Preventing Mice from Entering Your House In A Nutshell:
- Block all gaps around the property which are smaller than 1/4″.
- Start by checking at ground level.
- Check all the way up to roof space.
- Pay attention to areas with over hanging tree branches, cables and pipes running up the walls.
- Check your yard and clear any areas where mice could nest i.e. a stack of logs.
Making your home a rodent-proof construction is the first step in mouse infestation prevention. Mice control means that you are in control, and not overrun by house mice in your attic or walls that eat and contaminate your food. Mice carry diseases. Insects live on mice that can pose a health hazard to you and your family. Never tolerate any animals other than family pets in your home. Prevention, mice control and keeping your home tightly sealed against mouse intrusion is the only answer.
A mouse can squeeze through a hole the size of your index finger tip. If it can get its head through, the rest of the body will follow. Any gaps in your home, especially on the outside of the house, need to be sealed securely. You should start by going carefully around the outside of your house. Start at ground level and check for any holes or gaps, even the tiniest of them. For bigger holes, use steel wool to fill the bulk of the gap, and then use a secure sealant to fully eliminate it as an entry point for any mice.
This will take time, so don’t rush it. You are securing your property. This is how to get rid of the problem of mice in the attic, mice in the walls or crawlspace, and mice scurrying around everywhere causing damage and contamination to your home. Check most carefully around the places where pipes or cables enter or leave the house. This can often be where gaps appear. Check also in the eaves where the roof connects to the walls. Your best weapon is prevention. Mice control becomes easy after that.
If there are mice in your home after you have secured all mouse entry points, you need to deal with the problem indoors. Mice need food or water to survive, so use food storage containers that are tightly sealed. Prevent them getting at all sources of food, then start setting traps.
You can use mouse snap traps, electronic Victor mouse traps, ultrasonic repellents (this link goes to a post talking about the squirrels, but it works the same for mice because they are both rodents) , or poison bait chunks in conjunction with a mouse bait station. You simply need to start a regime of getting rid of the mice in your home, safe in the knowledge that no more mice can enter your home as you have already made it a rodent-proof construction. When you think you have cleared you home of all mice, stay vigilant. There may still be a few that could breed to create dozens more house mice eventually. A mouse infestation prevention program is one where you take action, then continually check at regular intervals to be certain there are no more mice in the home.
Just because you made the outside of your home secure against mouse intrusion doesn’t necessarily mean it will stay that way. You need to conduct regular check on every part of the outside of the house, about once a month is probably enough. It’s a case of first looking to prevention. Mice control becomes quite easy after that. Here is a full set of instructions on how to get rid of mice.
Thank you . Orkin doesn’t fix the problem at all. I had to cement openings at the water spout outdoors , the mesh the used in the kitchen the mice ate through , do I cemented it, they just talk and set traps..