If you’ve noticed something scurrying around your kitchen floor, you’re not alone. Critters happen. Foremost on your mind is probably is how to get rid of mice. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to keep mice away. Many methods don’t involve poisons or cost a lot. The key is to make your home uninviting from a rodent’s perspective before calling in the big guns with a professional or poisons. Let’s first consider how to get rid of mice in your house fast.
Now, before you can deal with mice in your home, you need to actually make sure you have mice. Knowing what you are dealing with will allow you to effectively get rid of it.
There are two ways you can figure out whether or not you have mice in your home. The first way is by actually seeing them. You may see or hear little mice scurrying around when the house is settled and quiet. Typically, mice like to run along the edge of walls, not across clear spaces.
The second way you will know if you have mice in your home is if you find mice droppings laying around. Mice droppings will likely be found in hidden spaces. Some of the main locations you will want to look around include behind appliances in your kitchen and in pantries and closets.
Mice droppings look like little specks of dried tea. You will find them scattered around in one location in small clumps.
The best way to get rid of mice is to prevent them getting in at all. But if they’re in your home, it’s essential to get rid of mice since they can carry serious diseases such as hantavirus. And one mouse often turns into a horde of little ones which makes getting rid of mice fast critical. Let’s start with the best way to get rid of mice.
It can be hard to control a mouse infestation. But the surest way to handle it is the most direct way. Mousetraps offer the best way to kill mice. They’re quick and effective. The standard spring-loaded mousetrap will get rid of mice fast. It is more humane than the glue traps.
While you can use live traps, they are a waste of time in the end. The mouse you release today will likely be the one you catch next week. Mice are resourceful animals. Obstacles pose little problems for these excellent climbers. And once they’ve identified a reliable food source, they will return.
Sometimes poisons are necessary when considering how to get rid of mice. You may consider this option if you have seen several in your home or the telltale signs of mouse nests and droppings are abundant. Poison baits will get the job done quickly. You can use either single dose or multiple dose products.
When it comes to how to get rid of mice in your home, you should place the baits where you’ve seen signs of recent mouse activity. Follow the instructions included with the traps, taking care to ensure that they are out of reach of pets and children. And always remove dead mice promptly using a glove to handle them.
If you want to know how to catch a mouse fast, sometimes it helps to call in an expert. Having a cat around could be just the thing for keeping mice away. Mice will recognize the signs of a predator. It could be enough to keep them at bay. If not, your cat will make short work of your mouse problem.
Elephants have nothing on the memory of a cat that has honed in on a mouse. They can be extremely patient, waiting for the right time to pounce. A cat in the house will not let a rodent issue languish.
If dogs are more your speed, you can opt to get a rodent hunting dog. Some like terriers were bred to hunt rodents. And like cats, they are tenacious hunters that will stay on the job until it’s done. A terrier will show you how to kill mice fast.
If you choose to get a pet, make sure to avoid using any poisons. The toxins that rodents ingest could affect other animals if a pet eats them. And they’ll be just as poisonous to your dog or cat as they are to the pests you trying to remove from your home.
Mice have a keen sense of smell that helps them find the stray bit of food. When considering how to keep mice away from your house, you can play on their natural instincts to avoid strong smells. Unpleasant odors will trigger their wariness. Some like peppermint are downright offensive to rodents.
You can add a few drops of peppermint essential oil to a spray bottle filled with water or witch hazel. Spray the perimeter of areas where you’ve seen mice or their sign. On the plus side, it is a pleasant scent for you, with the benefit of a way to keep mice out of house.
If you have a serious mouse problem, don’t hesitate to contact a professional. These people specialize in how to get rid of mice in the house. If other attempts have failed to control them, you can use this option as a last resort.
However, remember that a professional will likely use many of these same methods. You can save yourself a lot of time and money by trying out a few yourself. The most important things are deterrents and prevention.
When considering how to keep mice away, it makes sense to avoid creating an environment that will attract them. Remember, mice are scavengers, and they are opportunistic. They don’t need a lot of food, so the few scraps they find may be enough. When it comes to how to get rid of mice, don’t give them a reason to visit.
Make sure to clean up food scraps promptly. Don’t forget countertops. Mice can crawl up vertical surfaces too. Likewise, dispose of garbage outside rather than keeping it in the house. Remember the strong smells advice? Throw the used kitty litter in the same trash bin to discourage scavenging rodents.
Mice are no different from any animal—including humans. They, like deer following a worn trail, will take the path of the least resistance. It makes evolutionary sense to avoid wasting energy, especially if you’re scavenging for a living. As you research how to keep mouse away, look at the obvious.
Holes and cracks represent pathways to getting into your home. What keeps mice away are barriers. You should check the exterior of your home for any openings. Then, repair all the holes and crevices you find. Remember, no hole is too small. Fix every one that you discover.
You have other commercial options for how to keep mice out of your house. A mouse deterrent spray offers a convenient solution to the problem. Often, these products contain some of the other things we’ve already mentioned like strong scents like peppermint. A spray provides a shelf-stable way to get mice under control.
You should apply the spray around the perimeter of your home, paying particular attention to areas where the trash is kept. You can also use them around the holes you’ve repaired as an extra precaution. You did fix those problems, right? A hungry rodent is a desperate one. It’s essential to make your home inhospitable to them.
You might have heard about using dryer sheets for a method as to how to keep mice out. The principle is basically the same. A strong smell signals something unnatural, i.e., human, to a rodent. You’ll likely notice that mice are quick to response if a human is walking around. The same thing applies to the reminders.
You can use dryer sheets to plug up holes you’ve found before repairing them as an extra way as to how to keep mice out of the house. Scents like lavender make a good choice that will deter mice but still make it pleasant for you. A deterrent, after all, doesn’t have to be something unpleasant to humans too.
Your spice cabinet also contains another strong smell that you can add to our arsenal for how to get rid of mice in the house fast. Cloves have the advantage of being inexpensive, but still packing a big punch. You can crush a few with a mortar and pedestal and place them directly in places of mice traffic.
You can also wrap them in cheesecloth and hang them around areas where you’ve seen mice or their sign. This way, it can act as a reminder to change it once the scent of the cloves has dissipated. Their smell is strongest if you crush them, but it will not last as long as whole cloves.
You may wonder what aluminum foil has to do with how to get rid of mice in your house. Aluminum foil acts more as a deterrent than a method for how to catch a mouse. Mice, like other rodents, use their teeth to gnaw on obstacles to create an entrance.
Aluminum foil presents a barrier to mice that won’t want to gnaw at the metallic surface. Think of what it feels like to accidentally chew on a piece. The sensation is just as unpleasant for mice. You can use them like dryer sheets to plug up holes and other well-traveled paths.
If you do not want to go for the traditional and chemical approach of getting rid of mice, then we hope that these helpful natural remedies are of some help. What makes many of these remedies helpful is the fact that you likely have many of the tools needed right at home.
If you find that you are still having a difficult time getting rid of mice, you may want to consider resorting to a more aggressive approach. If you are going to do this, then you need to be mindful of who is in your home. Laying harmful chemicals or sticky glue mouse traps around might not be the ideal thing to do if you have little kids running around your home.
No matter how you choose to get rid of mice, the number one thing that you want to keep in mind is that you get rid of the problem as quickly as you can. If you do not, then you run the risk of the mice breeding and causing even more damage in your home.
Overall, we hope that this helps you get a better understanding of how you can help fight off mice in your home naturally. Have you had success using any one of these methods? Let us know below!
