Rodent Control Clermont, FL | Rat & Mouse Removal

Rodent Control and Rat Removal in Clermont, FL

Clermont sits on sandy hills between the Chain of Lakes and the old citrus country along US 27. Rats here move from leftover grove trees, lake shores and open land into attics and garages. We find where they get in, close it with metal, trap what is inside and return until it is quiet.

Grove Land, Backyard Citrus and the Roof Rat

When the Florida Citrus Tower opened on US 27 in 1956, visitors rode to the top to look out over miles of orange trees. Three hard freezes in 1983, 1985 and 1989 killed most of the groves in Lake County, and over the next decades much of that land became subdivisions.

Roof rats were living in those groves long before the houses came. Many lots still have an orange, grapefruit or tangerine tree left over from the old rows or planted by the first owner. UF/IFAS notes that roof rats feed on citrus mostly from September through March, and leave a round hole about the size of a quarter with the fruit hollowed out.

A loaded citrus tree next to a lanai cage or a low roofline gives a rat food and a ladder. That is why we check your trees as closely as your attic.

Pick up dropped fruit every day in fall and winter, and keep limbs at least a few feet off the roof and screen enclosure.

Lake or area	What is around it	Rodent we look for	Where we check first
Lake Minneola and downtown	Waterfront Park, the trail, the historic downtown and older homes	Roof rats and Norway rats	Older soffit and gable vents, crawl space openings, restaurant dumpsters near the lake
Lake Minnehaha and Lake Palatlakaha	Lakefront lots with docks, boat lifts and seawalls	Norway rats on the ground	Burrows under sheds and slabs, boat storage, gaps under garage doors
Lake Hiawatha and the canal link	Homes backing onto canals and wet shoreline brush	Norway rats and mice	Shoreline brush, woodpiles, pool equipment pads and AC line openings
Lake Susan and Lake Louisa	Larger lots near Lake Louisa State Park, wetlands and woods	Roof rats and native rodents	Roof edges near tall trees, outbuildings, feed and seed stored in sheds

Lake or area

What is around it

Rodent we look for

Where we check first

Lake Minneola and downtown

Waterfront Park, the trail, the historic downtown and older homes

Roof rats and Norway rats

Older soffit and gable vents, crawl space openings, restaurant dumpsters near the lake

Lake Minnehaha and Lake Palatlakaha

Lakefront lots with docks, boat lifts and seawalls

Norway rats on the ground

Burrows under sheds and slabs, boat storage, gaps under garage doors

Lake Hiawatha and the canal link

Homes backing onto canals and wet shoreline brush

Norway rats and mice

Shoreline brush, woodpiles, pool equipment pads and AC line openings

Lake Susan and Lake Louisa

Larger lots near Lake Louisa State Park, wetlands and woods

Roof rats and native rodents

Roof edges near tall trees, outbuildings, feed and seed stored in sheds

New Construction Pushes Rodents Into Finished Homes

South Lake County keeps growing. The Wellness Way corridor south of Clermont covers more than 15,000 acres, and new neighborhoods keep going in along SR 50 and US 27. When a bulldozer clears an old grove or a pasture, the rats and mice living there move to the nearest houses.

New homes are not rodent proof. Most are stucco on block with concrete tile roofs. Mice and young rats get in where tile meets the eaves, at unfinished ridge caps, at gaps around plumbing and cable, and under garage doors that were never adjusted.

If you live next to an active build site, the first few months are when we see the most new calls. Sealing early is easier than cleaning a nest out of attic insulation later. See our rodent exclusion service.

What Does Not Stop Rats in a Lake County Home

We hear about these a lot from Clermont homeowners who tried to handle it first. None of them close the hole the rat is using.

Ultrasonic plug in repellers

Peppermint oil or dryer sheets in the attic

Spray foam alone in a gap (rats chew through it)

Loose poison thrown in the attic, which can leave a dead rat in a wall

Trapping without sealing, so new rats keep coming in

Roof rats are active from dusk to dawn. They leave the attic at night to feed on fruit, seed and pet food, then come back before sunrise. Daytime noise is more likely a squirrel.

New homes in Clermont often have open spots at the tile roof edges, ridge caps, garage door corners and where AC lines and cables go through the wall. Building nearby can also push rodents out of open land and toward finished homes.

Usually not. Keep it trimmed away from the roof and screen enclosure, pick up dropped fruit every day and harvest ripe fruit early. Those steps take away the food and the bridge without losing the tree.

Norway rats burrow near water and under sheds, docks and slabs. They can work their way into garages and crawl spaces. We check the shoreline side of your property, not just the roof.

Rat burrows are about 2 to 4 inches wide and often show up along slabs, fences and sheds. A wide, half moon shaped hole is often a gopher tortoise, which is protected in Florida. We identify it before doing anything.

Bag and wash soft gear, throw out chewed food, and store nutrition products in sealed bins. Then we seal the garage door and wall openings and trap the mice still inside.

Yes. We offer commercial rodent control with scheduled visits, exterior bait stations and written service logs for restaurants, shops and rental properties.

Yes. We serve South Lake County, including Minneola and Groveland, and nearby Winter Garden and Horizon West in Orange County. Call (561) 562-7607 any time to set up an inspection.