7 of the Most Efficient Ways to get Rid of Mice Immediately

With winter quickly approaching, it is important that we begin to take precautions to ensure our homes are protected against pesky intruders.

How Mice Can Enter Your Home

First things first, learning how mice can enter the home. Finding a mouse in your home can be unsettling, but you must remain calm. Remember to place all food inside seal plastic containers that they cannot chew throw (ex. cereal would need to be taken out of the box and set in something secure). After ensuring your food is safe, you can begin to lay down traps around your house, but you must also be on the lookout for entry points while doing so.

Begin to search around your house for:

• Holes:
  • In the foundation
  • In window or door screens
  • In side paneling
• Drain Pipes:
  • Properly seal off drain pipes with wire.

Ensuring the house is closed off from the outside world is vital to keep rodents out, but all kinds of pests! No matter how many times you call us or any other exterminator for that matter. If you do not ensure your house is free of holes and gaps, all kinds of pests will continue to enter your home!

Methods of Prevention and Removal

After making sure your house is secure, you can begin to invest more seriously in mouse traps and repellents. Here are a few of our recommendations:

• Clean Your Kitchen
  • This may be obvious to some, but it must be said. Cleaning your kitchen can vastly improve your chances of not attracting several pests, rodents included. Cleaning includes:
    • Vacuuming
    • Mopping
    • Often and consistently taking out the trash
    • Cleaning dishes
    • Sealing all food away
• Electric Mouse Repellents
  • Electric Mouse Repellents are devices that emit high-frequency sounds that mice hate! Often used as a prevention tactic, these devices make sure mice avoid your location at all costs! Tools such as an ultrasonic electronic repellent assist greatly in preventing many pests from entering your home. However, you must purchase a device that has no adverse effect on pets. The devices emit a sound that, while humans are unable to hear it, animals may be able to, even up to great distances. Therefore, before buying, make sure they are pet-friendly

• Natural Methods
  • There are numerous natural remedies to help prevent mice from entering your home as well!
    • Peppermint Oil (pure) – Mice hate the smell and avoid it at all costs. Be careful not to begin dumping it around your house, however. The peppermint scent is quite strong, and the goal is to chase mice away, not become a peppermint factor! Therefore, take a few cotton balls covered in the oil and begin to place them in locations around your house.
    • Mothballs – Mothballs also work wonders in keeping mice at bay. They work the same way peppermint does and are relatively cheap to buy!
      • TIP – Placing mothballs in areas in your car can help keep mice out of your engine bay as well! Consider finding a location in your engine bay where you can place a small bag of them. This ensures mice do not build a nest inside your engine!
• Mouse Traps
  • There are three different types of mouse traps:
    • Spring-loaded – The most deadly trap when it comes to mice, spring traps are cost-efficient and effective. The idea is that by going for the trap’s bait, they trigger it to snap their neck. However, this is not always the case, and sometimes they can suffer a slow death or be severely injured.
    • Glue – Much more humane than the spring-loading trap, the glue trap does precisely that, traps them. If you discover them soon enough, you can relocate the mouse to a different location, several miles away from your home, and release them. However, you must be careful when doing so, or you may cause them to break or even lose a limb.
    • Live – The most humane and still effective trap; the live trap captures the mouse live. The idea is that, once you have purchased your Live Trap box, you place some bait inside (cheese, beef, etc.) to lure the mouse into the box. Once inside, the container shuts, trapping them inside and allowing you to relocate them several miles away from your house, safely and humanely.
• Mouse Poison
  • Poison is an effective but slow way of dealing with your rodent problems. When people find out they have a mouse living in their walls, mouse poison can combat the problem. However, there are few things to understand about mouse poison before deploying them:
    • It is a slow killer – Mouse poison is not a quick-acting killer. The toxin works by slowly shutting down their internal organs and nervous system. In the meantime, the mouse will find a private location to rest and attempt (unsuccessful) to recover. Now, instead of searching for a live mouse, you have to find a dead one, either stuck in the wall, or underneath clutter in the garage or attic, neither of which will be pleasant.
    • Dangerous – When using mouse poison, make sure you place it in areas out of reach of small children and pets. It may be labeled “Mouse Poison,” but I assure you, it’ll poison just about anything that eats, potentially fatally.

• Cats
  • A natural predator of the mouse, cats, are a great way to rid yourself of a mouse problem, and if you are a cat person, you have a new family member! Cats are great hunters and ensure that any mouse in the home is killed, and others stay away.
• Professionals
  • If all else fails, consider calling in the troops at Accurate Pest Control! We are experts in rodent pest control and employ only the best extermination methods, all of which are eco-friendly and family save (pets included). We can assure you that, by the time we finish, your rodent problem will be a thing of the past! Call us today to find out more about our offers!