How to Keep Mice Out of the House
Mice, among the most prolific wildlife creatures in rural areas, bring destruction and disease when they invade your home. One thing that attracts mice to your home is an abundance of food. They subsist on foods high in sugar and fat, which include bacon, butter, chocolate and cheese. Mice are difficult to catch because they hide in your walls and other places that you cannot reach easily. The best way to deal with mice is to prevent them from getting into your house in the first place. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Inspect your home thoroughly for any openings or holes that are more than ¼ inch in diameter. Seal any holes you find with concrete, metal or another sturdy material. Keep doors and garages closed, as well as any other doors that allow entry to the house.
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Put food away. Keep it sealed in plastic containers, and clean up any spilled food that might draw a mouse’s attention.
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Remove structures that a mouse could live in. This includes trash, tall grass and woodpiles. If you have a fireplace, store your firewood at least 12 inches off the ground.
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Set traps around areas that mice are likely to run through. These can include cupboards, attics and closets. Check the traps on a regular basis, and remove dead mice as quickly as possible to avoid germs and odors.
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Place poison baits outside the home, such as the garage or storage area. This prevents your children from gaining access to the baits. Also, be careful to place them where your pets cannot access them.
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Tips & Warnings
No live traps. You may be a Buddist or an animal lover like me, but if you let a mouse free in your back yard after you catch it in a live trap, it will be right back again. Mice are smart that way.
These tips can used for rats too. Use Victor rat traps.
Night time and/or cold weather makes mice want to come into your home even more, so you must be vigilant!
Be careful not to snap your fingers in a mouse trap. Never set a trap where pets or children can reach them and be harmed.
Wear rubber gloves to dispose of: trap, bait & mouse...in a sealed ziplock bag.
References
- Photo Credit BananaStock/BananaStock/Getty Images
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Comments
View all 7 Comments-
Mice got into my house last winter, I put down steel wool through out the hosue did not see no more mice droppings. then called a pest control they set traps and not one mouse was caught I had already got rid of the probelm there's did not work.
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MariM
Mar 21, 2009
Good tips, we called cooks pest control because nothing we did worked. good tips here though.5* -
Sheryl Maiorano
Feb 25, 2009
Great tips.Once lived in an old house that was infested badly when we moved in... took a while but we got rid of them finally
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Sheryl Maiorano
Feb 25, 2009
Great tips.Once lived in an old house that was infested badly when we moved in... took a while but we got rid of them finally
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tb711
Jan 13, 2009
Living in the country I know all about mice. Yuk! I have found that bacon or bacon grease on the mouse trap works wonders. I do have a cat that opens cabinet doors if the mice are in there so I set the trap to the back of the cabinet & somehow she gets them in the trap if she doesn't get the mouse first.
