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How to Get Rid of Mice

how to get rid of mice

Are you tired of watching furry little rodents dart across your floor at night? Can you hear them scratching and squeaking inside your walls and ceilings and, perhaps, beneath your floor boards? Are you finding trails of rodent droppings in your house and noticing little bites taken out of your food stores?

It’s time to get serious about mice control. The longer you wait, the bigger and bolder your mouse population is likely to grow!

But ridding your premises of mice means you have to put on your rodent thinking cap and outsmart these clever little creatures. And that doesn’t just come naturally: you have to take the time to learn all you can about effective, affordable mouse control.

How to Control Mice

Your goal must be to find the mouse control method your mice will be the least happy with. That involves, first of all, acquainting yourself with the basic facts about mice and answering basic mouse questions like:

Mice in cage

Click on any of the links in the list (or those found anywhere throughout this articles) for more detailed information.

Knowing your enemy is the key to mice control success.

Despite the complexity involved in learning about mice and how to outsmart them, keep in mind that the whole enterprise boils down to just two basic things to know:

Getting Rid of Mice With Pest Control

There are many different approaches to mouse removal, and none of them are necessarily right or wrong. Anything that works is a welcome remedy!

Which approach you opt for will depend on your situation and your preferences. For example, some will be very concerned about which is the most humane way to get rid of mice. They will want to know how to catch a mouse live for later release.

For others, causing the death of rodents is no burden on their consciences at all. This group will want to know how to kill mice instead.

Mice are scarySome people like to do everything, including mouse control, 100% naturally. These sort will be looking for natural ways to get rid of mice.

Then there are the DIY-ers and anyone wishing to eliminate mice as affordably as possible. They will be thrilled to learn about the many home remedies to get rid of mice that really work.

And if you prefer a less “confrontational” approach, you might also wish to learn on how to scare mice away.

The Most Effective Methods

There are several major mice control methods that work if you do them right. The first step is always to locate and eliminate all mouse entry points so they can’t get into your building and all mouse food/water supplies so they won’t be attracted to it.

Should I Call an Exterminator?
In most cases, you can successfully rid yourself of mice without resorting to the expense of a professional exterminator. And you can do most of what they would do yourself, if you take the time to learn how. But click on this link to learn when it might be appropriate to call in the mouse exterminator cavalry.

Traps of some kind are normally going to be involved, unless you rely exclusively on natural predators (cats) and mouse deterrents like electronic pulses or using peppermint to annoy their tiny little pink noses.

The most effective types of traps to consider using include:

Snap traps

  1. Snap traps, both the old fashioned kind and the covered no-see, no-touch, no-mess variety. Read more here.
  2. Glue traps. These are not at all humane, but they can be extremely effective. For more information click here.
  3. Electrocution traps that kill mice dead in a single, minimal-pain jolt. Not enough current is used to endanger kids/pets, and covers keep out toes and fingers. Further details can be found here.
  4. Live catch traps. Trap doors let mice in but not out. Or, you can use homemade two liter bottle traps to catch and hold mice. Read more here.
  5. Bucket of death. These homemade traps use walkable ramps and planks and spinning PB-laden pop cans to throw hungry mice to the bottom of a tall bucket. Water or antifreeze drowns them once inside. Please see detailed descriptions here.

5 mice traps collage

For more info about the best way to catch a mouse check out this article.

Another thing to realize is that the location of your mice can influence what kind of strategy you need to use to eradicate them.

A hidden mouse nest can make it difficult to get mice out of walls, and there are special techniques to help de-mouse basements and ceilings and attics. The same is true of trapping mice in the kitchen or out in your garage.

You may wonder if it’s safe to sleep with mice in your bedroom, but you also want to use the types of traps and baits that make it safe to walk there. Snap-traps can as easily snap toes, remember, and poison PB can get on the rug than on your clothes, and then on you!

Outside the house, you’ll find there’s a whole special strategy for getting rid of mice in your car, and for getting rid of field mice and those mice holes scattered all over your lawn.

Follow the links above to delve into each special area of mouse control. This will help you get rid of mice wherever they are.

But realize that even after getting rid of your mice, you still need to know a bit more. Click on these helpful links for advice on cleaning up mouse droppings, getting rid of that dead mouse smell, and ridding your home of all mouse smells in general.

What Is Actually the Best Way to Control Pesky Mice?

We believe that using effective and smartly placed traps is the number one way to destroy your burgeoning mouse population.

But you have to follow a few basic principles to make your mouse trapping efforts as fruitful as possible:

  • Lay down numerous traps suddenly on the first night. You almost always catch more mice the first day than on any other day.
  • Place traps along walls and behind furniture and appliances where mice like to run.
  • Put two traps end to end along a wall, so that mice will trip the trigger no matter which direction they are coming from.
  • Use peanut butter, mice’s favorite food! Plus, PB will stick to the trigger so mice can’t run off with the bait. Click here for more information about the best mouse bait.
  • Rotate trap locations every few days if you’re not catching any mice yet.

To get your pet involved in the action, click here to learn about the best cats for catching mice.Cat and mouse

To use a bait that can safely kill mice but not harm people or pets, click here and learn about the best mouse poison.

To annoy mice enough that they won’t want to live in your house, click this link to identify the best mouse repellent.

Mouse control is no task for the faint at heart, but neither is it an impossible task or one that only a professional exterminator can handle. Feel free to explore all of our numerous mouse control articles by following the links or visiting other pages on our site!

The information you need to win your war on mice is right here waiting for you!

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