When the mice invade your home, don’t panic. Do not rush to get those poison balls or endlessly wait for a mouse to show up in the kitchen at night. Millions of homes in the United States experience mice infestations every year; you’re not alone. The good news is: getting rid of the mice is possible. Here’re the seven things that you should do when mice invade your home:
1. Mice Invasion: Confirm and Estimate the Severity of the Problem
If you have spotted one mouse scampering away the moment you opened the garage, attic or the basement door, you almost definitely have more than one. Once a mouse finds a passage into your home, others are likely to have followed the same route. When the mice have food, water, and cozy nests at their disposal, they are also likely to reproduce and multiply in numbers.
Some of the telltale signs of a mice infestation include the following:
- Your dog could become upset upon hearing and smelling the mice in the house.
- Mouse droppings in the kitchen cabinets, under the sink, behind the appliances, and hidden corners of the house.
- A heavy musky odor emanating from the basement, the attic or the garage.
- Strange noises such as scratching or squeaking during the night.
- Smears along the baseboards or the bottoms of walls.
- Chew marks on the wooden frames or food packets.
- Unexplained tears in clothes, paper, fabric, etc. or tiny holes in insulations, desk drawers, kitchen cabinets, etc.
The severity of mice infestation can be estimated by investigating these signs. For instance, too many mouse droppings around the house should be considered a red flag. It should prompt you to look for immediate professional solutions to the rodent problem.
2. Mice Invasion: Get Rid of Contaminated Food & Water
Mice are known to carry a number of disease-causing bacteria and viruses. Some of these diseases, spread through direct rodent contact, rodent bites or food items contaminated by droppings, urine, and saliva, can even cause death if not treated on time.
Often, the disease-causing microbes and parasites are transmitted to humans and pets through contaminated food and water. Therefore, any food or water that you suspect may have been contaminated by mouse droppings, urine or saliva should be discarded.
3. Mice Invasion: Find Out What Attracted Mice to Your Home
You can’t possibly banish the mice for good unless you know what attracted them to your home in the first place. Here’re a few things that you can do to make your home less inviting for the rodents:
- Put away all food, including pet food, in thick containers with tight lids.
- Don’t leave any water bowls out in the open during the night.
- Thoroughly clean all floors and countertops; remove all traces of food that could have attracted the mice.
- Remove any debris, tree leaves, grass, newspapers, etc. around the house that can provide ready nesting material to mice roaming around your home.
- Make sure to use a thick garbage bin with an airtight lid; plastic garbage bags present no challenge to the rodents.
- A compost bin, if any, should be placed as far away from home as possible.
- Seal all potential mouse entry points.
If you take away their sources of food, places of shelter, nesting material, and easy access to different parts of your home, it’s much more likely that the mice will not come back once you’ve dealt with them.
4. Mice Invasion: Take Steps to Mouse-Proof Your Home
- Carefully check the foundation all the way around the building; any crack, gap or hole that might have led the mice into the home needs to be repaired
- Inspect all tree branches or hedges that touch or hang over your home; the mice may have been using them as pathways onto and into your home.
- Check all roof-ventilators, vent screens, and shingles; carry out necessary repairs or replacements as necessary to completely secure the roof area.
- Inspect the utility entry points and seal holes larger than 0.25” around the cable or pipe; these are potential rodent entry points.
- Replace damaged windows and door screens or weather stripping that does not create a tight seal.
- If your house has bare bricks or stones on the outer walls, consider painting the walls with a foot wide band (at least 3 feet above ground) using the high gloss paint to deter mice attempting to climb the walls.
5. Mice Invasion: Set Traps
Once you know where the mice have built their nests or their entry points, you can set traps around these general areas. Different types of traps provide varying benefits for rodent control; some traps are more humane than the others. For instance, you can choose classic-wooden snap traps or glue traps; glue traps are considered inhumane as they cause suffering.
6. Mice Invasion: Call the Professionals
A do-it-yourself (DIY) mouse control project may not always succeed, especially if the infestation is severe or you fail to completely mouse-proof your home.
When all else fails, it’s time to call the professionals who can safely and effectively deal with a mouse invasion in a time-bound manner.
Author Bio
My name is David Dorfman. I am the PR Media Manager at Rodentsstop.com, an independent, family-owned and local rodent clean up and control company. One of my passions is educating and helping people through all the issues related to living in a rat and mice free environment