What are mice? Mice are small rodents that can enter your home without any warning signs. They will chew on anything they find edible, including electrical wires, insulation material, clothes, shoes, books, and paper products. This causes damage to your property, plus it’s not pleasant living in a mess left behind by mice who have been chewing for months on end!-
How do you know if you have a mouse problem? Mice infestation can do happen to many people at one point or another. These little critters can cause big problems for homeowners. Unfortunately, they also reproduce very fast, so the problem never goes away on its own.
Read More to know more about mice infestation.
How to tell if you have a mice infestation?
The signs will be droppings, gnawing holes in food packaging, and chewed-up wires when you have a mouse infestation. The first sign of a rodent infestation is usually droppings. Mice droppings are long, skinny, and pointed at both ends. Mice drop their waste wherever they go and will drop their pellets in areas that they frequently use as pathways. These droppings are often found near food sources such as pet or human food.
In addition to small brown or black pellets, mice will also leave behind urine trails on surfaces along their pathways. These urine trails are used to mark the mice’s territory and serve as a guide for them to find their way back. Mice will often urinate every 20-25 feet while they follow these paths, which is why you can typically see 2-3 tiny spots of wetness in this area.
Gnawing holes in packages of food is another sign of mice activity. Mice will chew through plastic bags, cardboard boxes, and another packaging to get to their food source inside. Chewed-up wires are also a common sign of a mouse infestation. When there are mice present near an electrical wire or cord, it can cause problems with electric current flow. It could cause an electric shock or even start a fire.
These tiny rodents will chew on just about anything they can sink their teeth into. This includes wood and insulation in your home or other structures around your property. Mice might also gnaw through the walls of your home to gain access from the outside if there is no other path available for them to enter. Once inside, mice can live in your walls for an extended period. Therefore, if you see tiny holes in the insulation or other surfaces inside your home, it is likely that you have mice living in your walls.
Where do mice live in your home?
Pests like mice can live anywhere at all. They can be found living in pantries, attics, garages, or basements. They can also be found living in mountain tops or oceans. If there is a food source for the pests, they will find it and take up residence.
Mice are small rodents that can fit into the tiniest of spaces. They eat almost anything but prefer seeds and grains (and crumbs). If a food source is not readily available, they will eat their fur. Mice can live for a month or longer without water.
That is why it is important to immediately clean up any crumbs from your floor and counters so the mice cannot access them later on when you cannot keep an eye out.
Unfortunately, after mice have found your home food-worthy, they will collect other pests like ants, roaches, and termites. That is why it is important to get rid of them as soon as you notice their presence in your home.
What damage can mice do to your home?
Mice are very destructive creatures that can damage your home in several ways. Not only will mice chew through things like wiring insulation, but they also carry many parasites and bacteria that can be harmful to humans. The most common one is Hantavirus.
Mice will also urinate and defecate everywhere, creating a stench that will linger for days. Once mice infest your home, you need to find a fast way to get rid of them before they cause too much damage.
Mice are small rodents that have tails and small ears. They can usually be found in attics or basements, though sometimes they will try to make their way through the walls of your house, which is where the major damage is done. They don’t hibernate, so they will continue to create holes and do damage all year round. They love to live in tight and dark spaces, so if you have a box or something that has been sitting around for a while, mice might just be using it as their home.
Mice can also be a problem for agriculture as they eat through crops. Generally, only the seeds are eaten and not the actual fruit of the plant. Even though the seeds aren’t harmful, it can be frustrating to lose an entire crop because of a few mice.
Mice will also bite people if they feel threatened. This isn’t as likely to happen as they can sense when a person is near and avoid them, but it does occur. It’s not usually life-threatening, although there are very rare cases of mice transmitting plague and other diseases to humans through bites. There have also been reported deaths by people due to Hantavirus, but these are even rarer.
How to Get Rid of Mice
Mice can be a problem for your home, health, and food supply; here are some tips on how to deal with mice.
- Keep your home clean – Mice like to build nests in places that are warm and dark. So keeping dust bunnies cleaned up under the bed means that it isn’t inviting to mice.
- Always use a trap – other methods are very inhumane, and the traps only kill the mouse. The mouse will not be able to access any food source while it is trapped, so its death will not help your problem at all, but trapping them allows you to relocate them humanely. If there is no food source near you, they will leave on their own.
- Keep your food sealed in containers – even though the mouse will not eat the actual fruit, it will still chew through anything to get to the seeds inside. By keeping all of your dry goods in air-tight containers, you are protecting your investment and keeping your home free from disease at the same time.
- Clear out any garbage – mice will go into the garbage when they are hungry, and it is a much easier supply of food than what they can find in your pantry or cabinets. So don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink, don’t leave pet food sitting out, and take your trash to the dump at least once a week.
If you have a compost pile, keep it away from your house.
- Keep the yard clear – if you have tall grass or piles of leaves near your home, mice will use them to build nests. Keeping the yard clean and mowed will help keep them out of your home.
- Contact a professional – once mice make their way into your home, they are almost impossible to get rid of. If you can’t manage the problem yourself, contact a professional exterminator that uses humane traps and poisons to remove them from your area.
If mice have made their way into your home, it is important to take action fast to prevent damage to your property and health.