Keeping Mice Under Control
Finding a mouse in your home is not very comforting. Mice can cause a lot of major problems in the home such as; chewing through insulation, chewing through wires, and mice are carriers for Hantavirus. These little rodents can cause thousands of dollars worth of damage, or the Hantavirus is often deadly to humans. You do not want to hesitate to get these little beasts out of your home. There are a few different methods of prevention, but also a great way to kill mice once they are in your home.
Seal Your Home
Mice have to come into the home through a crack or hole of some sort. Sealing up your home is a great way to prevent mice from entering. Inspect likely areas for any type of hole or crack. Likely areas include near doors, window, and the foundation. Start by re-caulking all the windows and doors. Next thing that you want to do is very important. You are going to seal up your foundation. First dig down to the bottom of your foundation on the outside of your home. Find all the major cracks and holes to fill with grout. Once the major cracks are filled, coat the foundation with a polymer sealant. Once the outside is done, go inside and coat your crawl space and basement with the polymer.
Food
Taking away the mice's food source is another great way to get mice to leave, or to prevent them from coming into the home. If you find that you have mice, it is time for a very thorough cleaning. Start where you store food; areas such as the pantries, cupboards, the basement. You will want to clean these areas very well. Vacuum the entire home and ensure that there are no stray crumbs in the home.
Traps
People often like to poison mice, and poison does kill mice very well. However, poison does usually allow the mouse to escape back into the wall. This means that when the mouse dies you will have a dead mouse stuck in your wall. So, traps are often the method of killing mice. A trap should be placed wherever there is heavy traffic along baseboards but also in the area where the mouse feeds. Place food around the trap and then on the trap. Make sure the trap is placed in such a way that the bait can't be had unless the mouse steps on the spring.
When all else fails, call in the professionals.