How to get rid of mice in your home

How to get rid of mice?

Mice are easily the pest we get the most calls for in the fall and winter months. Seeking shelter from the cold temperatures outside, mice enter our house and begin the nest and multiply right away. 6 mice can multiply into more than 60 mice within 3 months. Reaching sexual maturity in only four weeks, it’s easy to see how a mouse population within a home can quickly grow out-of-hand.

There are several things you can do to limit your chances of getting mice and keeping them from getting in. On the exterior of the house, keep all plants and grasses in landscaping trimmed and try and keep leaves and yard clippings away from the foundation of the house. Mice are naturally looking for safe areas during the day to hide; eliminating the “hot spots” can make mice less likely to show interest in your home.

Exclusion (the process of filling holes and access points) is also a very important part of rodent control. Many people think that mice need a large hole to get into their house; however mice are capable of compressing their bodies to fix through even the tightest spaces (6mm or smaller). Keeping mice from getting in to begin with will save you a lot of time and effort. These areas are best filled with a copper meshing, stay away from steel wool and expanding foam as these products will lose their effectiveness over time.

Mice can chew through almost anything given enough time, keeping food items in sealed containers will limit their draw to areas like the kitchen and pantry; do the same process with pet food. We also recommend pulling out and cleaning behind the stove every few months. This area is one of the most common places mice will be at in your house, keeping it clean will give them no reason to be there.

Traps and poison bait are effective but need to be used correctly, in the right areas and in the right amounts. Most people under treat their problem, after catching a few mice and the droppings slow down they assume the problem is gone and they remove the product. Catching 90% of the mice in a house is the easy part; the fully grown adult mice (the ones who have been there the longest) are the most important to catch as they could start the problem all over again.

If you don’t have success fairly quickly when self-treating for mice, call a professional right away. With their rate of reproduction, a few mice can turn into a big problem very quickly. If you feel that you have a problem with mice that is beyond your control, please contact us. We use the best products available in our industry and will fully guarantee our A+ rated award winning service.