Many homeowners have mice problems and wonder how to keep mice out of a house. You don't even have to live in the country to have mice problems; many suburban or even urban homeowners are sorry to discover they have mice.
Here are some tips on how to keep mice out of a house.
Don't feed them.
That may sound obvious, but think about it. Mice need food. Don't leave food out where they can get it. Clean up your crumbs. Store dry food in glass or metal containers. Store trash outdoors or in your garage in metal trash cans. Clean up any spilled grass seed or plant seeds in your garage. Don't locate bird feeders near your house, because mice can be attracted to the spilled birdseed. Be aware that mice might also be attracted to bowls of pet food.
Eliminate possible nesting sites.
You've taken away their food. Now take away places they might nest. When you're thinking of how to keep mice out of a house, think about making the house and the surrounding yard inhospitable to them. Eliminate piles of trash and clutter in basements, attics and garages.
Keep compost piles and woodpiles away from your house. Mice can nest in these and if so, they may move into your house when it gets cold. Using supports or pallets to keep wood off the ground can also help prevent nesting.
Seal up any openings to your house.
Mice have collapsible skeletons, so they can fit through very tiny openings, even openings as small as the fingernail on your pinky finger. Walk around the outside of your home and look for any openings, however tiny they may seem. Make sure you check carefully around any pipes and around air conditioner fittings.
You can seal any openings with expanding foam insulation, caulking, or pieces of metal screening or sheet metal cut to fit. You can also use steel wool to close up any holes, but be aware that it will rust and break down over time and will need to be replaced periodically.
If you do have mice problems, use traps.
Use traps for mice problems, not poison. The problem with poison is that mice can eat the poison, then crawl inside your walls to die. Then you have dead mice in your walls, which can create a horrible smell. And it's very difficult to reach the dead mice to remove them, since they are between the walls.
The old-fashioned spring traps work well, or if you prefer something more humane, you can get live traps. The mouse gets trapped unharmed inside, and you just set it free outdoors. Just make sure you release it some distance from your house. If you release the mouse in your backyard, it's likely to come right back in.
Don't waste money on those ultrasonic pest control devices.
Have you seen these devices? They emit a high-pitched sound wave that humans can't hear but rodents can. The sound is supposed to disturb mice, rats, and other pests and keep them away. But some studies have shown they are not a very effective way how to keep mice out of a house. In one study, researchers put a device right next to a cage of mice. The mice ate, slept, and even bred, without seeming disturbed at all by the device.
You can call an exterminator for advice.
An exterminator can give you more advice about how to keep mice out of a house. An exterminator can also provide you with traps and help you place the traps in the most effective areas, if you have mice problems.
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