M&M Pest Control Urges East Texas Homeowners to Fortify Their Homes Against Rodents, Wildlife, and Costly Winter Damage

Palestine-based M&M Pest Control urges homeowners to seal vents and pipe gaps before freezes bring rodents, wildlife and burst pipes.

PALESTINE, TX, UNITED STATES, October 26, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — M&M Pest Control, a family-owned pest control company based in Palestine, Texas, and the 2026 Best of Palestine Readers’ Choice winner for pest control, is urging homeowners in Anderson County and surrounding East Texas communities to seal the gaps, vents and utility openings that let rodents, wildlife and insects into their homes before the first hard freeze of the season. The company’s fall advisory rests on a principle its technicians see play out every year: it is far easier to keep pests out of a house than to remove them once they have moved in.

That timing matters more than many homeowners realize. As nights cool, mice, rats, opossums, raccoons and squirrels start looking for warm, protected places to spend the winter. Attics, wall voids and crawl spaces offer exactly that. Once an animal is inside, the problems tend to compound. Insulation gets torn up and contaminated, wiring gets chewed, and protective coverings around plumbing get pulled loose. When the first serious cold snap arrives, a water line that was well protected in September can be exposed to freezing air in January.

M&M Pest Control is encouraging property owners to schedule an inspection and entry-point sealing now, while the weather still allows thorough exterior work and before animals have settled in for the season.

The calendar works against homeowners who wait. Many of the animals that move into homes in the fall also raise young there. Raccoons and squirrels commonly give birth in late winter and spring, often in the same attic or wall space they claimed months earlier. Once young animals are present, removal becomes slower and more involved, because the young have to be located and removed along with the adults before any opening can be closed. Sealing a home in the fall, before that cycle begins, avoids much of that work.

“Every winter we get calls from people who have animals in the attic or under the house, and by then the work is a lot bigger than it needed to be,” said Cliff McBroom, owner of M&M Pest Control. “If we can find those openings in the fall and close them up the right way, most of those calls never have to happen.”

About M&M Pest Control and Its Service Area

M&M Pest Control provides residential and commercial pest control from its base at 203 Sequoia Dr in Palestine, Texas. The company was founded in May 2022, and its team brings more than 30 years of combined experience in pest management. It is a member of the Palestine Area Chamber of Commerce, and in 2026 readers of the Palestine Herald-Press voted it #1 for Best Pest Control in the newspaper’s Best of Palestine Readers’ Choice Awards.

The company serves homeowners and businesses in Palestine and nearby East Texas communities including Elkhart, Frankston, Grapeland, Montalba, Neches, Jacksonville, Rusk, Athens, Crockett and Tyler. Its services cover ants and fire ants, cockroaches, spiders, scorpions, wasps and hornets, fleas and ticks, flies, bed bugs, mosquitoes, birds and termites, along with rodent control and wildlife control. Commercial clients include restaurants, banks, insurance offices, schools and industrial facilities, many of which operate on routine service schedules.

The Readers’ Choice recognition is decided by votes from Palestine Herald-Press readers, which means it comes from the same households and businesses the company serves. M&M Pest Control was founded four years before the award, and its team members, including technicians Lucas Smith and Mike Mendez, live and work in the communities where they make service calls.

“Being voted number one by the people of Palestine means a lot to a company our size,” said McBroom. “We take it as a responsibility. Part of earning that trust is telling people what’s coming before it becomes a problem, and right now that’s the cold weather.”

The fall sealing work draws on two of the company’s services in particular. The company’s rodent control process combines inspection, trapping and removal with sealing the entry points rats and mice use to get inside. Its wildlife control service handles nuisance animals such as squirrels, bats, skunks, opossums and raccoons through humane trapping and relocation in line with local regulations, followed by measures such as wildlife barriers and chimney caps to keep animals from returning.

What Sealing a Home Against Pests Involves

Sealing a home against pests means finding and closing the openings that animals and insects use to get inside a structure. In the pest control industry the work is commonly called exclusion. For homeowners, the simpler description is the more useful one: locate every gap a pest could use, then close it with materials that will hold up.

