Rodent Control in Mt. Lebanon

Mt. Lebanon sits just past Dormont, with the T running through and Washington Road as the main business strip. Much of it went up in the 1920s and 1930s. Brick colonials, Tudors, big shade trees and deep lots.

Big trees, older houses and good gardens are why people like it here. They're also why the mice and rats do. Branches to climb, gaps to squeeze through, and plenty to eat out back.

Mice climbing the shade trees to the soffits

Mice climb better than people think. A tree hanging over the roof is a ladder to the soffits, gable vents and the seam where an addition meets the original house. Houses with slate or tile roofs and lots of trim have a lot of edges to check. Attic mice are the top call here, mostly in the fall. You'll hear them at night. Squirrels are up and about in the daytime, so a nighttime scratch with droppings in the insulation points to mice.

Those jobs start with trapping in the attic and walls, then sealing the roofline and porch gaps. Lots of homes here have a back porch that got enclosed decades ago, sitting on its own foundation with a gap where it meets the house. Mice use that seam to reach the kitchen. When the attic's been lived in for a while, cleanup comes after. Trim branches back off the roof and keep leaves cleared from the foundation and you'll cut down on repeat calls.

• Branches hanging over the roof
• Soffits, gable vents and roof returns
• Enclosed porches on their own foundation

Garden rats, sheds and who to call about outdoor rats

Vegetable gardens, compost bins and sheds draw Norway rats in the warmer months. Wooded edges around Mt. Lebanon Park and Bird Park add cover. Rats under the shed or the deck call for locked stations and burrow treatment, and if they've moved closer, rat trapping. Keep firewood up off the ground and pick up fallen produce. Bird feeders draw them too. Seed on the ground under the feeder is dinner for a rat.

Mt. Lebanon is its own municipality, outside the city, so Pittsburgh 311 isn't the number for outdoor rat complaints. Those go to the Allegheny County Health Department. Rats in your own house or yard are a private job. Shops and restaurants along Washington Road and in Uptown have dumpster areas too, and owners can call.

Closer to the city, Brookline gets a lot of the same calls. Not sure what's in the attic? The signs guide helps you tell rats from mice.

Around Mt. Lebanon: Washington Road · Mt. Lebanon Park · Bird Park · Uptown Mt. Lebanon · Castle Shannon Boulevard · Mt. Lebanon T station (ZIP 15228, 15216, 15234)

Also serving Lawrenceville, South Side Flats and Slopes, Bloomfield, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Mount Washington, Polish Hill, Brookline, Millvale.