Rodent Control in Rita Ranch
Rita Ranch is block walls. Every yard has one, and pack rats love them. The neighborhood spreads across Tucson's southeast side along Rita Rd., Houghton Rd. and Valencia Rd., mostly stucco and tile homes built from the late 1980s on, with the Pima County Fairgrounds just south and the Rincons off to the east. Plenty of streets dead-end at open desert.
So most calls here are pack rats along the back wall, rats in the garage and nests in the car. Mice show up in garages and storage rooms once fall nights cool down.
What lives along the back wall
Shallow washes with mesquite and creosote run through and around the neighborhood. Pack rats travel the base of the block wall at night, tuck middens into the corners and slip under side gates and RV gates. Cactus and woodpiles stacked against the wall make it easy for them. Keeping that strip clear goes a long way, and most jobs here are midden removal along the wall.
Summer heat pushes pack rats toward shade, and the closest cool spot is often your garage, your shed or the shady side of the wall. That's why a lot of Rita Ranch calls come in June and through the monsoon. The sun also wears out garage door seals and gate bottoms fast, and AC lines and hose bibs through the stucco leave gaps. A tech can quote sealing garage doors and gate bottoms after a walk-around. Mice in the garage usually get trapped and sealed out at the same time.
Driveway cars and RV gates
Plenty of families here park in the driveway, and a pack rat living along the wall can be in the engine bay by morning. Cactus pieces or sticks on the engine are your cue to ask about protecting a driveway car. RV gates and side yards where trailers, boats and toys sit are even better hiding spots, quiet and shaded. Keep them clear and check stored vehicles often. Our guide on keeping pack rats out of your car has the habits.
Rita Ranch shares the southeast desert edge with Vail, and the bigger lots up toward Tanque Verde see the same thing, with barns and horse trailers thrown in.
| Got questions about what's living in your yard, attic or car? We're glad to talk it through. | (520) 231-7565 |
Edge lots near the Fairgrounds
Homes on the south and east edges, closer to the Fairgrounds and out along Houghton, see the most desert traffic, with open creosote and washes right there. The interior streets, with houses on every side, still get pack rats but less often. If you're on an edge lot, walk the back wall once a month and look for fresh cactus pieces and droppings.
Around Rita Ranch: Rita Rd. and Houghton Rd. · Valencia Rd. · Pima County Fairgrounds · Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (to the northwest) · Rincon Mountain views to the east (ZIP 85747)
Questions We Get
Why do I keep finding cactus pieces in my garage?
That's a pack rat hauling building material to its nest. There's a midden close by. Look along the wall and under anything stored.
Will they seal the side gate too?
Many techs do. Ask on the call. Gate bottoms are one of the most common ways in around here.
Also serving Catalina Foothills, Oro Valley, Marana, Tanque Verde and East Side, Midtown and Sam Hughes, Vail, Sahuarita and Green Valley, Casas Adobes, South Tucson and West Side.