Inspection, entry point sealing, and poison-free trapping for rats and mice, from a local company where the owner does the work.
Rodent problems here do not behave the way they do inland. Coastal fog, mild winters, and heavy vegetation keep rats and mice active year-round, and the older housing stock along this stretch of coast gives them more ways in than newer construction does. Roof rats travel overhead, along fence lines and tree limbs, into attics and roof voids. Norway rats stay low, working through foundation gaps, crawl space vents, and utility penetrations. House mice need an opening about the width of a pencil.
That difference matters, because the treatment plan changes depending on which one is in the building. West Pest Co. is owned and operated by Matthew West, who handles the inspection, the sealing, and the trapping himself. Every job starts by finding out what is getting in and where it is coming through, not by setting bait and hoping.
Most homeowners notice one of these long before they ever see a rodent.
Two or more of these usually means the activity is established rather than brand new. If you want the background on why rats get into houses in the first place, we cover it in more depth on the blog.
Three rodents account for nearly every residential call in Santa Cruz County, and they do not use the same routes.
| Rodent | How it gets in | What you notice first |
|---|---|---|
| Roof rats | Roof lines, tree limbs touching the structure, attic vents, gaps behind gutters | Noise overhead at night, droppings in the attic, chewed wiring |
| Norway rats | Foundation gaps, crawl space vents, pipe and utility penetrations, under decks | Burrows near the foundation, droppings in the garage, activity around compost and trash |
| House mice | Gaps around pipes, worn door sweeps, dryer vents, openings the width of a pencil | Droppings in drawers and pantries, small gnaw marks, sightings near appliances |
Correct identification decides where traps go, which openings get sealed first, and how long the work takes. It is the reason the inspection comes before anything else.
Rodent problems in Santa Cruz County rarely resolve on their own. The process is built to stop the activity, remove the animals, and close the route they used.
West Pest Co. is a local, owner-operated company, not a franchise branch. Matthew West answers the phone, performs the inspection, and does the work. He was voted Best Pest Control in Santa Cruz in the Readers’ Choice awards two years running, 2023 and 2024.
A pattern shows up in the reviews: homeowners who called West Pest Co. after other companies had already been out and not solved it. What changed was not a stronger chemical. It was someone getting under the house, finding the actual entry point, and explaining what was happening in terms the homeowner could act on.
There is no contract pressure here. A one-time treatment is the right call for a clear, limited problem. An ongoing plan makes more sense for older homes, properties with heavy vegetation, or neighborhoods with repeat rodent pressure. Matthew will tell you which one your situation actually calls for.
Method selection accounts for children, pets, and the surrounding environment, using low-toxicity and non-chemical approaches wherever they will do the job. Most rodent work is mechanical anyway: sealing, screening, and trapping.
California has tightened rodenticide rules considerably. The California Ecosystems Protection Act (AB 1788, 2020) placed a moratorium on most uses of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, and the Poison-Free Wildlife Act (AB 1322) extended that moratorium to first-generation anticoagulants, with limited exemptions for agricultural and public health uses.
The reason is local. Those poisons move up the food chain. A rat that takes bait and dies in the open becomes a meal for the owls, hawks, and coyotes living in and around Santa Cruz County neighborhoods, along with cats and dogs. Homeowners here tend to already know this, and it is one of the most common questions Matthew fields on an inspection.
West Pest Co. builds its rodent work around exclusion and trapping rather than poison. It takes a more thorough inspection and it takes longer than putting out bait. What it does is remove the animals already inside and close the opening the next ones would have used, without putting anything into the yard that wildlife or pets can reach.
Usually one of three things changed. A food source became available, a gap opened up, or something outside pushed them in. Tree trimming, construction next door, a neighbor sealing their own home, or the first cool nights of fall all send rodents looking for somewhere new. In Santa Cruz County that fall shift indoors starts earlier than most people expect, often in September.
Accessible food is the big one: pet food left out, open compost, fruit trees dropping unpicked fruit, bird feeders, unsealed garbage. After that it is shelter. Ivy, woodpiles, dense shrubs against the foundation, and clutter in crawl spaces all give rodents somewhere to live within reach of the structure.
The rodent program is built around exclusion and trapping rather than poison. California has restricted most anticoagulant rodenticides, and in a county with this much wildlife, bait creates problems well beyond the rats. Trapping also confirms exactly what was removed, which bait never does.
Almost always because the entry point was never closed. Trapping removes the animals inside the building. If the gap they used is still open, the next ones follow the same route, sometimes within a few weeks. That is why sealing is treated as the core of the job rather than an add-on.
Yes. Method selection accounts for children, pets, and the surrounding environment, and most of the work is mechanical rather than chemical: sealing, screening, and trapping in placements pets cannot reach. Matthew walks you through what is going where before anything is set.
They will catch some rodents. What they will not do is tell you where the animals are getting in, and that is the part that decides whether the problem is actually over. Store-bought bait also carries the secondary poisoning risk that California’s rodenticide rules were written to address.
Same-day response is often possible across the county. Rodent activity in walls or an attic is worth calling about early. Wire damage and nesting material build up quickly, and a small issue in September tends to be a much larger one by December.
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