Getting rid of mice yourself at home

Why do mice appear in the house?

Mice poison the lives of the inhabitants of the house. When gray thieves first appear, it is necessary to take urgent measures to remove mice from the house before the number in the room increases. Long-tailed pests appear both in private homes and in multi-storey buildings.

The following factors increase the likelihood of a rodent infestation:

• Cluttered basements and old collapsed outbuildings are places where mice accumulate. The animals establish uninhabited territories and live there in large families.
• Rubbish heaps and uncollected landfills provide feeding grounds for rats and mice. When piles of garbage rise near residential buildings, rodents run to the warm, cozy walls of a residential building.
• Grocery stores are a tempting bait for gray animals. Cheeses, sausages and cereals attract mice to settle in secluded corners of retail premises. Rodents get into residential apartments if the premises are located on top or to the side of a shopping center.
• Pests can enter your home through transportation. For example, when receiving a set of new furniture. Mice hide in cardboard packaging and crawl out when assembling parts.
• Violation of sanitary standards leads to the appearance of mice. Scraps left on the table or garbage not taken out emit an odor that attracts rodents.

Interesting! Once in residential buildings, mice feed on any food that they come across on the way. Mice chew matches, soap, candles... along with food.

The main reasons for the appearance of mice in homes and how to get them out read more in the article here.

Organic repellents

Many manufacturers of organic products used in agriculture offer a wide range of rodent repellents. These products are less harmful to nature and humans compared to pesticides. Repellents contain natural substances, such as peppermint, that force pests to find a new home. Such organic preparations are available in aerosol form and are sold in stores selling home and garden products.

How to determine the presence of rodents

It is easy to determine that mice have appeared in your home. Signs of mice appearing look like this:

• rustling in furniture at night;
• an unpleasant specific mouse smell that comes from places where pests are frequented;
• spoiled bags of cereals, grains and seeds appear;
• bitten wiring, items of clothing, furniture;
• you can see paw prints;
• mouse droppings.

An increasing number of mice enhances the listed signs. Rodents rarely hide from people and can appear during the daytime. Mice are not as dangerous as rats, but their appearance nevertheless requires urgent intervention.

Mousetraps

Many devices and devices called mousetraps have been invented to catch mice.

This is interesting!

The first mousetrap was invented by Hiram Maxim, who a little later developed the design of a machine gun with the same name.

The simplest mousetrap is a rather primitive device equipped with a spring lever. Cheese, chocolate or sunflower seeds, which rodents love, are placed in the trap as bait. After the mouse reaches for food, the trigger mechanism is activated and kills the pest.

There are mousetraps, which are an iron cage with a slamming door. The mouse remains alive and can be released away from the house.

Electric mousetraps kill animals quickly and painlessly. Having fallen into such a trap, the animal touches the plate through which a high voltage current passes and instantly dies.

Although mousetraps, sticky sheets, and other similar devices for catching rodents are often used in the home, they do have their disadvantages. It is necessary to constantly monitor whether prey is caught in the trap, and release the trap in a timely manner, otherwise the fetid odor cannot be avoided. In addition, another pet and even a small child can get caught in a mousetrap, so such devices should be installed in places that are difficult for humans to reach.

What danger do they pose?

A mouse infestation in itself is a nuisance. These are small, dirty, unpleasant creatures that brazenly invade pantries and nightstands for food. Rodents cause harm not only to food, furniture and the integrity of walls, they pose a danger to human health:

• In some people, products used by mice cause an allergic reaction.
• Close proximity to pests carries the risk of infection with infectious diseases. Mice are carriers of bacteria and germs.
• Gray rodents damage wiring and cable communications, resulting in a short circuit in the network.
• Causative agents of dangerous infections live in the saliva and droppings of pests. With the appearance of mice, fleas enter the room, living in the short fur of basement rodents.
• Mice spoil food products: they “drill” holes in bags of flour and cereals, eat through packages of pasta, grind seeds, crackers, and bread. Rodents do not disdain vegetables, leaving teeth marks on potatoes, carrots, and cabbage.

After death, the corpses of mice must be removed as quickly as possible, since the cadaverous smell of rodents is toxic to people and can cause severe headaches or poisoning.

When uninvited guests enter residential premises, they damage furniture, books and other products. They make nests in the far corners of pantries, dragging small wardrobe items. Rodents damage shoes, clothes, wallpaper and, among other things, spread a disgusting smell.