An inspection from M&M Pest Control typically covers the roofline, eaves and soffits, gable vents, fascia boards, the foundation, crawl space vents and access doors, and the places where plumbing, air conditioning lines, electrical service and cable enter the house. Technicians also look at gaps beneath exterior and garage doors and at chimneys.

Soffit and gable vents deserve special attention. They are built into a home to let the attic breathe, so they cannot simply be closed off. Over time, though, screens tear, vent covers loosen and animals push or chew their way through. The goal is to secure these vents with durable screening and covers so air continues to move while animals stay out.

The materials used matter as much as finding the openings. Rodents can chew through soft materials such as expanding foam, thin plastic and loose screening, so a gap that is simply stuffed or patched often reopens within weeks. Durable screening, metal mesh and sealants rated for exterior use hold up far better against gnawing animals and East Texas weather. The goal is a repair that lasts through the winter and beyond, not one that has to be redone each season.

Plumbing penetrations are another frequent weak spot. Builders often leave the hole around a pipe or utility line slightly larger than the line itself, leaving a ring-shaped gap that is easy to overlook. Around the foundation and inside crawl spaces, those small openings give rodents direct access to the walls and floor system of a home.

The size of an opening is often what surprises homeowners. Guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that a mouse can squeeze through a hole about the size of a nickel and a rat through one about the size of a half dollar. A gap that looks too small to matter is often large enough.

Sequence also matters. If animals are already inside, sealing every opening first can trap them in the attic or walls. M&M Pest Control removes active rodents and wildlife before completing the sealing work so animals are not shut inside the structure.

How a Pest Problem Can Turn Into a Plumbing Problem

The connection between pests and burst pipes is not obvious, but it is a real concern for homes in East Texas. Water lines that run through crawl spaces, attics and exterior walls depend on enclosed spaces, insulation and pipe wrap to stay above freezing during cold weather.

Rodents and wildlife work against all three. Rats and mice shred insulation for nesting material. Opossums and raccoons that den beneath a house can tear down insulation and pull loose the coverings on pipes and ductwork. Damaged vent screens and enlarged openings let cold air flow into spaces that are meant to stay sheltered. None of this is visible from inside the living area, so a homeowner may have no idea a pipe has lost its protection until a freeze arrives.

Texas homeowners do not need much reminding of what a hard freeze can do. The February 2021 winter storm left households across the state dealing with frozen and burst pipes. East Texas winters are generally mild, but a single night of hard freezing temperatures is enough to split an exposed line. By sealing entry points and catching damage early, homeowners can reduce the chance that pest activity leaves their plumbing vulnerable.

What Wildlife Damage Looks Like in an Attic

M&M Pest Control technicians regularly find raccoons, opossums and squirrels living in East Texas attics, and the damage they leave behind follows a familiar pattern. Insulation is trampled, flattened or pulled apart, which reduces its ability to hold heat in the living space below. Flexible ductwork and the coverings around it can be torn open. Wiring may be chewed, and the wrap on pipes and vent stacks can be stripped away. Animals also leave droppings and urine that contaminate insulation, which often has to be removed and replaced once the animals are gone.

That damage is the reason the company treats removal and sealing as one job rather than two. Clearing animals out of an attic without closing the opening they used leaves the door open for the next animal, and the next round of damage.

Electrical damage is a related risk. Rodents chew constantly, and wiring in attics and walls is a frequent target. Chewed wiring can create a fire hazard, which is one more reason to address activity early.

“People think of rodents and wildlife as a nuisance, and they are, but the bigger cost is usually what they tear up while they’re in there,” said McBroom. “Insulation, wiring, pipe wrap. Keeping them out in the first place protects all of it.”

Ants, Spiders and Other Insects Move Indoors Too

Fall sealing work helps with more than rodents and wildlife. As temperatures drop, ants, spiders, cockroaches and scorpions also look for warmth and moisture indoors. Many of them use the same entry points as larger pests, including gaps around plumbing, worn door seals and openings along the foundation.

