3 Smart Ways to Fight Back Against Mice in Your Home
If you want to eradicate the mice that are pestering you, think smart. Think about why the mice like your home, and then removal of all the things that the mice like about your home.
Block Their Entry Points
Start by making it difficult for the mice to travel between your house and the outside world. Block all their entry and access points to your home. Remember, mice can squeeze through an opening that looks impossibly small. An opening about as big as a pencil could allow a small mouse to squeeze through, so you really need to close everything, no matter how tiny.
Start outside and close-up all cracks in the foundation or openings in your siding with caulking. Caulking works well because it is not a material that mice can break down. If any of the holes are larger, fill them first with steel wool, and then seal them up again with some caulking. Don't use any material that a mouse can easily chew threw to seal up access points. Mice are determined creatures, and they can chew through wood, plastic, and rubber easily. Once you eliminate outside openings, repeat the process inside as well.
Bait Them Away
The mice are not just going to go away on their own. When you close the access points, some of the mice are going to be left in your home. You need to get rid of them. One of the best ways to do that is with mice traps.
Don't just lay out one mouse trap. Just because you only saw one mouse doesn't mean that there is only one mouse. Chances are you only saw one, but there are many more you didn't see. Mice can also easily reproduce, and they make a lot of babies.
Lay multiple traps, and multiple types of traps, around your home. Since mice sometimes learn how to avoid traps, you want to cover yourself using multiple types of traps. Put up traps until you don't capture anything for a while.
Clean Things Up
Cleaning up your home, inside and out, will not eliminate your mice problem. However, it can prevent mice from coming back once you evict the current mice population. First, don't leave debris around the outside of your home where mice can take up residence. Keep weeds and plants away from your home and mow your yard on a regular basis. Put gravel down around your home's foundation to keep mice from burrowing near your home.
Inside of your home, keep all food, even perishable food, inside of containers. Keep the food in your kitchen. If you eat in your dining room or living area, clean and vacuum those areas on a regular basis. Work to keep your home clean so that mice are not attracted to your home.
To eliminate the mice, you are going to need to trap and kill them. To keep all the mice away, you need to block their entry points and keep your home clean. A pest control company such as Southern Greens Pest Control can help you with this process.
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