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How To Mouse Proof Your Home For Winter

How To Mouse-Proof Your Home For Winter [1]

It is important to mouse proof your home. As the weather gets colder, mice are trying to find places to stay warm.

You don’t have to live next to a farm, field or forest to have a large mouse population in your neighborhood. It is important to mouse proof your home the best you can to keep these varmints out.

Mice are the ultimate survivors, and they thrive anywhere they find warmth, shelter, water and food. They may not bother us during spring and summer, but as the chill of autumn weather appears they look for better alternatives. Unfortunately, that often means our homes and cabins. There are a variety of steps you can take to diminish and resist this invasion.

Mice are prolific breeders. One female can produce up to eight litters a year, with six to 10 mice per litter. That means a single mouse can produce 80 other mice who will also breed and reproduce. The affect can be exponential, and that’s why this is often an ongoing battle against the furry little rodents.

 

Mouse Proof Your Home By Sealing Off Access to Your Home or Garage

This is not as easy as it sounds. A mouse can squeeze through the smallest spaces and gaps between your foundation and framing.

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But you have to start somewhere and here’s where to look:

 

Mouse Proof Your Home By Eliminating Accidental Food Sources

 

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Trapping and Eradicating Mice

How To Mouse-Proof Your Home For Winter [4]

Keep your home mouse proof this winter.

There are a variety of options for mouse eradication, and you should consider them carefully, especially if you have pets or children in the house. Some of the approaches are traditional and time-tested, and some fall in the category of new technology.

 

General Trapping Advice

 

1. The traditional spring trap.

We’re all familiar with this mouse trap [5]. It’s a small, rectangular piece of wood with a snapping bar sprung by a spring when a piece of cheese or peanut butter is consumed from the trigger.

 

2. Glue traps.

Glue traps are a cardboard box shape that have a strong contact glue on the bottom of the trap. Sometimes you add food to the back of the trap and some are already scented with an attractive scent for mice.

 

3. Live-catch traps.

There are many variations on this type of trap. The concept is that they can get in, but they can’t get out. They’ll catch anywhere from one to six mice at a time, depending on the size and type.

 

How To Mouse-Proof Your Home For Winter [7]

Image source: Pixabay.com

4. Mouse poison.

Mouse poison is a box of small, edible pellets that are usually made with corn and permeated with a potent poison. The mice eat the poison and will often run to an open space to die, although sometimes they will die in a hidden space and the only way to find them is the smell of a dead and rotting animal.

 

5. Ultrasonic sound.

There are products on the market that broadcast a high frequency sound that is supposed to repel mice. I’ve never tried them and they might work, but I worry that they might also affect a pet dog or cat. There are enough versions of this type of product on the market to make me think it works, but I have found mixed reviews on Amazon.com

 

6. Chemical repellents used to mouse proof your home.

These are repellents that you spray in areas where mice enter or reside. They usually come in a plastic bottle with an adjustable spray, from mist to a direct stream.

 

Keep at it!

After you have tried one or more of the above methods, be vigilant to see if the mice have returned. Droppings are a clear sign they have, as is chewed paper or cardboard shreds.  If you think they’re back, don’t hesitate! Once they start reproducing you’ll be back to the battle again until spring.

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