Massey Rodent Inspection
 

I use Massey for lawn chemical treatment and irrigation maintenance. I had them for lawn mowing but they were terrible.

Out of the blue yesterday I got a call from a Massey agent reporting "rodents in the area" and offering a free inspection of the attic.

I am more than a tad suspicious that this is just a tactic to sell me a service I probably don't need. I would assume that since this is Florida, there are always, and always have been, rodents in the area. We have seen nothing in our home or yard to suggest we have a rodent problem.

I would be interested in others' experience with rodents, rodent problems, and Massey's approach to this.

BTW, if it matters, I live in Poinciana, a neighborhood approaching 20 years old, so we aren't near the newer and more recently disturbed areas.

the only rodent is the Massey guy! Put a sticky pad in your garage and rest easy... They people are always looking to sell unwanted services..

Roof rats caused $6,000 of damage to a relatives Sanford Florida home while they were away for a month.

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...f-rats-328164/

Roof rats are the worst rodent pest in the state of Florida and most abundant. The Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) that is familiar to most people is rare in Florida. Roof rats consume and destroy stored animal and human food, attack fruit crops, and take up residence in attics, soffits, hollow walls, and out-buildings.

1. You sure it was an actual Massey person? Maybe someone saw the lawn sign out front of your yard and used it as an in?
2. If it was a Massey person what makes them suspect there are rodents in the area? Did a neighbor have an issue?
3. I was told by Massey they do not provide lawn mowing service (it was a hassle).

Massey has been mowing my lawn for about 2 years.

You would probably hear rodents in your attic. We had rats and mice in ours and, once we eliminated them, we put wire in the bottom of all of our downpipes and cut back any overhanging branches to stop them getting on the roof. No problems since.

There are rodents in every area. Some have long furry tails.:faint:

I got the exact same call with the exact same line about rodents in the neighborhood last week from them. They said they were treating several houses on my street and I should have an inspection. I asked which addresses they were treating so I could talk to those folks but they said they didn't have that info readily available. I passed on the offer.

Why not call back the number to verify if it was actually Massey who called?

I did and it was.

If it was really Massey, and you are already a customer, and they offered you a free inspection, I don't see a problem. If they offer you a new service, just say no. Or, you could just decline the inspection. I don't see where Massey did anything wrong or suspicious.

Rodents
 

If you have rodents in your attic you will hear them at night. We had one up there and I trapped it with a snap trap

The Village of Summerhill neighborhood has had a ton of rodents showing up in the attics. We thought it was squirrels we were hearing. It wasn’t. The funny thing Massey was asked several times to see if they could tell us what that early morning scratching noise was. They couldn’t. It was a neighbor’s service that found the rats in her attic and later Massey concurred.

Our neighbor has significant roof damage from the rodents
 

This is a legit issue. You may not hear the rodents because of the insulation. After our neighbor discovered significant roof damage from the rodents, we hired an independent contractor (not associated with Macey) to check out our roof. Thankfully the damage she uncovered was minimal but there were signs of previous infestations.

Unsolicited calls
 

If you call the number that called you, of course they'll say they are Massey. Call the actual Massey number (or whatever company they say they are) to verify.

Good point. Although, I have 7 different numbers for Massey.

I called the number on the Massey website . 888-2-MASSEY. Pretty sure I got the right one.
The guy showed up. Inspected the attic. Reported no signs of rodents. Made a few recommendations to try to insure keeping it that way. Nothing unreasonable, probably, but the house has been here for 18 years with no infestation. Not sure I want to spend $500 on this issue.

This is like tge telephone game. The story keeps changing with each party. 🤦*♀️

Big problem down here.
 

Don't plant anything close to your home as they can climb up the plant and chew through the soffit like butter. Massey is telling the truth. Know of someone north of 466 that had rats in the attic. SOme may have rats and never know it till too late. Massey includes trapping them and removal with their services as long as the source of entry has been illuminated. Great company. They are they are telling you the truth. Stick with them.

Roof rat ??? That sounds like something you would find in politics. 🐀🤪

Thank goodness it didn't get in...

IMAGINE HUMANS have been trying to kill off rodents-mice and rats, like forever. Traps etc interesting to look up all the engineering marvels. They are amazing. A mouse can get through a crack less than 1/4 of an inch. Way back, we lived in an apartment. They outlawed the old system where buildings would burn their trash. Mice went NUTS. You would see or think you see something. Mice are far smaller than Mickey. I would buy those snap traps. I would bill them off my rent with the receipt. I would put out three traps and they would have a mouse in each. We would talk to the super and get excuses. I increased the number of traps to six. It was not unusual to get six mice. Fourteen is my lucky number. I put out 14 traps and got 13 mice which I dropped outside the the supers door, We have none here. Based on experience. Cheese
is only good in cartoons. Bacon works but mice are skilled at taking it without getting caught.
Peanut butter is cheaper and works best. For those who love animals. Do they think glue traps or drowning traps are more humane? Look for any gaps in molding and stuff steel wool into them.

Old story. I knew someone who recused a dog. He fed it etc. He took it to a vet and the Vet told him it was a Australian ???? RAT. Moral beware of what you rescue.

Ohiobuckeye
 

I might not be the right person to comment on this but every business is looking for a way to get more money out of us, mostly because TV is all seniors because they think most seniors are getting to old to do it, just be beware not to get scammed!

Thought I had squirrels in my attic. Turned out it was rats. Took several trips from exterminator to get them. I think there were 4 total. We could definitely hear them from our bed at night. Turned out they crawled up the inside of a gutter and found a hole on roof at an intersection. It should have been sealed when built. He sealed the hole with a screen. After last rat was trapped he treated the Attic with some aerosol to kill any bacteria from their droppings. In all it cost $900. He was coming from Orlando and made several trips. I didn't expect it to cost that much, but was very happy with the results. He found pieces of papaya in the Attic from our trees.

If you have snakes on your property or in your neighborhood, that’s a good sign you have rats. Both rat snakes and black racers will be attracted to the rats. We were told by our pest control company that rats love palm trees and will access the roof from them, and even take up residence in them. We, thankfully, don’t like palm trees, so did not plant any when we landscaped.

Hey, people pay good money for those palm trees and love them growing next to the house, LOL. I had enough of trees up north and done with them on my property.

I have had a rat in the attic and Deans set a trap. Rat was smarter and moved out, however, depending on conditions they may move back. You would certainly hear them up there.