Mice and other rodents are known carriers of nearly a dozen diseases, making them unsafe and unwanted guests in your house.
If you see one (or more) of these guys scurrying around your home, don’t panic. There are multiple ways to manage these tiny disease carriers and prevent them from further contaminating your home.
Read on for our top 5 tips for getting rid of mice in your house.
1. block all openings
Mice are sneaky little creatures. If your house has any points of entry that can be used, chances are they’ll find them.
Look for any gaps on the exterior of your house that could be possible points of entry for unwanted guests. The most common ones are small gaps in your home’s foundation and gaps in windows. However, they can also enter your house via improperly sealed drain pipes or sewer lines as well.
Once you’ve identified some possible places that mice might be using to enter your house, close them off to prevent more mice from coming in. Steel wool is impossible to chew through, or you may want to try sealing off points of entry with duct tape as well.
2. forget mice poison, set up traps
While mice poison might seem like a simple solution, it doesn’t always take care of the problem. The process is slow and it often doesn’t kill all the mice, leaving the survivors around to reproduce and start the cycle over again. Plus, it’s dangerous to have around your family and pets.
That’s why setting up traps is the safest and most effective way to deal with the problem at hand.
types of mousetraps
- Spring-loaded mousetraps are the most popular choice for trapping mice in the house. They are designed with a metal spring that is tripped by the mouse taking the bait, causing it to snap back and (ideally) kill the mouse instantly by breaking its neck. However, the positioning isn’t always perfect and the mouse can end up seriously injured or dying a slow, painful death.
- Glued mousetraps are considered a more humane way of trapping a mouse. With these traps, the mouse is drawn by bait to a glued platform that it becomes stuck to, allowing you to release it back outside once you’ve caught it.
- Live mousetraps can be purchased or made at home. They involve setting up a cage (or even a cardboard box) to lure the mouse in and prevent it from escaping. Then, you are able to relocate the mouse far from your home so it won’t be able to come back.
use proper positioning
When you’re setting up traps for mice in your house, one of the key things to remember is to properly position them. This will create the ideal scenario of the mouse going for the bait and quickly being killed or trapped. If you’re not careful, they can make off with your bait without even activating your trap.
In order to set up your traps properly, make sure you set up the trap with the spring facing the exterior walls of your house. That way, the mouse will come from the walls and straight into the trap, rather than being able to grab the bait from the other side without consequences.
choose the best bait
While mice like a variety of snacks, there are certain treats that make the most pungent and effective lures to your mousetraps. If you’ve noticed the mice in your home favoring a particular food, use that. Otherwise, there are a number of tried-and-true mice favorites that have a high rate of effectiveness.
Here are some of the most common and effective foods to use as mice bait:
- Cheese
- Bacon
- Peanut Butter
- Hazelnut Spread
- Dried Fruit
Generally, you’ll want to choose fresher, more perishable items with a stronger aroma that will attract the mice. Dry items, such as cereals and crackers, are not as effective when used as bait for mice. If the mice in your house aren’t going after the food you leave out, you can also try leaving out cotton balls or other similar nesting materials to attract them.
3. use mouse repellants
While using repellants won’t completely take care of mice in your house, it can definitely help more from coming in. Stock up on essential oils, such as clove and peppermint, and use these around known points of entry for unwanted guests. You can do this pretty effectively by soaking cotton balls or rags in the oil and leaving it near where the mice are coming in.
Using natural mice repellants in your house can help you manage the mice population, but is rarely effective on its own. In order to deal with a mice infestation, you should use this method in conjunction with the other methods we’ve listed here.
4. get a cat
While this might seem like one of the more obvious methods of ridding your house of mice, it’s no joke that getting a pet cat can help out with a rodent infestation. Cats are natural-born hunters and can easily hunt and kill mice in your house.
If no one in your family is allergic, you should consider getting a pet cat to help out with mice or other pest issues in your house. Lots of farms are already using these animals to take care of mice issues. Cats make surprisingly wonderful pets, too.
5. hire an extermination service
While some mice problems in your house can be manageable on your own, your best bet is to seek out professional assistance in order to rid your house of the pests for good.
When choosing a professional mice control service for your house, go with a reliable team that uses effective methods to rid your house of mice without compromising the safety of your family or pets. The right company will offer superior methods of removing mice from your house without having to use poisons or other harmful substances to do it.
take care of your mice infestation today
An infestation of mice or other pests in your house can be very harmful to your family’s health and peace of mind. However, with the right tools, you can rid your home of these pests for good.
Contact us today to learn more about ridding your house of mice and other pests.
