How to get rid of mice in Chicago, IL
Mice and rats can significantly damage your house or the whole building. Their urinal smell makes the atmosphere of your home unpleasant and embarrassing. Not only do they ruin the atmosphere, but they also contaminate food sources and serve as vectors of many diseases such as E.coli, Salmonella, and Leptospirosis. Today in the article we will discuss how to get rid of mice.
Mice also cause structural damage in your homes, like chewing through insulation, wallboards, wood, and electrical wiring that can result in fire. Exterminating and preventing them from entering your house will lead you to an excellent place to live in.
How to get rid of mice
Mice live in a protected space close to the food grains and spend their entire life (about a year) within a 20-foot radius. In that time, females can raise as many as 35 young. So these infestations need to be exterminated immediately.
Getting rid of mice is a two-step process.
First, you need to remove the rodents living there in your house. Second, you need to prevent them from entering your home. Let us discuss this two-step process in detail;
Mice extermination
Mice are secretively skilled at hiding and avoiding humans. They look for shelter, warmth, and food. Mice are curious, and rats are suspicious. They explore new objects and are likely to be around food grains. Rodents increase mainly due to exposed garbage.
A homeowner’s job gets more challenging when mice are already present in the home. You can exterminate mice living there in your home by following these steps:
Use rodenticides or rat killers
You can use rodenticides for mice extermination. Place rodenticides in rat burrow to eradicate the nest. Put the rodenticides in the place where rodent activities are found excessively, such as the kitchen, warehouses, utility rooms, etc. Mice mostly live in protected spaces where they can quickly access food, so placing rat killers around this place works better. While using the poison bait, remember to keep them out of reach of pets and children. Do not forget where you have placed poison bait.
Exclusion: The Second Step
This is the second vital step to get rid of mice. Seal all openings of your home that are more than 1/4 inch in size through foundation cracks, around or under door and window frames, and elsewhere. Use metal sheets, heavy screens, cement mortar, or other barriers that rodents cannot pass through. This way, you may be able to control infestation with traps.
A wood-based snap trap will work, and you can use peanut butter for baiting. Place your catch, and the mice will run over them when they smell the bait. Although trapping may eliminate a small infestation, you can use poison baiting when you have more infestation.
You can also use the services of a pest control provider to remove the rodents living there in your house.
Mice proofing or prevention
A mouse can get into your home through the opening size of a pen. Once they are inside your home, the damage is done.
Follow these preventive measures to keep the mice away from your house:
- To control mice or rats, start eliminating food sources and the places where they live. Seal off access to food. Use a sturdy and tight container for garbage. When they lack food, rodents start killing one another and migrate to a better place.
- Every small and protected opening is an invitation to the mouse. Finding and sealing these openings can prevent mice from entering your home.
- Inspect items such as cardboard boxes, grocery bags, and other packages brought into the home. Store these foods into an airtight container and dispose of the garbage regularly.
- Install mouse-proof materials through which mice can’t chew and gnaw through
Prevention is as important as a treatment to maintain a rodent-free home. Suppose you do not take action to prevent them from entering the house. In that case, you may find yourself in an endless cycle of baiting and trapping as they continue to enter your home.
So take these exterminating and preventive measures to get rid of mice in Chicago’s long winter. Get peace of mind and a healthy environment to live in with a rodent-free house. Remember, mice have their place in nature, not in your home.