Ash and sulfur

• Sulfur is a universal remedy because it helps get rid of mice, cockroaches, and even fungus. How to use this miracle remedy? Go to any hardware store and buy a sulfur bomb. When you arrive home, you need to fumigate the entire room with it.
• Some people know that in places where there was a fire not long ago, rodents do not appear. Why? In such places a lot of ash remains, and it falls on the paws of mice and then gets into their throats, thereby causing severe irritation. In general, if you put fine wood ash in the cellar or underground, then after some time the rodents will leave you. For 5 square meters of room you will need a bucket of ash.

How to repel pests

Mice multiply quickly and if the owner of the house shows indifference to the first signs of the appearance of pests, a whole flock will soon breed in his apartment. The presence of long-tailed rodents requires immediate measures to eliminate them.

A simple repellent method to get rid of mice is to get a standing cat. It is desirable that the person from the feline family is not purebred and has good hunting skills. The age of the animal does not matter. Kittens catch mice no worse than adult cats.

Prevention

It is much more effective not to remove pests, but to take preventive measures that will help get rid of their occurrence.

To do this, it is recommended to adhere to the following simple rules:

1. The trash bin should never be overfilled. If it is filling slowly, you do not need to wait until it is completely filled in order to take it out.
2. After eating food or finishing the cooking process, it is necessary to carry out additional cleaning to remove all crumbs and other small debris that could attract mouse attention.
3. Place mousetraps in the kitchen, attic, basement , closets and cellars, since this is the simplest method of preventive control, which, if not, will not exterminate the pests that accidentally get into these places.
4. Do not store food in places easily accessible to rodents.

Methods of disposal

Mice scare family members, spoil food, and spread unpleasant odors and bacteria around. It is necessary to get rid of them before the fertile parasites give birth to offspring.

There are several effective methods for dealing with uninvited guests. The most commonly used methods are:

• poison mixed into food;
• getting a hunter cat;
• traps and mousetraps;
• repellents.

The use of mousetraps and poisonous substances is prohibited if you have a pet cat. If a pet catches a mouse and eats it, it can become poisoned. Rodent traps can cause physical harm to a pet.

Physical destruction

You should start the fight against mice with a thorough cleaning of the room and organizing the room to destroy the nasty scourge. First of all, it is necessary to seal the cracks in the baseboards and walls to prevent other creatures from appearing.

The physical method of destruction includes placing traps and mousetraps indoors.

A mousetrap is installed in places where rodents frequent: under washbasins, near food cabinets, under a bench. Bait in the form of a piece of cheese or lard is placed in it. The animal will come running to the smell, try to remove it from the hook, touches the spring, and the device destroys the pest with a blow.

Instead of mousetraps, they use other types of traps. You can make it yourself. For example, cut off the top of a plastic bottle. The inner walls of the container are lubricated with some liquid oil. Delicious food for mice is placed at the bottom of the bottle. The top of the bottle is secured with tape to the bottle. The container is attached to the table. The pest will smell the bait, climb inside for prey, but will not be able to get out. In another embodiment, the bottle is hung on a string from the table. The mouse falls into a plastic container and tries to climb out, but thanks to the slippery inner surface, it will fail. A harmful rodent falls into a trap.

Note! Mice have a big sweet tooth. They are subservient to sugar and chocolate, and are more drawn to sweet treats than to cheese and lard.

Home Remedies

Using a bucket, you create a high-quality trap for rodents. A sheet of newspaper with a cut in the form of a plus sign is attached to the top. Place a piece of cheese, sausage or lard on the paper. Water is poured inside the bucket. The animal hunts for bait and falls into a hole. To prevent the mouse from getting out of the trap, you need to use a tall bucket and lubricate the walls of the container with a slippery substance. If you don’t pour water, the mouse will flounder around in the bucket and won’t be able to get out. This method helps to catch all house mice.

At home, products are made to repel and eliminate rodents. There are several simple and accessible methods:

• Plates with vinegar essence are placed in the rooms. Long-tailed parasites cannot tolerate strong odors and will leave the room.
• Naphthalene is mixed with bulk ingredients: sawdust, peat. The mass is laid out on pieces of cardboard and distributed throughout the room. The aroma is disgusting to mice.
• Bouquets of wormwood and ash are scattered in pantries and closets.

