Parts of Pacoima we cover
- Van Nuys Boulevard (Mural Mile)
- Laurel Canyon Boulevard
- San Fernando Gardens
- Ritchie Valens Park
- David M. Gonzales Recreation Center
- Hubert H. Humphrey Memorial Park
- Whiteman Airport area
- Pacoima Wash
How rodents get into Pacoima homes and shops
Duplexes and backhouses
Many Pacoima lots hold a duplex or a second unit behind the main house. Shared walls, shared trash areas and storage between units give rodents more places to shelter, and they can move from one unit to the next through attics, walls and pipe runs.
The Pacoima Wash
The Pacoima Wash runs through the neighborhood in a fenced channel. Norway rats burrow and come in at ground level, and the planted edges and drains along a wash give them cover close to the yards and garages that back onto it.
Storefronts on Van Nuys Boulevard
The older shops and restaurants on Van Nuys Boulevard and Laurel Canyon Boulevard sit close together, many with back doors on alleys or parking lots. Gaps where buildings meet, roof openings and worn door sweeps let rodents travel from one business to the next.
Deep backyards
Many Pacoima lots have fruit trees, sheds or stored materials behind the house. Each one can give rodents food or shelter near the house, and branches that reach the roof give roof rats a path to the attic. Woodpiles and stacked materials against a wall also hide gaps at its base.
Age matters here: vent screens, eaves and foundations open up over the decades, and those small gaps are how mice and rats get in.