Closing those openings reduces the number of ways insects can get inside and supports any ongoing pest control treatment a home receives. M&M Pest Control’s treatments typically focus on the exterior of the structure, with interior areas addressed when necessary.

Warning Signs Homeowners Should Watch For

Most rodent and wildlife problems start out of sight. M&M Pest Control encourages homeowners to watch for these common signs of activity:

Scratching, scurrying or thumping in the attic or walls, especially at night.

Droppings in cabinets, pantries, along baseboards or in the attic.

Gnawed wood, chewed wiring or damaged food packaging.

Torn or flattened insulation in the attic or crawl space.

Loose, bent or torn vent screens and soffit panels.

Strong or unusual odors from nesting areas.

Tracks, disturbed soil or debris near crawl space openings and the foundation.

Any of these signs is a reason to schedule an inspection before cold weather sets in.

What Homeowners Can Do Now

Some prevention steps are easy for homeowners to handle on their own. Trimming tree limbs that hang over the roof removes a common path for squirrels and raccoons. Keeping firewood, brush and debris away from the foundation reduces nearby shelter. Pet food and birdseed stored in sealed containers are less likely to draw animals to the house. Replacing worn weather stripping and door sweeps closes some of the easiest entry points for mice and insects.

Other work is better left to a professional. Roofline openings, soffits and gable vents often require ladder work and the right materials. Crawl space inspections involve tight spaces and, if animals have been present, contaminated insulation and droppings. Technicians who handle this work regularly know where to look and how to confirm that a gap is no longer in use before closing it.

What to Expect From an Inspection

When a customer contacts M&M Pest Control, the process starts with a conversation about what the homeowner is seeing or hearing and where. In most cases an on-site inspection is needed to identify the problem accurately and plan the right approach. Appointments are typically confirmed 24 to 48 hours in advance.

During the visit, the technician inspects the property for entry points, nesting areas and conditions that attract pests, then explains the recommended plan and answers questions. After the work is done, the customer receives a summary of the findings and the work performed, along with recommendations for ongoing prevention. Follow-up visits may be recommended to confirm that a problem has been fully resolved.

Why East Texas Homes Face Particular Pressure

The wooded landscape, mild winters and humid conditions found across Anderson County and neighboring counties support large populations of insects, rodents and wildlife. Many properties in the region sit on wooded or rural lots where opossums, raccoons and squirrels live close to homes year-round. Homes built on pier-and-beam foundations, which are common in East Texas, have crawl spaces that can give animals sheltered access to the underside of the house.

Those conditions mean the fall push for shelter is a predictable, annual event in the Palestine area. Homeowners who plan for it can address entry points on their own schedule rather than responding to an emergency in the middle of winter.

Community Involvement

As a locally owned company, M&M Pest Control supports local school districts and the annual Palestine Hot Pepper Festival, and it is an active member of the Palestine Area Chamber of Commerce.

Homeowners in Palestine and surrounding East Texas communities can schedule an inspection by calling (903) 480-4094 or emailing pestperts@localpestperts.com. More information about the company’s services and service area is available at https://localpestperts.com/.

About M&M Pest Control

M&M Pest Control is a family-owned, locally operated pest control company based at 203 Sequoia Dr in Palestine, Texas. Founded in May 2022 and voted #1 for Best Pest Control in the Palestine Herald-Press 2026 Best of Readers’ Choice Awards, the company brings more than 30 years of combined pest management experience to residential and commercial customers in Palestine and surrounding East Texas communities. Its services include general pest control, rodent control, wildlife control, termite bait systems, mosquito control, bed bug treatment, and commercial pest control programs. The company is a member of the Palestine Area Chamber of Commerce. For more information, visit https://localpestperts.com/ or call (903) 480-4094.

Cliff McBroom
M&M Pest Control
pestperts@localpestperts.com
+1 (903) 480-4094
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