What to do with your uninvited guests that show up in the fall? I’m not talking about the in-laws.
This the prime time of the year for rodents to pack up and move into your home. Once they get in and find a nice comfortable place, guess what comes next? That’s right, they want to start a family!
The gestation period for mice is just 21 days and can produce more than a dozen babies. A healthy female delivers up to 10 litters per year. That is a lot of mouths to feed, and it might be best to keep the critters out of the house completely.
Mice can pass through a hole the size of a dime. They’re limited only by the size of their skulls. They have no collar bones or shoulders to pull through, so if the head can poke through, the body will follow.
To keep the rascals out, carefully inspect the exterior of your home. Look for small, unsealed openings along the foundation and at any wall cladding penetrations like utility access point or vents, and around doors and windows. Plug any small openings with steel wool or metal mesh.
A mouse has two big front teeth they use to chew through most everything except metal and concrete. A common entry point is the garage door. Carefully inspect the bottom and side seals at the garage door and repair or replace as necessary to prevent entry. Careful inspection of the interior areas of foundation and attic can also reveal potential entry points. This is, of course, the practice of exclusion and would ideally keep out the mice.
Even though mice have poor eyesight, they are better at finding these entry points than we are. If you see evidence of activity inside your home, the first course of action is to attempt to eliminate the easy food sources like pet food, bird seed, or other stored items that are an easy target. Store pet food in a sturdy, tight-sealing container and do not leave bowls out overnight.
The next course of action is to evict any of the unwelcome rodents. Setting out poison where you have noticed activity is an option, but it can be dangerous for children and pets and then there is the issue of the poisoned mouse’s final resting place.
A dead mouse in the house can cause an unpleasant odor and is next to impossible to find. Consider using snap traps and glue traps. Mice are curious and will inspect something new in their environment, especially if it smells like food. It also provides positive confirmation of your mouse activity and success rate.
These procedures should help eliminate or prevent the majority of any rodent problems. If you find the problems persist, there are many professional exterminator contractors that can lend a hand.
When purchasing a home, always hire the pros at Comfort Home Inspections to help identify evidence of rodents or pests during a thorough home inspection.
