As soon as the weather starts to turn cold, you can bet that woodland critters, including mice, will start looking for a cozy place to call home for the winter. Unfortunately, that home might already be occupied – by you! Mice are considered cute by some, but they can cause a myriad of structural and health problems if they take up residence in your home. Even if you wish you had one for a pet, you don’t want mice living in your walls, attic or cabinets spreading disease and making a mess.
When mice enter your home, it’s usually for two reasons: to seek shelter and to find food. They can squeeze into the tiniest of places and look for secluded areas to build their nests and hide. Mice chew through materials such as cardboard, wood, particle board, insulation, and even wires as well as through food containers. They leave their droppings wherever they go, thus contaminating the areas they inhabit. Mice and mice droppings can carry diseases that are harmful to humans.
Many times the first indication that you have a mouse problem is by spotting their droppings. Mouse droppings are usually around the size of a broken pencil tip but can be tiny like a poppy seed if you have baby mice running around. Another sign that you have mice is chewed up insulation or ‘beds’ of soft material. The final tell-tale sign is hearing them in your walls or cabinets. The soft scratching sound of them running around in the quiet of night is disconcerting to say the least.
Preventing mice from getting into your home, spreading disease and damaging your food and belongings is no easy task. Mice can get into a crack or hole the size of a pencil. You can try to stop them from getting in by doing a perimeter check of your home. Look for openings around windows and doors and repair them or add door sweeps to fill any cracks below door openings. Mice don’t like the feel of steel wool so it’s a good filler to use in cracks around the foundation or in siding. You can also be sure to remove yard debris and keep wood piles away from the home. Also seal up all food containers, including pet food, and keep trash sealed.
If you’ve tried the preventative measures above and are still finding mice in your home, it’s time to call in the professionals at Adam’s Pest Control. We will come out and help you with a prevention plan, as well as treat any current infestation. We use a combination of methods to remove the mice depending on your situation. We’ll work with you year-round to prevent mice and other pests from contaminating your home by visiting your home during each season to treat against the most common pests of the season. A year-round pest control plan ensures a pest-free home no matter what time of year it is!
