Rodent Control in Castle Heights, Waco

Rodents in Castle Heights

Castle Heights sits north of Austin Avenue between about Thirty-Third and Thirty-Ninth Streets. Developers laid it out in 1923 as a residential area at the end of the streetcar line, according to the Waco History project. It was its own village from 1939 until Waco annexed it in 1945, and in 2009 it became Waco’s first historic district on the National Register. The name comes from Cottonland Castle, the 1890s stone house on Austin Avenue.

The planning shows: curving streets, big lots and big backyards. The houses are a mix of Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Spanish Eclectic and Minimal Traditional, with ranch homes added after World War II. Oaks and magnolias shade most of it.

That canopy is the main reason roof rats do well here. They run limbs and power lines, drop onto a roof and look for a way in: a soffit return, a gable vent with torn screen, the joint where a porch roof meets the wall. On Spanish Eclectic homes with barrel tile, open tile ends at the eaves are worth checking. Many homes have attached garages, and garage door corners let mice in at ground level.

What a technician checks here

Expect a look at the whole roofline, often from a ladder, and at the attic along the eaves where roof rats nest. Branches within a few feet of the roof should come back. Inside, the technician checks the attic insulation for runways and droppings, then the garage and the kitchen. Older homes may have crawl spaces or additions built at different times, and the joints between old and new sections are a common gap.

Rat control and exclusion are the usual pair here. If rats have been in the attic a while, attic cleanup follows.

Neighbors on the Austin Avenue side are close to Bell’s Hill Park, which wraps around Waco Creek. Creek corridors give Norway rats places to burrow, so yards that back toward the creek may need a look at ground level too.

Rodent services in Castle Heights

• Rodent Inspection and Assessment: Find the species, the nest and every way in before anyone sets a trap.
• Rodent Trapping and Removal: Traps set on the actual runs, checked on a schedule until the activity stops.
• Rodent Exclusion and Prevention: Gaps closed with metal, mesh and sealant so new rodents can't use the same doors.
• Rat Control: Roof rats up high and Norway rats down low, each handled the way it behaves.
• Mouse Control: House mice cleared from kitchens, walls and garages, with the small gaps sealed.
• Attic Rodent Cleanup: Nests, droppings and soiled insulation removed after the rodents are gone.

See all rodent services or read the Waco rodent guides for reporting, rental and licensing rules.