The Trick To Keeping Mice Out Of Your Boston Home
As the weather gets cold, mice start looking for dry, warm places to live. Your house may look good to them. Mice are some of the most common household pests. They are also some of the most dangerous. According to the Center for Disease Control, mice can spread 35 diseases to humans. These are spread through contact with mice, or through their feces, urine, saliva, and through rodent bites. In addition, parasites that live on mice may latch onto you and spread their diseases too.
Also, mice can chew through walls, wood, cardboard, and wires. It is estimated that rodents account for 25% of house fires that start without a known cause. Mice foul your insulation and give it the smell of animal urine.
Why My House?
Mice need these things in the winter: warmth, food, clutter, and cracks and openings. They prefer dark corners, so nests near hot water heaters are common. Any food left out, or not in rodent-proof containers, attracts mice. What they don’t eat, they can foul with urine and feces. Clutter gives mice nesting materials and safe places to hide. Finally, mice can enter your home through a hole as small as a dime. Pipes that come and leave the house are often entry points.
DIY Mice Extermination
To get rid of mice from your Boston home, first, get rid of the things that attract them. Seal the cracks and crevices in your house, including in the foundation. If you can insert a pencil into a hole, mice can chew it larger so they can get through it. Seal each hole with steel wool and caulk. Mice can’t chew through steel wool and the caulk holds it in place. Also, replace weatherproofing seals around doors and windows that are not doing their job. Make sure door sweeps don't leave cracks mice can slide through.
Place all food, birdseed, pet food, and anything else that could attract mice in mouse-proof containers. Thick plastic will work, but metal containers are harder for mice to chew into. Make sure your trash cans have lids on them. Do not leave pet food, seeds, or scraps out at night. Scraps go in a compost pail with the lid on it. If you feed the birds, make sure there is a squirrel baffle on the pole holding the feeder. Pick up pet food each evening and place it into a secure container. Throw away any food that has been fouled by mice.
Mice use cluttered areas to nest in. Clean up clutter so they do not have places to burrow and hide. When cleaning up after mice, wear a mask to avoid breathing in their feces and urine. These can carry dangerous diseases such as Hantavirus.
Once you have done these things, set out traps to catch any mice that are still in the house. The snap trap is the best way to eliminate them. Use highly desirable baits such as peanut butter to bait the traps. When you catch a mouse, dispose of it and reset the trap. If you only have a few mice in the house, this may be all you have to do. But without professional assistance, you will never know if you have actually gotten every mouse.
When to Hire a Professional
When should you hire a professional to come out and get rid of mice? Do you have lots of mice? An Urbanex Pest Control technician will come out and give your home a free inspection to see where the mice are and how many there are. Urbanex can get rid of mice fairly quickly. You do not have to set and empty traps. You do not have to crawl around in crawl spaces and the attic sealing holes. The Urbanex technician will do all that. Finally, mice will not be back after Urbanex gets rid of them. If you have a mouse problem, contact Urbanex at (270) 743-9513 today.
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