How to handle your mice situation

Having mice is bad news. Mice spread serious diseases, carry fleas, contaminate your home, gnaw through wiring, cause expensive structural damage, and pose serious risks. But we have some good news to go with that bad news. Becoming informed about mice will give you the upper hand at getting rid of mice for good!

The other bad news

It is going to be difficult to completely get rid of mice on the first treatment, visit from pest control techs. But, with our efforts and yours, it is definitely doable. Just keep in mind it will not happen overnight and will take time. That being said, you can find the information and tips below very useful for helping you get rid of mice in your home.

How Mice Behave

Mice are sneaky little things. A bit more adorable than rats, they have long tails and dark bodies with light bellies. They like to hide in places such as attics and basements that provide a snug place they can nest. They are not shy at night, since this provides them a sense of protection, and are not shy when it comes to food. Mice thrive on absolutely everything humans consume. So, it’s no surprise that mice like to enter homes or structures that can provide what they need to survive. Winter is an especially crucial time for mice to enter your structure. It doesn’t take much for them to sneak in. Whether it be a door left open, or holes in the seams of doors and windows, they can get in just about anywhere as long as they have a dime-sized access hole.

What mice are attracted to

Mice are attracted to warmth, shelter, food – all the wonderful things having humans as roommates provides. As they rummage through your kitchen or garbage, they eat and eat and leave behind a trail of urine and feces.

What you can do to help get rid of mice

Cleaning: While you wait for your highly-trained technician to arrive, you can clean up and declutter problem areas of your home or structure. Any infested items will need to be thrown away. With the cleaning up, it is a bit more involved with cleaning up the droppings which can carry hantavirus. Wearing a mask and gloves, Spray the dead rodent or nest and the surrounding area with a disinfectant or a mixture of bleach and water. Soak rodent, nesting materials or droppings in solution for 5 minutes before wiping up with a paper towel or rag. Place the dead rodent or nesting materials in a plastic bag and seal tightly. Clean up any food that may have spilled while mice were rummaging. Vacuum nearby areas. If mice are getting into your pantry, consider using clear, sealed containers to store your food in. This includes any pet food or bird seed. The more food you can store in your refrigerator, the better compared to stored outside of the refrigerator – since the fridge provides no access to mice. Another task that will help reduce the likeliness of mice loving your home is keeping on top of the trash. Make sure you clean out food debris in the trash cans often, as well as emptying the trash more than usual. It will be impossible to remove everything, but cleaning and sanitizing are proven ways that limit the amount of access mice have to food sources.

Exclusion: There are many ways mice can enter your home. They can come in through broken door seals. Holes near HVAC pipes that connect to systems outside the building and are not sealed correctly can also provide access. Roofs, attics, drop ceilings are also entry points since mice may climb a tree and jump onto the house to find a way into these dark, protected areas. Almost any hole near ground level can provide access to mice. Making sure these access points are sealed can lead to long term success when getting rid of mice.

Call the Professionals: It’s definitely a nightmare to deal with mice. But, if you call us for your free estimate we can start a plan that will allow us to set up an inspection of your home, trap mice that are a problem, determine the size of your infestation if any, monitor to help you get rid of mice in your structure, and help your home avoid mice with preventive measures.