Mice are sort of like roaches – if you see one in your Plano home, there are more you’re not seeing. You might be tempted to think, “it’s just one little mouse,” but mice breed explosively. So if your home is attractive to one mouse, it will be attractive to more, and those mice will be quick to start breeding. That means a mouse infestation can quickly take over your house and be extremely difficult to eliminate. This is why mice prevention should be the first step in your mice control plan.
Why Are Mice Coming Into My Home?
Mice are tiny rodents that greatly resemble rats. Their ears are proportionately smaller, their tails are fuzzier, and their fur is smoother and fluffier. But otherwise, you might have a hard time differentiating juvenile rats from mice. However, if you’re seeing both huge and tiny rodents, you’re probably seeing adult and juvenile rats. You’ll rarely see rats and mice together because the rats tend to drive the mice away. So the silver lining is that if you have a mouse infestation, you probably don’t have rats.
Mice are attracted to your home for three basic things: food, water, and shelter. In places with severe winters, mice often come into homes seeking refuge from the bitter cold. We don’t (usually) have that problem here in Plano, but our homes still provide shelter from predators like snakes and raptors. Our homes also have plenty of food and water sources like the toilet or dog bowl in the pantry.
Are Mice In My Home Dangerous?
Mice can be very dangerous in your Plano home. The two main threats mice pose are to your health and your property. Live mice poop in your pantry, they contaminate your kitchen with their dirty feet, and they leave shed hairs all over the place. That means they can deposit pathogens in just about every conceivable corner of your home. Mice carry potentially severe diseases like hantavirus, rat-bite fever, salmonella, and more.
Additionally, mice can destroy many parts of your home. They may chew through electrical wiring or even plumbing to grind down their teeth. They can rip up insulation and furniture to create nesting materials. They might even gnaw through your home’s siding to create entryways for themselves.
What Are Some Ways To Keep Mice Away From My Home?
Mice control can get very expensive and difficult if you wait until you have an established infestation. That’s why you need to take measures to prevent mice and watch out for signs you have mice. Ways to keep mice away include:
- Cover all indoor and outdoor garbage with tight lids.
- Keep pantry foods in airtight, hard containers.
- Consider getting a cat or rodent dog to intimidate mice.
- Seal up cracks and holes in your home’s exterior.
Even if you take the most stringent prevention measures, you’ll still want to be on the lookout for signs you have mice. These rodents are highly motivated to get into your home, even if you take steps to make it less attractive to them. That means you’ll need to look for signs like:
- Live mice
- Chew marks on surfaces
- Mouse feces
- Ripped up insulation or furniture
- Scurrying noises inside walls
When Do I Need Professional Help?
If you start noticing signs of mice, you’ll need to call the experts as soon as you realize you have an infestation. Things like sticky traps and snap traps don’t do much more than kill a few individuals and make room for more. Fortunately, there’s a way for you to get rid of all the mice in your home and ensure they never come back; call us here at All-Safe Pest & Termite!