How to mouse proof your house.

Picture it: The house is finally quiet. You’ve just slipped into your comfy bed. Your eyes lids ease together, wiping away the day. You are about to drift off when suddenly you hear a delicate scratching coming from behind the wall. Or was it coming from the ceiling? You lift your head and wait, just to make sure it wasn’t your imagination. Nope, there it is again. Scratch, scratch, scratch. A string of expletives cut through the air. There’s a mouse in the house! Arrrgh! Then, you lay there the rest of the night trying not to think about your new furry roommate. Make that roommates, because where there’s one there’s five. Or ten.

We had a mouse problem a few years back. It started, as always, when the nights started to get chilly, and the little buggers were looking for a warm place to crash. We thought we had it handled. Until the next fall, that is. Through these intermittent rodent wars, I came across a lot of websites offering mouse-proofing advice, as the best why to combat rodents is to prevent their entry. One was particularly helpful. It was Orange County Vector Control District’s handy little pamphlet ‘Rodent Proofing Your Residence’. It breaks down ‘problem’ areas such as pipes, vents, roof & plumbing–among others–and offers simple suggestions and diagrams for relatively easy DIY pest control. And believe me, a few hours of mouse-proofing your house now may prevent many sleepless nights this fall.

'Mouse' picture courtesy of Wikimedia.

Tagged:
rodents mice rats mouse-proofing

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July 26, 2007

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Caya123

July 27, 2007

I had to trap & kill mice a few times in this house. Sometimes they were such cute little critters, I really hated to kill them. (we used traps that kept them alive). But it had to be done- if I let them go in the woods in the back, they would have just come back. And of course they wouldn't be suitable pets :-D I love that little mousie at top :-D

tmgeorgo

July 26, 2007

Nice brochure. I've been battling a "mice in the eaves" issue the last couple of years, every fall & winter, and I don't think I will ever really win. Mice can get in thourgh such small openings (I believe it's anything the size of a dime) that it is almost impossible to plug all of the entry points. I have had the most success when I used multiple traps in a single area (4+) with peanut butter as the bait. Line the traps up near each other wherever you hear scratching, then check back often to empty the traps.