This article is a guest post by Pest & Pollinator LLC
It’s normal to get a mouse in the house from time-to-time. It can happen to anybody. But obviously you don’t want mice living and nesting inside your home. So here’s what you can do to get rid of mice inside and prevent them from coming back again.
Why is there a mouse in my house?
House mice (mus musculus) are small grey or brownish rodents that prefer to live in walls, attics, and cellar spaces where they are close to human food. When the temperatures drop in wintertime, mice go seeking warmth, and can enter your house through a hole just a few centimetres wide.
If you hear mice in your walls, or see a mouse running through your kitchen, they’re looking for somewhere warm & close to food to nest. You’ll need to get ahead of the infestation before they start breeding & multiplying.
How to control mice in the house
The best, time-tested way to get rid of mice in the house is to set traps. Regular snap traps are used by professionals and homeowners alike, and can usually provide adequate results for mouse control. Of course, to prevent another infestation, you’ll need to find the entry points and seal them up.
How to set mouse trap
When setting a mouse trap, only use a small amount of bait, just one gram or less. You’re not trying to give them a meal, just attract them to the trap. Set the traps in strategic areas; places where you’ve seen the mice, in attics, cellars, and under your kitchen sink. Place them along the walls where mice are likely to be running.
How to inspect for mice
Over time they can leave dirty rub marks called “sebum,” along entry points and walls where they travel. Also look for droppings, gnawing around corners & holes, and bits of insulation or nesting material to find where the mice are, and set traps there. Mice like dark, shadowy, and out-of-the-way places, so you might have to access somewhere dark & dusty, where you wouldn’t typically go, to get the best results.
Lethal traps vs. humane traps
If you are going to try to use a humane trap that captures the rodent but does not kill it, you’ll need to check the trap every 12 hours, or more frequently if possible to prevent the mouse from harming itself trying to get out, and to decrease the likelihood that other mice will learn to avoid that trap. If you have any reason to suspect there could be more than one or two mice in your home, using live traps is not recommended. Mice, like rats, can communicate danger with each other, and they will simply learn to avoid the trap after the first one or two mice are captured. Trapped live mice will need to be transported at least a kilometer away from any home or building, or else they could re-infest someone's home.
Set as many traps as your budget allows. At least 10 traps is good for a typical house. Check often & dispose of captures by double-bagging in plastic and disposing of in the municipal waste system.
Seal up mouse entry points
Once you’ve stopped hearing noises or having sightings, it’s time to seal up any entry points. Carefully inspect your home along the ground level, along the roofline, and anywhere where two construction materials join. Use steel wool or copper mesh to plug small gaps of a few centimeters, and get a carpenter, roofer, or foundation specialist to repair any holes in the house that are greater than a few centimeters. Do not skip this step. Finding the entry points and sealing mice out is important if you don’t want to use traps over and over again.
Unfortunately, sometimes mice can enter through burrows into your crawlspace, or sometimes height, expense or other factors might prevent you from being able to seal all entry points. If that is the case, you might choose to leave traps in your attic, kitchen cupboard, crawlspace or cellar at all times and check every few weeks to monitor and get ahead of an infestation before it begins.
Conclusion
If you find where mice are hiding and moving around, and set traps there, then usually this will work to get rid of mice in the house. If you’ve captured a few mice, sealed entry points, and still see or hear them, that’s when some people choose to use a poison bait product. However you choose to try to get rid of mice in your house, always use an Integrated Pest Management approach by inspecting for mice, entry points, using traps first, and monitoring afterwards. If you still have issues after trying everything, that’s when it might be helpful to consult a professional exterminator in your area.
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