Identifying the Feces of Different Pests

Finding pest droppings anywhere in or around your house is never a good sign. The fact that you found these means that there is some sort of small insect or rodent that has made your home their own. The good news is that finding pest droppings means that you have the opportunity to do something about this infestation. You can potentially identify who has been rattling around in your walls, getting into the garbage and claiming your home as theirs. Finding out what kind of pest you are dealing with is a key step in dealing with such a situation as it means that your odds of eliminating them from your property are much greater.

What Exactly Can I Find Out From Pest Droppings?

Figuring out what kind of pest is invading your home can be done by identifying the sort of feces that it leaves around. Being able to do this can make all of the difference in being able to restore the creature-free status of your home. So make sure that prior to cleaning up the droppings left behind, take some time to try and identify who it belongs to.

Warning: All pest droppings carry toxins. It is absolutely critical that you take extreme care when cleaning up and/or identifying any sort of animal droppings.

The first step to identifying pests droppings is to understand what kind of insect, rodent, or larger animal you might be dealing with. There are three general categories of pests who leave poop behind:

Rodents That Range from Small to Medium Size: rats, mice, squirrels, chipmunks, etc.

Larger Animals: skunks, groundhogs, raccoons, possums, and woodchucks, etc.

Insects: Generally these are either bed bugs, cockroaches, or termites.

WHAT DO THESE DROPPINGS LOOK LIKE?

Pests tend to make their presence known and are fairly hard to miss. However, by being able to identify which creatures poop you have found will help you to determine where in your home they are living, and determine the best location for traps or spray.

COCKROACH DROPPINGS

Cockroach poop is small and granular and is often compared in the way that coarsely ground pepper might appear when scattered on the floor. Cockroach droppings are sticky enough that it is able to cling to walls. Unfortunately for those whose homes they infest, cockroach droppings are quite toxic when dry. Because of this, they can trigger a number of illnesses, anywhere from asthma attacks to gastrointestinal problems.

RAT DROPPINGS

Rat droppings are thicker and relatively short in length. Roof rat excrement is longer and fatter than mouse poop. However, people often confuse the two because they are similar in shape, color, and distribution pattern.

MOUSE DROPPINGS

One of the most commonly found kinds of pest poop is mouse droppings. Mice tend to leave behind their feces wherever they go. Mouse poop is dark in colour and is found in a fairly scattered pattern, in places like basements, kitchens and garages and any other location that mice might lurk.