Mice are one of the most common household pests in the UK today. The situation can be unsettling whether you’re dealing with a single mouse or a whole colony. Not only are mice known to cause property damage, but they also carry disease and bacteria. Unfortunately, mice are hardy creatures that can adapt to just about any environment and reproduce quickly. Their high fecundity rate means it may take months of effort to get rid of them completely.
These pests can be found in urban, suburban, and rural areas. One mouse can produce up to 50 new mice every three months! Nevertheless, many people wonder if it’s possible to eliminate mice. So here are some ideas to get you started:
Mice Prevention and Exclusions
Mice can get into your home or business through tiny gaps and spaces. They can chew through wires and have a sense of smell that can detect food from long distances away. Once they are in your home, they are challenging to eliminate. It is much easier to prevent them from getting in the first place.
Preventing mice infestations is a combination of keeping your home clean, eliminating possible entry points, and knowing where to look for signs of mice activity. Mice can cause significant damage to property and carry diseases such as salmonella. Here are some tips on how to avoid mice in your home:
• Ensure there are no cracks in your foundation and seal gaps around windows and doors: Mice can squeeze through an opening the size of a dime. If you find any holes or cracks in your foundation walls or floors, consider hiring a pest management professional to seal them with steel wool and caulking.
• Keep food in tightly sealed containers: Rodents can chew through plastic bags and cardboard containers, so you should store all food in heavy-duty plastic or metal containers. This includes pet food!
• A cluttered home offers plenty of room for mice to hide away from predators, so you must keep your home tidy if the last thing you want is a mouse infestation on your hands. This means tidying up crumbs from tables, cleaning up after cooking, and only keeping pet food in designated areas.
• Keep shrubs and bushes trimmed away from the house. Mice like to hide in shrubs and bushes against the walls of a home or building. Trim these down so that they don’t touch the house. This will make it harder for mice (and other pests) to get inside your home.
How a Pest Control Professional Can Get Rid of Mice
The best way to get rid of mice is with a professional pest control inspection. While you might think you can do the job yourself, it’s an arduous task. A thorough assessment by a pest management professional (PMP) is the first step in any rodent control program. The PMP determines the type of mouse present and its population size, habitat, and behavior, then develops a strategy for treatment. Here’s how a pest control professional can help get rid of mice:
• Inspect and assess. A professional mouse exterminator can inspect your house and determine what attracts mice into your home. They’ll also look for holes that let rodents into your home. Once they know how the mice are getting into the house, they can decide how to get rid of them.
• Set traps. Setting traps is one way a mouse exterminator can remove the rodents from your home. After inspecting and assessing the situation, a pest control company might place stations with bait that lure the rodents in with food and trap them inside. They’ll also likely recommend that you take steps to keep mice out of your houses — such as sealing cracks or openings — so they don’t come back after you’ve removed them.
• Use poison. If setting traps isn’t successful, mouse exterminators may use rodenticides instead. This method may be more effective for rodent infestations because it’s easier for a mouse to eat poison than walk into a trap. Exterminators will usually leave the poison out in a dispenser that’s not easily accessible to children or pets.
Mice are smart little critters. They’re at least as smart as rats, and they’re more common. The best bet is hiring a pro to get rid of the mice. If you find droppings and scratching, call Goodwin Environmental.
