Signs Of Mice In Your House And How An Exterminator Gets Rid Of Them
The common house mouse can be a destructive nuisance when it invades your home. Mice are usually secretive, so they can multiply before you realize your home has a mouse problem. Plus, mice breed at an alarming rate, so your home can become infested quickly. The house mouse doesn't stray too far from its nest, so once the mice move in, they aren't likely to leave until you take steps to eliminate them. A mice removal professional is the best aid in the fight against mice. Here are some ways to tell if you have a mouse problem and how an exterminator can get them out of your house.
Signs You Have Mice In The House
Mice are tiny so they don't make a lot of noise. However, you might hear them late at night when it's quiet since mice tend to be active at night. There might be squeaks and scuttles in the walls or from your attic. You may even encounter a mouse if you turn on the kitchen light at night. The house mouse can also roam about during the day, but you're most likely to see them at night. Since mice are such experts at evasion and hiding, you may never actually see the mice, so don't think your home is clear just because you don't see the pests themselves. They may leave behind nests, droppings, gnaw marks, damaged food containers, and footprints in dust that indicate their presence.
How An Exterminator Gets Rid Of Mice
Exclusion is an important tactic in the fight against mice. The exterminator will examine the perimeter of your home for tiny holes the mice can squeeze through and then fill or block the holes. The pest control professional may also offer advice on clearing your property of places mice can hide such as a cluttered shed or tall plants near your home. Clearing outdoor nesting places and sealing gaps keeps mice away from your house, but it doesn't deal with the mice living inside. For that, you'll need traps. Poison bait is also a possibility, but since the mice could die in the walls and stink up your house, traps are usually a better option. Snap traps, electric traps, and glue traps can all be used and you may need several traps set over an extended time to eliminate the mice population.
Since mice are not usually seen, the exterminator will look for evidence they are still present by looking for new nests, droppings, and footprints. The exterminator may leave a few traps set as monitoring stations that let you know if mice are still present or still getting inside your house.
Keeping a tidy and clutter-free house is also important in the fight against mice since they are attracted to food you leave behind. However, mice also enter your home for shelter and warmth so the ideal way to deal with mice is to block them from ever getting inside.