As the mercury drops during the winter months, mice get inside your house as your home becomes the ideal target for a mouse infestation. Mice are seeking a warm place during the winter for them to survive the cold weather. Your home offers them everything they need--food sources, warmth, and shelter.
During winter, most mammals hibernate. However, mice are different, instead of hibernating, they collect plenty of food sources to last them through the cold season until spring returns. If you end up finding a mouse inside your home this winter, the first step is to find out how it got in.
Mice love your home for the same reasons you do. It is a great place to raise children, due to being warm, safe, charming, and convenient. Your home has everything for a mouse's survival--food, shelter, and water.
How Do Mice Tend to Enter a Home?
A mouse can get its body into the tiniest places, making it a sneaky critter. Mice can fit into spaces you wouldn't believe were possible, such as the foundation's tiny wall cracks and holes. Another way mice get inside a home is through the attic.
Mice are fast little critters, capable of scurrying about in a quiet yet rapid manner. Please don't feel sorry if a mice gets inside your house. They are clever animals and get into any place in order to find shelter or food sources. Having a mouse or mice does not mean you have a dirty, unmanaged home.
To prevent mice from entering the home, seal all gaps and holes with cement or metal. Seeing a single mouse is a guarantee there are several other mice close behind.
There are ways to prevent mice from entering your home during the winter. No matter how warm and inviting your house may appear, there are ways of keeping mice away.
Other Clever Entry Points
Sometimes when a person leaves the garage door open during the day, it allows a mouse easy access indoors. Particularly if the garage is attached to the house, the mouse (or mice) can easily find entry points via the kitchen garage door!
How to Make Your House Mouse-Proof
Mice are adept swimmers and often can enter homes through sewer lines. Therefore, to prevent mice from entering your home, cap off all drain pipes, especially in areas with an uninstalled toilet or under a sink.
Mice make their way indoors via entry holes located around a house's plumbing and gas lines.
Another way to deter mice from your home is by storing all food in plastic containers and wiping up spills immediately.
What is a Mouse Nest Made of?
You might come across a small mouse nest when cleaning the garage, attic, or basement. A mouse uses nesting materials that are a collection of fabric, thread, and other materials that provide comfort.
Are Mouse Holes a Sign of a Mouse Infestation?
Homeowners commonly only recognize mouse holes after all other signs of a mouse infestation appear. Due to their body shape, mice are capable of fitting through holes much smaller than what would appear likely. The mice may enter the home through gaps in windows, ceilings, and even sewer lines.
Mice are Attracted to All Types of Food
Mice are always in search of a food source. Whether it's a nighttime cheese or peanut butter snack, they are also attracted to pet food. Believe it or not, mice also like to eat chocolate! Mice tend to have their own preferences for foods, even having a favorite potato chip flavor.
Store pet food and other food in glass or metal containers
To prevent mice from entering your home, seal all cracks, openings, and other holes with metal or cement. You should also properly seal and close all windows and doors. Likewise, store food in glass or metal containers with tight lids, making sure to take care of food waste as soon as possible.
Where are Common Areas for Mice Nests?
Once a mouse enters your home, they immediately search for a warm and isolated area. An ideal place is one that is near sources of food, such as the dining area or kitchen. Some areas you might locate mice nests include behind the refrigerator or other appliances.
Mice get inside the boxes we store our holiday decorations in. Rodents like to build nests in warm and soft places, making them feel safe. Often when you take down decorations and put them in the box to go indoors, mice find themselves with an easy way in, too.
A few mice can quickly become rodent infestation because of how quickly they reproduce.
How to Know if You Have a Mouse Problem
A rodent infestation is a result of not recognizing and dealing with a mouse problem right away. Signs of a mouse problem include chewed-up water lines as mice search for a water source. In addition, you might notice newspapers, cotton, paper towels, and old clothing having chew marks as mice search for nesting materials. A box of old papers or clothing stored in the attic or basement makes an ideal place for mice to nest.
Most homeowners are unaware the trees in their yards provide an excellent source of food for mice. Particularly if those trees are producing nuts or fruit. Another source of mouse infestation outdoors is a vegetable garden and compost piles. Both are known as common attractant mice and other pests into a yard.
If you have a mouse problem, it is a relief to know a pest management professional like A.N.T. Pest Control can handle it.
What Happens When Rodents Get Inside Air Ducts?
When rodents get inside air ducts, the fur they shed, and their feces and urine are signs of their presence. In addition, rodents in air ducts can cause pathogens to become airborne. The air vents of a home are common ways mice move about a house.
Rodents get indoors through gaps in walls or windows. You can fill these gaps with a caulking gun, steel wool, or wire mesh to keep rodents out.
How to Prevent Future Infestations
Ignoring the early signs leads to an infestation because mice breed quickly. Seeing one mouse can quickly multiply if prompt action is not taken. Ensure drainage pipes are sealed properly because sometimes mice enter homes through sink and bathtub drains.
Seal all openings around doors, windows, ceilings, and even the sewer lines are entry points for mice. They can fit their bodies into tight spaces due to their small size. Therefore, check that there are no openings where pipes, wires, or other objects enter exterior walls. They can discover these tiny critters after they have stayed hidden within the walls of a house for a long time.
To keep mice away, maintain well the leaky pipes and faucets; doing so limits the water supply for rodents. In addition, seal gaps and cracks you discover and check every wall in the house as mice can climb and jump on walls.
When it's Time to Call a Pest Management Professional
You might notice the scratching noises in the walls of your house have been silenced, and there is no exposure to mouse droppings in the silverware drawer. It appears your efforts to get rid of mice in the house have been successful. Then, the scratching noises return out of nowhere, and you catch a glimpse of one of those furry pests.
The only way to completely eradicate a problem with mice or rats is to get expert advice from a professional pest control service. Call A.N.T. Pest Control to eliminate all those unwanted guests in your home.
