The two rodents that infest Panhandle homes are roof rats and house mice. Norway rats exist here but are far less common than they are in northern cities. Roof rats love the Florida climate — palms, citrus trees, attics, soffits, and the warm voids inside cinder block walls. House mice handle the rest.
This guide covers DIY trapping and exclusion for both species. Bait stations are mentioned but not recommended as a first move — for reasons covered below.
Identifying which one you have
Roof rat
About 6 to 8 inches body length, plus a tail longer than the body. Sleek, dark gray to black, big ears, pointed nose. Climbs aggressively — they live in attics, palm fronds, citrus trees, and soffits. Droppings are about 1/2 inch long, pointed at both ends.
House mouse
About 3 inches body, plus a tail of similar length. Light brown to gray. Lives in walls, under appliances, in pantries. Droppings are 1/8 to 1/4 inch, pointed at one end. A sign of mice — not rats — is small piles of droppings concentrated in one spot. Rats deposit droppings along travel routes.
Norway rat
Heavier and stockier than a roof rat, brown, smaller ears, blunt nose, tail shorter than the body. Tunnels in soil and lives in burrows. Less common in the Panhandle except near restaurants, dumpsters, and waterways.
Step 1: Exclusion always comes first
If you trap rats without sealing the home, you will trap rats forever. The local population around any house in Florida is essentially infinite. Exclusion is the only thing that converts trapping from “endless task” to “finite project.”
Rats can fit through any gap larger than 1/2 inch. Mice can fit through any gap larger than 1/4 inch. With that in mind, walk the exterior of the house at sunrise (lighting is best for spotting gaps):
- Roof line. Where soffit meets fascia, where eaves meet chimneys, where flashing meets shingles. Roof rats enter at the roof line about 80% of the time.
- Garage doors. Side seals and bottom seal. Most garage doors have a 1/2″ gap somewhere along the seal.
- Vents. Soffit vents, gable vents, dryer vents, attic ridge vents. Replace torn screens with 1/4″ hardware cloth.
- Utility penetrations. AC line sets, plumbing chases, cable, electrical service entrance. Stuff with copper mesh, then foam, then caulk.
- Foundation gaps. Where slab meets siding, gaps in stucco, weep holes (cover with stainless wool, do not seal).
- Trees touching the roof. Roof rats use overhanging branches as a bridge. Trim back to at least 4 feet from the roof.
Sealing materials, in order of preference: 1/4″ galvanized hardware cloth (best for vents), copper mesh (best for stuffing into voids — does not rust), and acrylic-latex caulk over the mesh. Skip steel wool (rusts) and expanding foam alone (rats chew through it).
Step 2: Snap traps
For both rats and mice, snap traps remain the best first-choice tool. They kill instantly when used correctly, are reusable, and let you confirm a kill — unlike bait stations, where the rat dies somewhere in your wall.
Use the right size: Victor mouse traps for mice, larger Victor or Tomcat rat traps for rats. Place traps perpendicular to walls with the trigger end against the wall. Rats and mice run along walls, not through open space.
Bait choice matters more than people realize. Forget cheese — that is cartoon trapping. The two baits that work best:
- Peanut butter. Apply a small dab and press it into the trigger so the rat has to work to get it. Free baited peanut butter just gets stolen.
- Bacon. Tied to the trigger with thread. Roof rats love bacon.
For roof rats specifically, the trick is placement: rats travel along beams and rafters, not on the floor. Set traps along travel paths in the attic, on top of cabinets, along garage rafters. A trap on the floor of an attic catches almost nothing.
Pre-bait for 2 to 3 nights: place traps unset with bait so the rats learn to feed there without trigger anxiety. Then set them. Catch rates are 3 to 5x higher with pre-baiting on smart populations.
Step 3: When to use rodenticide bait
Bait stations using anticoagulant rodenticides (bromadiolone, bromethalin, etc.) can be effective for outdoor pressure reduction — they keep rats from establishing in the first place. Inside the home, they cause two problems most homeowners do not consider:
- Rats die inside walls. A dead rat in a wall void smells for 2 to 3 weeks. There is no way to retrieve it without opening the wall.
- Secondary poisoning. Rodenticides kill cats, dogs, hawks, owls, and outdoor mammals that scavenge poisoned rats. Florida wildlife rehabbers report dozens of bald eagle and great horned owl secondary-poisoning cases each year.
If you decide to use bait, use it only in tamper-resistant outdoor stations along the foundation and property edge. Never apply rodenticide loose in the attic or crawl space.
Step 4: Cleanup and disinfection
Rodent droppings carry hantavirus, leptospirosis, and salmonella. Once you have trapped out a population, you need to clean correctly:
- Ventilate the area for 30 minutes before entering. Open windows.
- Wear N95 respirator, gloves, and goggles. Do not vacuum or sweep dry — that aerosolizes pathogens.
- Spray droppings and contaminated surfaces with a 1:10 bleach solution. Let sit 5 minutes.
- Wipe up with paper towels. Bag everything.
- Disinfect surfaces a second time after removal.
- Wash gloves with disinfectant before removing, then wash hands.
For attic insulation contaminated with droppings, the only proper fix is removal and replacement. This is one of the legitimate reasons to call a pro — most homeowners cannot DIY a 600 sq ft blown-insulation removal, and contaminated cellulose is a long-term respiratory hazard.
The Florida-specific traps that catch nothing
You will see plenty of products marketed for rodent control that range from limited to useless:
- Glue boards. Inhumane. Rats often chew off limbs to escape. Mice die slowly. Most pest control associations now recommend against them on welfare grounds.
- Ultrasonic plug-in repellers. Multiple peer-reviewed studies show no measurable effect on rodent behavior. Save the $40.
- Peppermint oil cotton balls. May discourage initial entry; does nothing to evict an established population.
- Snake-shaped rubber decoys. Rats figure out within 24 hours that they are not real.
Outdoor pressure: the real long-term play
If your yard is full of cover, the rats will keep coming. Reduce attractiveness by:
- Trimming palm fronds and skirting palms (palm thatch is prime roof rat habitat)
- Picking up fruit fall under citrus and loquat trees within 24 hours
- Securing pet food indoors
- Switching from open compost piles to a sealed tumbler
- Storing birdseed in metal cans, not plastic bins
- Cleaning up under bird feeders weekly
An overgrown hedge against the side of the house is essentially a rat condo. Trim back to 3 feet of clearance.
When to call a pro
Call a professional rodent control service if:
- You have a structural infestation in a hard-to-access space (attic with blown insulation, sealed crawl space, between-floor voids in older homes)
- The exclusion work requires roofing, masonry, or stucco repair beyond your skill level
- You need contaminated insulation removed and replaced
- You have caught 10+ rats in 30 days and the catches are not slowing — implies a much larger population than typical
For everything else, $30 in snap traps and a Saturday of exclusion work beats every monthly service contract.