Rodent Control Services

Rodent Control for Homes and Businesses Across Texas

Rodents are one of the most common calls we get, and honestly one of the more urgent ones. A mouse or rat in the house isn’t just an unpleasant surprise. It’s a health risk, a potential fire hazard, and a sign that somewhere on your property there’s an opening they’re using to get in. Until that entry point is found and sealed, the problem tends to repeat itself no matter how many traps you set.

At Del Valle Pest Control, we take a complete approach to rodent control: identify the species, locate the entry points, trap the active population, seal the structure, and monitor to make sure it stays resolved. Our technicians are licensed, insured, and have handled rodent problems in homes, restaurants, warehouses, and everything in between across the Rio Grande Valley and throughout Texas.

The Health Risks Are Real

Most people know rodents are a nuisance. Fewer realize how significant the health risks actually are. Rats and mice contaminate far more food than they consume, and the diseases they carry can spread through droppings, urine, saliva, and the parasites they bring with them.

Diseases associated with rodents in Texas include:

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, contracted by breathing in dust from areas contaminated with rodent droppings or urine. It’s rare but has a high fatality rate. Disturbance of old rodent nesting material in attics is a known exposure risk
Leptospirosis, a bacterial infection spread through contact with water or soil contaminated by rodent urine. It can cause liver and kidney damage if untreated
Salmonellosis, a foodborne illness spread when rodents contaminate food preparation surfaces, pantry items, or food storage areas with their droppings
Rat-bite fever, transmitted through bites, scratches, or contact with rodent saliva
Murine typhus, spread by fleas that have fed on infected rats. This disease is an active public health concern in Texas, particularly in the southern part of the state
Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM), carried primarily by house mice and transmitted through contact with droppings, urine, or nesting material risk

Beyond disease, rodents gnaw constantly to keep their teeth worn down. That means electrical wiring, PVC plumbing pipes, insulation, ductwork, and structural wood are all fair targets. Gnawed wiring in an attic or wall void is a documented cause of house fires, and it’s one of the reasons a rodent problem that seems minor on the surface can turn into something much more serious if it goes unaddressed.

Rodent Species We Deal With in Texas

Knowing which species you’re dealing with changes the approach. They use different entry points, prefer different nesting locations, and respond to different control methods.

House Mice
The most common indoor rodent problem across Texas. House mice are small, grayish-brown, and can fit through a gap roughly the size of a dime. They’re curious by nature, which actually makes them easier to trap than rats in many cases. They tend to nest close to food sources, usually within 30 feet of where they feed, so kitchens, pantries, and utility rooms are common nesting areas. Droppings are small, dark, and pointed at both ends.

Roof Rats
Also called black rats or ship rats, roof rats are strong climbers and in South and Central Texas they’re extremely common. They enter structures from above, coming in through gaps in rooflines, damaged soffits, spaces where utility lines pass through the exterior wall, and uncapped vents. The attic is their preferred nesting location. You’re more likely to hear them at night since they’re nocturnal, and their droppings are larger than mouse droppings, banana-shaped, with blunt ends.

Norway Rats
Larger and heavier than roof rats, Norway rats are burrowers. They tend to enter at ground level through foundation gaps, drain lines, utility penetrations near grade, and gaps under doors that don’t seal properly. They’re more common in commercial settings, particularly around dumpsters, loading docks, and areas with consistent food waste. Their droppings are capsule-shaped with blunt ends, noticeably larger than those of roof rats or mice.

Cotton Rats
Cotton rats are more of a rural and semi-rural concern in Texas, common in areas with tall grass and dense ground cover near structures. They occasionally move inside, particularly in fall when outdoor conditions become less hospitable.

Signs You Have A Rodent Problem

Rodents are cautious and tend to avoid open areas, so you often hear or find evidence of them before you actually see one. Common signs include:

Droppings along walls, in cabinets, in pantry areas, or in the attic
Rub marks: greasy, dark smears along walls and baseboards where rodents repeatedly travel the same path
Gnaw marks on wood, plastic, food packaging, or wiring
Scratching, scurrying, or thumping sounds in the attic or walls, often at night
Nesting material such as shredded insulation, paper, or fabric in hidden areas
A musty odor in the attic, walls, or utility spaces
Visible entry points: gaps around pipes, chewed-through openings, or damaged vents

Finding a single dropping or hearing a single noise doesn’t always mean a large infestation, but it does mean there’s something worth investigating. Rodent populations grow fast when conditions support it, so early inspection is always the right call.

How We Approach Rodent Control

Inspection First
Before anything else, we inspect the property. We look at the attic, garage, crawl space if present, roofline, foundation, utility penetrations, and the areas inside where activity has been noticed. We’re identifying the species, confirming where they’re active, locating entry points, and assessing the extent of the problem. That picture determines everything about how we treat it.

Trapping
We start with trapping before we seal entry points. This is intentional. Sealing rodents inside a structure causes them to die in wall voids and attic spaces, which creates a serious odor problem that can last for weeks and is difficult to locate and resolve.

