Mice may look adorable, but few Houston residents would welcome these wild rodents running loose inside their homes. Mice are dirty pests who track feces, urine, and bacteria across tables, countertops, and furniture.
Visual evidence of an infestation includes grease smears along walls and baseboards and gnaw markings on boxes and food containers. Of course, finding smelly, filthy droppings is another sign. Mice are nocturnal, so you may hear scratching or scurrying noises in the attic or inside walls at night. These rodents multiply quickly, so it’s best to act sooner rather than later to keep them out of your Houston home.
Why Are Mice a Problem?
Mice are responsible for an astounding level of structural damage to buildings. The destruction ranges from chewed drywall and insulation, as well as electrical wires and rafters. While the damage to walls is a nuisance to fix, the destruction of electrical wires poses a fire risk.
Dumpsters and trash bins attract mice with the promise of easy food. While hanging out in these types of places, mice come in contact with harmful bacteria, germs, and other pathogens. Many of these substances are still on their feet, bodies, and fur when they enter your home. The mice then spread them across your clean, widely used surfaces.
Hantavirus and salmonella spread through mouse droppings and can impact humans upon contact. As droppings dry, they produce toxic dust clouds that spread airborne pathogens. Human health is compromised when they breathe in this dust.
It’s also hard to get rid of them once they move in and find a nice warm nesting spot in your home. They reproduce quickly and like to hide out in dressers, cabinets, or even shoes.
Potential Mice Attractants to Get Rid Of
Start by taking stock of the house exterior and the yard, removing any clutter or debris that mice may use for shelter or food. This clutter includes overflowing garbage cans, unsecured compost bins, and general yard clutter. It’s also a great idea to cut back any overgrown bushes and trees.
Be on the lookout for accessible food supplies or containers of standing water. Pet food left unsecured outside is a sure way to start a mouse infestation. Again, the goal for this step is to make the outside of the house less attractive to the mouse. If you have a rodent infestation in your yard, it is only a matter of time before the smell of food will entice them inside the house.
Inside the house, it’s essential to focus on entry points and how the mice are getting in. Secure the areas around doors and windows and seal off vents using tough hardware cloth or steel wire that they can’t gnaw through. Be sure to reinforce areas around utility pipes and baseboards.
How to Keep Mice Out of Your Home
Clean up spills and crumbs immediately and clean dirty dishes right away to eliminate food smells that attract pests. Eliminating clutter both inside and outside will also help get rid of mice. Use tight-fitting lids on garbage bins to keep rodents from feasting on your trash.
An adult mouse can fit through a hole the size of a dime. Be sure to use weatherstripping to seal up areas around windows and doors tightly. If you have a vegetable garden or fruit trees, be sure to pick the produce as soon as it becomes ripe to protect your harvest.
Dependable Houston Mice Control and Prevention
Making your home less attractive to rats and mice is a significant first step. Still, if you have seen mouse or rat droppings around your home, contact a certified pest control technician as soon as possible. They will come out and do a proper inspection.
These rodents multiply fast, so you don’t want to waste time. Contact Stampede Pest Control today.