How to Exterminate your House of Rats and Mice
Although some rodents are cute and cuddly, there is nothing cute about mice and rats moving into your house. Mice and rats are damaging to your home, especially at nighttime when they're more active. They rip apart your garbage, chew wires, dig holes and leave droppings everywhere. Not only are these rodents destructive, they're known to carry diseases. If you have mice and rats in your home, remove them immediately. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Check to ensure that you have mice and rats in your home instead of other rodents or critters. Mice and rats are identified by the size of their droppings (mouse droppings resemble a grain of rice, while rat droppings resemble raisins), odor (mice leave behind a musty odor, unlike rats), holes, nests (usually made of paper or cloth) and tooth marks on paper, cardboard and other surfaces.
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Locate where the rodents have been entering your home. Check open windows, wall and floor cracks, holes, vents and other possible entrances. If you're unsure of how they're getting into your home, spread a thin layer of flour where you believe they're entering and leaving your home. Overnight, the rodents will walk through the flour, leaving footprints. Seal all of the entrances to prevent further infestation. Wire mesh, caulk and cement are effective at sealing entrances and keeping mice and rats away.
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Remove the things keeping the mice and rats around, such as food and housing sources. Keep your home especially clean. Don't leave crumbs on the floor, ensure that your pets eat all of their food and seal your garbage or relocate it while you exterminate the rodents from your house. Remove junk from your home, such as old papers and trash, that mice and rats make homes from. Put storage boxes up on tables at least a foot tall.
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Set up snap traps in the area that is infested. Place the traps close together. Bait choices for traps include peanut butter, chips, bacon pieces, candy and crackers. Using a variety of baits allows you to cater to different populations of rodents. Humane traps are also effective at exterminating mice and rats, but you have to relocate the rodents yourself. Check your traps every day to see if the bait needs to be replaced or if you need to remove a dead rodent.
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Use poison bait only outside of your home and only if children and pets do not have access to it. It often takes time for the poison to kick in, so the mice and rats might wander away and die in a place that is hard for you to access.
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Tips & Warnings
For large rodent infestations, hire a professional exterminator.
Handle dead mice and traps with gloves and a face mask so that you don't catch diseases.
Keep children and pets away from all traps.
References
Resources
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