Quality Rodent Control Products
Scimetrics, makers of Kaput®, is a family-owned business. Our main facilities, which include a state-of-the-art laboratory and manufacturing plant, are located along the foothills of the northern Colorado Rockies. Our staff has more than 100 years of experience in pest control research and product development involving rodents, moles, birds, and feral hogs; vector-borne diseases such as malaria and plague; fleas, ticks, and sand flies; and wildlife conservation. Our focus has always been on simple, effective, reduced-risk rodent and vector control.
Quick Facts
Pocket Gophers
The pocket gopher is a burrowing rodent so named because of the fur-lined cheek pouches outside their mouth. Gophers have yellowish-brown to black fur on top and their underside is often a lighter shade to almost white in color. The rodent has large front claws, large incisors, and small ears that appear to lay back against their head. The presence of pocket gophers is most likely noticed by their fan-shaped soil mounds.
Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs
Black-tailed prairie dogs reside in burrow systems that form colonies. Their hair is rather coarse; it’s sandy brown with black tips with a lighter belly color. The most common method of detection is the mounds they create when digging their burrows, which also serve as lookout posts used to watch for predators. Prairie dogs will communicate with short bursts often referred to as barking.
Mice
The mouse is a small, slender, gray or brown rodent that has a slightly pointed nose, small, black, slightly protruding eyes, large ears and a nearly hairless tail. House mice will live in or around homes, commercial buildings, farms and in open fields. House mice can dig and burrow into the ground or structures. The presence of mice is most likely noted by their droppings in runways, feeding areas, or where they find shelter.
Moles
Moles are small mammals that live underground in tunnels. They can vary from tan to brownish-black in color. They have tiny or invisible ears and eyes, reduced rear legs, and very powerful front limbs with large claws on their paws. Moles are commonly detected by the volcano-shaped hills that are made up of clods of dirt. These hills are pushed up from the deep tunnels and may be 2 to 24 inches tall.
California Ground Squirrels
California ground squirrels are easily identified as they forage above ground near their burrows. Their fur is brownish gray and speckled with off-white along the back. They are similar to tree squirrels in appearance and may climb trees, but when threatened they will return to their burrows underground. Ground squirrels will invade and damage gardens, fruit trees and ornamental plantings.
Rats
Rats will usually reside in close proximity to people. Their fur is coarse and usually brown to reddish-gray above and whitish-gray on the belly. There are blackish colored varieties in some locations. Rats will eat just about anything. The presence of rats is most likely noted by their droppings in runways, smudge marks from rubbing along the walls, and signs of gnawing. Pets will often alert you to their presence.
Voles
Voles are very often mistaken for mice. They are similar in appearance, but voles’ ears lie back against their heads rather than stand up, and they have a shorter tail that looks like it has been cut off. Voles will eat the roots of grass, plants, vegetables, and ornamental plantings, and they can girdle small trees and bushes. They are most often discovered by the damage they inflict on lawns, gardens and plantings.
Rodents & Their Fleas
Most rodents have fleas that can spread diseases such as typhus, bubonic plague and tularemia. Fleas survive by taking a “blood meal” from the host rodent. When a rodent dies, fleas look for a new host – another rodent, a passing human, your dog or cat. When a blood meal is taken from the new host, the disease is transmitted. Kaput Combo Baits kill the rodent AND the disease-carrying fleas, stopping the spread of disease.
Feral Hogs
Feral hogs are pigs living in the wild that have descended from escaped domesticated livestock. They are known to cause $800+ million in crop damage annually and water quality loss due to erosion along river banks. They can also cause landscape destruction and modification, and they can spread diseases to domestic livestock.
