If you are like many people, you’ve experience mice in your home at one point in time or another. Indeed, as you read this article, you may think you have a mouse problem at your residence right now.
The grim reality is that your own conduct and behavior may have contributed to mice being attracted to your home. If you want to keep mice away from your home, you need to understand what attracts mice your house in the first instance. There are a variety of factors that attract mice to a home. Typically, a combination of these attractions draws mice to a home.
Poor Sanitation
Generally, poor sanitation at a residence can be highly attractive to mice. Poor sanitation includes things like:
- Crumbs accumulating on floors, in cupboards, and countertops
- Overflowing trashcans
- Food left out
- Improperly sealed food containers (including pet food)
Open Food Sources
As alluded to in the section about general residential sanitation, open food sources can prove to be highly attractive to mice. Whenever possible, you should make sure that foodstuffs are in tightly sealed containers. You might want to consider investing in an old school bread box. The more you tighten down the hatches when it comes to food in your home, the less attractive you make your home to mice.
Keep in mind that even pleasant bowels of snacky items like nuts and candies can become attractive food sources for mice. Consider doing a thoughtful inventory of how you store food at your home to make sure you really have it as contained as possible.
Available Water Sources
Another attraction that can bring mice to your house is the availability of water sources. The most common type of water source that can prove attractive to mice is pet water bowls. Of course, there is no way that you can eliminate pet water bowls. However, you can lessen their attractiveness to mice by considering placement.
For example, you absolutely want to make certain that your pooch has a fresh supply of water when playing outside. When your dog is ready to come in from playing outside, bring the water bowl inside with you.
Warmth and Shelter
The fact that your home provides warmth and shelter turns it into a major attraction for mice. Mice will most be attracted to your home generally in geographic locations that have colder winter months. They will also be attracted when rainy weather persists.
There is some evidence to suggest that a pregnant mouse is also more likely to seek shelter in your house. As is the case with mammals generally, when a female is pregnant, she instinctively seeks out the shelter of the kind represented by a house or other similar structure. Keep in mind that if a pregnant mouse ends up in your residence, you can end up with a full-blown infestation in a short period of time.
Cracks and Openings in Walls
Mice do not magically appear inside your home – although sometimes seems like it is the case. Mice typically enter a home through cracks and openings in walls, or under doors. Bear in mind that the passage of this nature can be very small and narrow. A mouse will still be able to get through and into your house when the crack, gap, or opening is small.
Eliminating cracks and opening is a must. Begin by plugging openings along interior walls. This prevents mice access into the main part of your home.
By keeping holes in exterior walls initially open, you allow mice the ability to depart the premises altogether. If you fill the interior and exterior holes and the like simultaneously, you end up with mice trapped between the walls of your home. If at all possible, you want to avoid having mice die between the walls of your home.
Odors From Prior Mice Infestation
Keep in mind that if you’ve eliminated an existing mice infestation, you may have set yourself up for a new one. Odors from prior mice infestation can prove attractive to other mice looking for shelter.
The surest way you can avoid odors from prior mouse infestation attracting more mice is to engage the services of a mouse and rat cleanup professional. These types of specialists have the experience, equipment, and other resources necessary to fully eliminate odors associated with mice in your house. These include odors that you might not be able to discern, but which are attractive to mice.
A cleanup pro also makes certain that any hazardous wastes associated with mice are fully eliminated as well. Keep in mind that mouse droppings and urine can contain harmful viruses and bacteria capable of causing serious and even deadly diseases.