Have you ever heard the saying that your home should be your sanctuary? Your home should be a place you go to get away from the troubles of the world, and a place where, above all else, you feel safe and protected.
Have you ever heard the saying that your home should be your sanctuary? Your home should be a place you go to get away from the troubles of the world, and a place where, above all else, you feel safe and protected. There are few other things that can shatter that feeling faster than the tell-tale scratching of a mouse. Mice are dirty pests and they just make everything around you feel icky knowing they are running around your home at night. The following are a few tips that can help with rodent control to keep your home squeak free.
First, you need to take away any hiding places on your property where a mouse may create a nest. Mice love any cover they can get from overhead predators and that includes tall grass, woodpiles, sheds or any structure you would happen to have outside. Try to move your woodpile inside or put it someplace where you can cut the grass under it. If you don’t already have one, use a weed whacker to eliminate as much high grass as you can. A mouse will be much less likely to cut across your property if they don’t have cover.
Second, now that the impediments are gone from your lawn, you should have a clear view of any possible entry points a mouse could take. Check the obvious places first, such as a loose screen around a window or door or loose shingles. Next, look for any signs of digging and chewing on the edge of your property. You won’t find a typical mouse hole like you would see in a cartoon; in fact, a mouse can fit through an extremely small space to get on to your property. In addition, don’t just look at ground level. Mice can scurry up just as easily as they can scurry around.
Another good thing to do is to educate yourself on warning signs that you may already have a mouse in your house. Obviously, the scratching sound in the walls at 3 am is a pretty good sign you have a problem. You may want to Google what mice droppings look like so you will know them should you happen to find them. Go into your pantry or cupboards and look for any sign that food containers have been chewed through. Chances are, you’ll never actually catch a mouse in action around your home, but they do leave a number of signs around your home that tell they were there.
If you want to try your hand at capturing the rodents yourself, you can try setting traps. However, traps are not exactly the most humane way to deal with a rodent control problem and a wrong move can lead to a sore finger that you’ll feel for days. If you do not want to deal with messy traps, give your local rodent pest control expert a call and have them take care of the problem. By eliminating hiding places, entry points and by knowing what to look for, you can significantly reduce your chances of having rodent problem in your home.