Like bats, mice find dark corners of your house inviting place to live and raise their families. Although quite cute, mice can do a lot of damage to your home, and they can pose a health risk as they can carry a variety of diseases.
What attracts mice to move in?
Three main reasons mice find your home attractive: food, shelter, and nesting materials.
Food: Mice don’t eat a lot, but they will graze on just about anything they can get their little paws on. Removing temptation is the secret. Don’t leave food on countertops, make sure floors and furniture are devoid of crumbs, and don’t leave food in paper or thin containers in cabinets. Storing food in glass or heavy plastic – something mice can’t chew through is the best deterrent.
Shelter: This one is a little harder to “fix” as mice love to live in walls, tiny crevices and dark spots. Because they are tiny – they can fit in holes as small as ¼ inch in diameter!
Nesting material: They love paper – paper towels, toilet paper or even thin cotton. So like food, making sure these items are stored and not easily available will help deter the rodents from using them as nesting material.
Signs you may have a mouse in your house:
Usually, the first sign is the sight of mouse droppings on counters or in cabinets or evidence of nesting materials such as shredded paper in places that shouldn’t be! You may also see scratch marks on rolls of paper or near cabinets near food or nesting materials.
If you are a fan of having a fruit bowl on the table and you find a bite out of an apple and you know it wasn’t you – chances are – you have an unwanted house guest.
Is your cat acting strangely? Is he or she scratching at doors or cabinets, heading to a certain spot, and not leaving? They have incredible senses and are great mouse hunters, so it may be time to follow your feline around to see what he or she is so interested in!
How to humanely remove mice from your home
You’ve determined you have a mouse problem – how do you get them out? Try to avoid using poisons because not only can the dead mouse be eaten by other animals causing them to get sick or die, but the mice will more than likely die in your house, resulting in a not-so-pleasant smell.
Better solutions:
- Prevention- make it less than desirable for mice to move in by removing food and nesting sources and sealing entry points. Although this is the most humane, it’s not 100% effective – mice are smart and often find a way.
- Repellants – there are a variety of natural repellants that mice do not like. Mice have a very strong sense of smell and will avoid areas if a scent they don’t like is there! Many people have used dryer sheets, apple cider vinegar, hot pepper or even shredded Irish Spring soap to shy away the rodents. Others have had success with using peppermint or clove essential oils. Putting these elements in areas where you’ve seen evidence of mice may help the situation but like prevention, it’s not always 100% effective.
- Feline Forces: As mentioned earlier, cats are great mouse hunters. Beware – they also love to share their conquests with their owners, so don’t be surprised if you find a dead mouse at your feet with your cat showing a huge grin of pure pride!
- Have a Heart Traps – these will not kill the mice but simply trap them. Once they are caught, you should release them at least a mile from your house. Good bait? Peanut Butter!
If humanity isn’t working, it may be time to resort to more conventional methods of rodent removal such as using traps. We encourage you to use something that causes quick and painless death versus glue traps that mice step on preventing them from moving and ultimately causing them to die of starvation.
When all else fails – call in the professionals! Getting rid of mice can turn into an ongoing adventure but the more prevention you do, the less your house will be the one on their radar.
