Mice Control Steps To Include In Your Spring Maintenance Routine
After a long, cold winter, spring has arrived, and it is time to start tackling your spring cleaning and maintenance checklist. On that list, make sure you include the following cleaning and maintenance tasks, which will help prevent your home from being overrun by mice in the coming seasons.
Clean up any clutter or landscaping debris in the yard.
Mouse infestations often start outside and then move indoors. If you raked leaves into a pile last fall and never disposed of them, that pile could become the perfect mouse house. The same goes for a pile of sticks or some lawn furniture tossed haphazardly in a pile. Burn any yard waste, or arrange to have it picked up by your local cleanup crew. Tidy and organize any other clutter in your yard.
Patch any gaps or cracks.
Mice can fit through remarkably tiny openings, so you need to thoroughly look over your home's exterior and identify any cracks or holes. Common places to find cracks and holes include along the eaves, in the foundation, and alongside windows and doors. A good temporary way to patch such holes is to shove steel wool in them. Then, contact the applicable company (roofer, siding contractor, etc) to come make more permanent repairs.
Clean your cupboards and pantry.
Often, little crumbs of food get dropped in the cupboards and pantry without you really realizing it. These can feed a hungry crew of mice for days! Remove everything from the pantry, and vacuum the floors and shelves thoroughly.
Fix dripping faucets.
Check each faucet to make sure it is not dripping. Mice need water, and they are often tempted to move into homes where there's a good, consistent water source like a leaky faucet. If you do find a leaky faucet, try tightening the valves to see if that solves the problem. If it does not, then call a plumber to make more extensive repairs.
Clean and secure your trash cans.
To you, that scrap of toast crust is trash. To a mouse, it is a feast! Make sure mice can't access your garbage by checking that all of your trash cans have secure lids. This applies to both indoor and outdoor trash cans. Also, spend a few minutes hosing out all of your trash cans to remove debris that might attract mice.
With the spring mouse control tips above, you can protect yourself from a rodent invasion. Happy spring!
If your mice problem gets out of hand, contact a pest control service like Anteater Pest Control for help.