I try to keep from getting downright dirty and seedy here at Active Rain. But sometimes, an honest man has no choice but to get down in the dirt in the trenches. This is a seedy blog! We are going to talk rodents, mice and rats. When an inspector goes into a crawl space, one of the first clues that there are "vermin in our midst" is insulation that has been torn or pulled down from under the floor or that has been torn off heat ducts

Of course, nothing is ever as simple as one would like and sometimes the problem is that the insulation was not well-supported and it tumbled down by itself. If the bodies of vermin or droppings are present, those establish occupancy by undesirables. However, sometimes the clues are less disgusting but equally obvious. The photo below is an example of a way to make a 100 percent positive ID of rodents. 

All that chaff is bird seed, mainly sunflower seeds. Around here we do not have birds that thrive in crawl spaces so how does bird seed get up in the insulation --- yes rodents. The situation in the photo below is a bit less common -- bird seed along the sill plate but, again, it was not left by any stinkin' bird. Had I been guessing, I would have thought this might have been activity from mice. In this case, I passed by a dirty rat, very deceased, on the way to the other side of the crawl space. So I guess the big guys were in play too. In the Pacific Northwest and Bellingham, every homeowner needs to keep an eye out for these critters. They are opportunists and can live just about anywhere.

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections