Life Hack: Five things you should know to stop mice from getting into your home
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Mice can squeeze through some very small spaces so assess your home and identify any areas you think they could use to get inside. These include areas like vents, pipes and doors with gaps. You can seal these up easily. Adding bristle strips to the bottom of doors that may not fit the full doorframe can prevent entry. These gaps are common in doors of older properties. You can use a sealant to fill holes around existing or new pipes, and the same method can seal holes made in exterior walls for cables, etc. Covering vents with fine wire mesh can prevent mice from using it as an entry and this mesh can also be used to seal gaps in damaged roofing.
Mice are attracted to food so keep your kitchen shelves, cabinets and countertops clean. Place unsealed food in airtight food storage containers and don’t leave pet food out in a bowl all day as it can attract rodents. Mice enjoy chewing on paper and cardboard too so place any excess into your recycling bin and make sure that is not easily accessible. Keep outdoor bins, particularly waste and compost bins, as clean as possible so mice aren’t attracted to the smell.
Before autumn and winter, make the most of the finer weather by trimming branches back from the house and pruning plants to stop them from growing up on the sides of your home. Mice can use these to climb onto roofs while overgrown vegetation beside walls are potential nesting sites for mice. By ensuring none of these are against your home you can avoid finding mice that made their way indoors.
Mice are nocturnal so if they are in your home you are unlikely to see one during the day. Instead, the first sign is usually droppings that look like dark grains of rice. They are scavengers and will use teeth and claws to find food. Monitor your kitchen for bite marks on packaging or debris left behind that could be caused by mice. Mice can squeeze into spaces as little as the thickness of a pencil in walls and baseboards so make sure you don’t leave any gaps.
If you are certain there are mice in your home, you should trace them to where they are entering the property and ensure those entryways are sealed up to prevent more from appearing. To remove the mice inside your home, you can mouse traps in areas where they are likely to be passing through or foraging in frequently: along walls, near rubbish bins, etc. You can use a humane live catch trap to catch — but not kill — the mice. These generally have a trigger-activated door that won't reopen until you are releasing the captured mouse. For bait, foods like peanut butter, chocolate, cheese, bird seed or nuts can attract mice to the trap.
