, these gloves also need to be placed in the plastic bag. At this point, you can seal up the bag and throw it in a trash can with a secure lid. Then wash your hands carefully with soap and warm water.
One Important Note: Do not use a vacuum or broom to simply sweep up the rodent droppings. You will risk inhaling particles from the droppings which can cause severe respiratory distress, including developing hantavirus. We highly recommend wearing a face mask (preferably an N95 mask or KN95) when you clean up any rodent droppings and then disposing of the mask after cleanup is complete.
Even with just a small number of droppings, it can be smart to hire a pest inspection service to examine your entire property for evidence of further rodent infestation. They can check crawl spaces and attics as well as your yard for any further signs of rodents and also provide you with tips to better secure your property to ensure that these pests don’t become a huge problem.
Ensuring that your attic and crawlspaces are well sealed is one way to prevent rodent infestations. Trimming back tree branches away from your roof and keeping gutters clean are other ways to discourage these pests from building nests in and around your home. It’s also recommended that you don’t leave pet food outdoors, as this can attract many pests, from rats to raccoons and other unpleasant creatures.
Rodent Infestations
If you are dealing with any type of rodent infestation beyond just a few isolated droppings, it’s truly best to hire a professional to provide you with rodent dropping cleanup services and ensure the safe removal of all rat and mouse waste in all affected areas of your home or property.
Our highly trained technicians have the proper personal protective equipment and specialized equipment to ensure that all traces of urine and rodent waste are removed and that disinfecting and cleaning is complete. We adhere to all state and federal protocols regarding the proper remediation of rodent waste. If you also need any type of dead animal removal, we can provide you with this service as well.
Vehicle Infestations
Our professional rodent dropping cleanup up services extend to cleaning any vehicles that have been infested with rodent waste. Rats often build nests in car engines as this provides a warm place for their babies. In some cases, the rats gnaw through wires and cables, and they sometimes even gnaw their way into the interior of a vehicle. In some cases, rodents die in vents or other hard-to-reach areas.
The result is not only toxic, but the odors are terrible and extremely difficult to remove. Our highly trained cleaning crews can remove all traces of rodent waste, dead rodents, nests and also provide odor removal service. Once the vehicle has been restored and is safe to use, we recommend parking the vehicle in a garage if possible. Placing mothballs in the engine also can help repel future rodent infestations.
If you or a loved one suffers from a hoarding disorder, we can help. We offer caring, compassionate hoarding cleaning services and this often includes rodent dropping cleanup and dead animal removal. We know how difficult and exhausting this situation can be, but we can help remove any contaminated belongings or materials and restore the home to a safe condition.
Hoarding cleanup should not be attempted by family members. Not only is this a highly emotional task, but it can truly be overwhelming, and it can be difficult to even know how to get started with the cleanup. Additionally, it’s truly not safe as most hoarding situations include removing toxic materials such as mold-contaminated items, rodent droppings and more.
Contact Bio-One® At AnytimeIf you need rodent dropping cleanup or any type of hazmat cleaning services and biohazard cleanup, you can contact the team at Bio-One of Augusta at any time. We are available 24/7, 365 days a year and not only will we provide complete biohazard remediation, but we also can handle any insurance claim-related tasks, if applicable. We serve the entire Augusta metro area and all surrounding areas.
Rebecca Wallace, Bio-One owner, recently visited with Arizona Midday to share how the Bio-One team makes a difference on and off the job in Arizona and throughout the United States.
Arizona Midday - "Well we've got some help for your home right now. If you're feeling overwhelmed by a clean-up project, we've got help for you today. Rebecca Wallace is with Bio-One. Hi Rebecca. What is Bio-One?"
Rebecca - "So Bio-One is known for crime and trauma scene clean-up. However, we do a lot more than just that. We help people when there is a hoarding situation, so that they can regain their home and their lives again. We help with infectious disease decontamination, rodent droppings, odor abatement, basically if you think you might need a respirator to do the job we're the people you want to call."
Arizona Midday - "Wow, that's incredible. It's stuff we don't want to do. What made you decide to get into this line of work?"
Rebecca - "So, me and my husband live in Flagstaff most of the time and we were talking with some first responders and heard how when people pass away or they're hoarders there is no one that can help them. There's just no one who does this kind of work. So we decided we want to be able to help our community, help those around us during a time of need so they can actually move forward in their lives and not have to deal with the mess of maybe things that have happened that they don't want to have to think about."
Arizona Midday - "I love that idea. So in order to help your clients as much as possible, do you work with other companies? Tell me about that if you do."
Rebecca - "Yes, we do. We work with quite a few other companies, because what we do is just a piece of a whole puzzle. So we work with a lot of restoration companies, Best Option Restoration, they are state-wide like us so they can help us anywhere as well. We work with animal rescues, so if there is a hoarding situation that animals are involved in we can get the animals out safely and get them rehabilitated. We work with quite a few non-profits that help first responders if they're in a time of need or crisis. It's across the board. We work with all kinds of different people. Contractors. Mental health professionals. Anyone that can be a piece of that puzzle with us, we want to work with them.
Arizona Midday - "Oh, I love that. So what areas of Arizona does Bio-One cover?"
Rebecca - "We have offices all the way down from Tucson up to Flagstaff, and everything in-between. Our goal is to be able to help our clients within 90 minutes or less if there is an emergency. So we have offices everywhere. Any we're national. We have 120 offices throughout the US as well.
Arizona Midday - "Wow. That's incredible. So you work with businesses. You work with non-profits, but you're also really involved in the community too, right? Tell me about that."
Rebecca - "Yeah we are. It's important for us to give back. Our community is important. We live here. We're part of it. So in 2020 alone, we gave out over 25,000 bottles of chemicals that are approved by the EPA for COVID-19 decontamination. We have blood drives all throughout Arizona to help with the blood shortage. We donate PPE to first responders and victim advocates. And we have BBQ's throughout the state as well for all of our first responders just to tell them thank you for what they've been doing. They work hard and we want to make sure that they know we care.
Arizona Midday - "Rebecca Wallace, incredible work that you're doing with Bio-One. And thank you so much for spending time with us today.
Rebecca - "Thank you for having me."