We use snap traps and multi-catch traps along active runways, in the attic, garage, utility areass, and anywhere else the inspection identified activity. We position them correctly along walls and in corners where rodents naturally travel.

We want to be straightforward about one thing: we rely on trapping, not interior poison bait, as our primary control method for active indoor infestations. When a rodent ingests rodenticide and crawls into a wall or ceiling cavity to die, the smell that follows can be significant. Trapping keeps things cleaner and gives us confirmation that we’re catching them.

Exclusion and Sealing
Once trapping has brought the active population under control, we seal the entry points. The materials depend on the type and size of the gap: steel wool and hardware cloth for pipe penetrations, galvanized metal flashing for larger gaps along the roofline, concrete or mortar for foundation cracks, and heavy-duty sealants for smaller gaps. The goal is a physical barrier rodents can’t chew through, not just a temporary patch.

For properties with significant entry point issues, we coordinate this with our dedicated rodent exclusion service to make sure everything is addressed systematically.

Follow-Up Visits
We include a minimum of three follow-up visits after the initial service. During each visit we check traps, remove any captured rodents, replace or reposition traps as needed, and assess whether there’s any new activity or any entry points that need additional attention. We also give you an honest status update at each visit so you know where things stand.

Exterior Bait Stations
For exterior rodent pressure, particularly at commercial properties and homes with ongoing perimeter activity, we install tamper-resistant exterior bait stations. These are locked, properly anchored, and monitored on a schedule. They’re an effective way to manage the rodent population outside the structure before it becomes an interior problem.

Rodent Control for Commercial Properties

Commercial rodent problems carry consequences beyond property damage. A rodent sighting by a customer or a failed health department inspection can cause serious harm to a business’s reputation, and in food service settings the liability exposure is real.

We provide commercial rodent services for restaurants, warehouses, distribution centers, food processing facilities, retail stores, schools, office buildings, and agricultural operations. Commercial programs include site mapping, exterior bait station installation and monitoring, interior trap placement, documentation and service reports for compliance purposes, loading dock inspections, and dumpster area assessments. For facilities subject to third-party audits or regulatory inspections, we can tailor the program to meet those documentation requirements.

What You Can Do to Reduce Rodent Pressure

Professional treatment handles the active problem. These are the things on your end that help keep rodents from coming back:

Store food in hard-sided, sealed containers rather than cardboard boxes or bags
Keep pet food in sealed containers and don’t leave it out overnight
Take garbage out regularly and make sure outdoor bins have tight-fitting lids
Keep the areas around your foundation clear of clutter, wood piles, and dense vegetation that give rodents shelter close to the structure
Trim tree branches that hang over or touch the roofline, since roof rats use these as highways
Check door sweeps and garage door seals regularly and replace them if they’re not making full contact with the floor
Address any moisture or standing water issues, since water is a consistent attractant

Serving the Rio Grande Valley and All of Texas

We handle rodent problems throughout the RGV including McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, Pharr, Harlingen, Brownsville, and surrounding communities. We also serve customers across Texas including Laredo, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and Dallas.
Our technicians are licensed by the Texas Department of Agriculture, and we carry general liability insurance and worker’s compensation coverage.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

I saw one mouse. Do I really need professional help?

One mouse visible during the day usually means more are present but staying hidden. Mice are cautious, so if one is comfortable enough to be out in the open, the population is likely established. It’s worth at least having an inspection to understand what you’re dealing with before it grows.

Are rodent treatments safe for my kids and pets?

The trapping methods we use as our primary approach have no chemical risk to people or pets. For exterior bait stations, they are tamper-resistant and locked so children and pets can’t access the contents. We’ll walk you through everything we’re placing and where before we start.

How fast do rodent populations grow?

A house mouse can produce six to eight pups per litter and have several litters per year under good conditions. Rats reproduce somewhat more slowly but still quickly. A small problem can become a significant one within a few months if left untreated, which is why early action matters.

I keep getting rodents even after treatment. Why?

If the entry points aren’t sealed, new rodents will continue moving in regardless of how many you trap. This is the most common reason rodent problems repeat. If you’ve had treatment before and the problem came back, exclusion work is almost certainly the missing piece.

What's that smell in my attic?

A strong ammonia-like odor in the attic is usually from accumulated rodent urine and droppings. A different, more severe smell could indicate a rodent died in an inaccessible area. Either way, it warrants an inspection. In cases where insulation has been heavily contaminated, we can assess whether it needs to be removed and replaced.

Do you handle squirrels?

Squirrels are typically handled under wildlife services rather than standard rodent control. Give us a call and we’ll let you know the right approach based on what you’re dealing with.

Schedule a Free Inspection

If you’re hearing noises, finding droppings, or have seen a rodent in or around your property, give us a call. We’ll come out, assess the situation honestly, and tell you exactly what needs to be done.
Phone: (956) 433-3348
We’re available 24/7 for emergency service needs.

Get Free Inspection