Traditional methods

Traditional methods help in the fight against mice. Some herbs are widely used to drive away mice. Proven recipes have been used for years and have gained great popularity:

• Small bags are filled with a collection of dry herbs: mint, chamomile, and hidden among the products. The folk recipe is not harmful to people and pets, but has a negative effect on rodents.
• Mice cannot stand the smell of onions. Cut onions are laid out in large quantities throughout the room.
• Bay leaves cause discomfort to mice's sense of smell. It is recommended to scatter them among cereals and vegetables.
• Dilute a few drops of essential oils with water and wipe the interior and exterior surfaces of the furniture.
• Gypsum is mixed with flour, and the resulting balls are placed in the habitats of the parasites. The mice eat the “treat” and subsequently die.
• Ash is sown among baseboards and walls. The substance corrodes the paws of mice, and they leave the inhospitable house.

Humane ways

The compassionate owners of the apartment refuse to destroy the rodents, but they also do not want to put up with their presence. They get a cat that, without human intervention, “brings out” mice or, with one meow, drives rodents away from the house. Catching mice yourself will help free your home from the scourge without killing the rodents. To do this, place bowls with cheese or peanut butter in the corners of the room, wait for the mouse to appear, and throw a towel over the animal. You must act quickly so that the mouse does not have time to escape.

Ultrasonic devices that repel mice are considered a humane method of rodent control. You can find repellers on the market:

• ultrasonic;
• electromagnetic;
• mixed.

They all cause panic attacks in animals and cause them to flee the premises.

Electromagnetic waves paralyze the nervous system of rodents, remaining a safe device for humans.

Professional help

Professionals can quickly and effectively remove mice from your premises. Rodent pest control specialists will correct the situation in a short time. The appearance of mice will be quickly eliminated.

Professionals perform the work in three steps:

• Assess the degree of infestation at home and determine tactics for exterminating mice.
• Deratization is carried out.
• The results are secured with preventive measures. A check is arranged a month after the procedure.

Before this, you need to prepare the room: do a general cleaning, create open access to the walls and baseboards, remove unnecessary items. The only drawback of professional help is the high cost of the service.

Poison - the best drugs

The poison has a good effect and copes well with rodents. Manufacturers produce it in the form of powder, special liquid, poisonous briquette, paste. The following brands have proven themselves well:

• "Rat Death No. 1." The poisonous mass has a pleasant aroma that rodents like. It releases fumes that are harmful to rats and have a depressing effect on the respiratory system of the pests. The maximum effect is achieved a week after treatment;
• "Goliath". The drug helps to poison a large number of rodents. Its effect does not begin immediately, but after a week. During this time, all pests eat the bait, which does not cause them any concern. Soon all the animals die;
• "Ratid 1". Helps poison rodents, used in all types of buildings;
• "Storm". The main advantage of the poison is the lack of decomposition of dead individuals. In this regard, there is no specific smell;
• "Nutcracker". The green briquette acts as bait. The rodent absorbs a poisonous mass that poisons the circulatory and respiratory systems. After a short period of time, suffocation develops, which forces the rodent to crawl out into open areas. A dead specimen is easy to locate and dispose of;
• "Tsunami". The tablet preparation is pink. Safe for pets and people. It has a cumulative effect, having a detrimental effect on the cardiac, nervous and circulatory systems of the rodent.

A poisoned mouse should not be handled with bare hands. You can throw out the pest using a dustpan, or wearing household gloves on your hands.

Naphthalene, turpentine and kerosene

Some chemicals and liquids with pungent and unpleasant odors will repel, but not kill, mice.

The problem is that the stench will be difficult for a person to bear, and that is why it is recommended to use the following products exclusively in non-residential premises.

• Spray the corners of the basement or cellar with kerosene. Or take a not very large piece of old rubber, place it in a regular bucket and burn it using a blowtorch for this purpose. It is better to do this during the period when you begin to put food in your cellar.
• Prepare a mixture of sawdust and mothballs (in equal parts) and scatter it near mouse paths, loopholes and holes.
• Take a rag that you don’t mind soaking in turpentine and put it in the hole of the gray pests. After a few days, you need to take the rag out, then soak it in turpentine again and put it back.

Now you know how to fight mice using folk remedies, which means you can meet these rodents fully armed.

Author of the article: Kartash Christina