Ruth C.
Pest Control in Bealeton, VA
Keep your home clean. Many times, mice are drawn into homes on the search for food. If there is nothing to eat, mice will be less likely to stay. Keep all food stored properly in airtight containers or in places that are safe from mouse attack.
Apply peppermint oil. Peppermint oil is a natural deterrent. The smell is simply too intense for rodents and they will not try to go near it. It also helps to mask the scent of any tasty morsels that have been missed when cleaning. It also gives the house a lovely smell, and is not toxic, unlike many synthetic chemical treatments. You can get peppermint oil in most health food stores and even some major grocery stores.
Use dried snake feces. Visit a local reptile center, zoo, or pet store and ask for some dried snake poo. You can also sometimes find someone who owns a pet snake. Place near entrances and in places where mice seem to go. This will keep mice away.
Zap mice with ultrasonic sounds. There are electronic units sold that emit an ultrasonic beeping sound that rodents hate. They should be available at your local home improvement store or online.
Use a commercial, organic deterrent. Many companies that specialize in organic garden and home products make mice repellents that are better for the environment than traditional poisons. Many of these products use natural ingredients, such as peppermint, that are known to be disagreeable to mice. They will not kill mice but they should keep them out of areas where the product is applied.
Get a cat. A house cat can take care of the problem. Cats that spend time outdoors are more likely to hunt to find their own food and may track down that mouse. Just be aware, not all cats have enough energy, interest or training to hunt mice. Kittens typically have to be taught by the mother to easily become a mouser. Well-food indoor kitties might just see the mouse as a toy, and grow quickly bored of it after scaring it half witless.
Put your trash cans far from your home. Mice smell garbage and get attracted to your house. If you keep the cans away from the house, they are less likely to take up residence in your home.
Promote the nesting of birds of prey in your yard. Build a shelter box in your garden to attract some onto your property. This may take some time, but it’s worth the effort if you can attract a wild mouse eater to your yard.
Find the location where the mice are entering.Sometimes there will be greasy stains, and there will almost always will be feces near an entry point. There is also a characteristic odor.
Block up any holes in interior walls. Start with the interior walls, as it’s best to leave a way out for the mice. They may leave your home or apartment for easier pickings elsewhere.
Seal the exterior entry points. The usual recommendation is to fill holes with steel wool. Unfortunately, steel wool rusts and thus is not a permanent solution. Instead, use green kitchen pads, cut to the right size, or copper scouring pads. The pads must be secured to the sides of the hole or the mice will eventually pull them out. Large holes will need to be repaired.
Once you are sure that the interior walls are secure, seal any holes on the exterior of your building. You may use plastic scouring pads, but in some cases walls may need tuck-pointing or other repairs
Check entry points again. After a couple of days, look for evidence of any continuing mouse activity. If there is any, check the holes that you sealed, and look for more holes. Seal as needed.
Try a commercial live-catch trap. There are various traps that you might like to try using, all of which allow you to set the mouse free. The most common traps catch the mouse in a box that it can get in but not out of. This is a humane way to catch mice.
Create a homemade humane trap. Use a glass bowl and a coin. Invert a large glass bowl with some chocolate stuck to the inside of the bowl. Balance the bowl at an angle with the large coin on the edge, edge to edge. Leave it in an area where you know the mouse roams.
Lure the mouse into a container it can’t get out of. You can set up a 10 gallon (37.9 L) aquarium with food in it. Put the aquarium in a spot that the mouse has been seen in, ideally in a place that blocks the mouse’s usual path. Place something next to the aquarium that the mouse can crawl up, like a stack of books.
Throw a towel over the mouse. It will stay under the towel for only a short time, so you need to act quickly. Put an inverted waste-paper basket over the towel. Tuck the exposed bits of towel under the basket so it is in contact with the ground. Slide an LP record or large piece of cardboard under the basket and towel. Carefully turn the basket over the right way, with the cardboard tight against the lip of the basket.
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