Mice in the Attic

Education - Mice in the Attic

Probably the most common human - wildlife conflict nationwide - mice in the attic. These capable rodents love to chew their way into your house and raise their young there.

How to Keep Mice Away - Mouse Prevention Tips

How do I keep mice away from my house? Maybe you want to prevent mice from coming to your house, roof, garden, or property in the first place, before they get in the attic. Well, it's hard to keep mice away from a property. They can pretty much go wherever they want, and they will, if there's adequate food and water sources. The real key, regarding mice in the attic, is to prevent them from getting inside. On the roof is fine. Inside is not. To do this, you must inspect the house and seal shut any potential mouse entry holes, with steel, which mice can't chew through. Other than that, your best bet is to eliminate things that attract mice to your property, such as bird seed, garbage, pet food, fruit plants, water sources, clutter and debris and so on. That said, even the cleanest property is likely to be a good habitat for mice, so there's not much you can do to keep them away from your house. But you can keep them OUT of your house. As for other methods, mouse repellent is a myth, and doesn't work. As for keeping the rodent numbers down, the worst thing you can do is kill mice with poison - click the link to read why. Your best option to keep the population down is mouse trapping. But in reality, there will always be mice outside so long as they have food and water - your only concern is eliminating shelter - your shelter!

Photo Examples of How to Keep Mice Away From Your House

1 - Home & Attic Inspection

A full inspection of the exterior of the home, including the roof and all vents, to find out how they are getting in. Plus an inspection inside the attic to identify mouse damage.

2 - Repair the Mouse Entry Holes

The job will fail unless you solve the source of the problem. Seal shut the entry holes, with professional grade repairs, or else the problem will happen again.

3 - Remove the Mice

AFTER the repair job, set at least a dozen snap traps throughout the attic on the areas of high mouse activity. Use wooden snap traps baited with peanut butter.

4 - Clean the Attic

In addition to repairing chewed electrical wires and damaged duct work, you might want to remove the mouse feces, maybe the insulation, and decontaminate.

Information About Mouse Prevention and How to Keep Mice Away

How To Keep Mice Away
Whether you want to keep mice out of your attic or another area of your home or just off your property, you will need to put in a little bit of effort. These tiny rodents are always in search of a nice area that provides shelter and gives them easy access to food. It is particularly important to keep mice away because you will almost never have a single mouse; if there is one mouse, there are likely to be more than that. With a few simple steps and basic home cleaning, you can keep mice away for good.

Seal Up Your Home
The most basic method of keeping mice out of your home is to make sure they don’t have a single way to get inside. Mice are incredibly small so any hole or gap in the wall or siding can be an entry point. Vents, pipes, and ducts as well as the gaps by them can also be potential entry points for mice to invade. Take the time to give your home a thorough inspection and close up any hole that shouldn’t be there. Better yet, have a professional take a look since their well-trained eyes are unlikely to miss a spot.

Remove Their Food Source
One of the biggest things that attract mice to your home is the availability of food. If you regularly leave food on your counter or keep dirty dishes out, stop this habit as mice will see it as an open invitation. Instead, take the time to put your food back in the fridge when you are done or store it in airtight containers that the rodents can’t possibly get into. Also take care with your garbage, particularly trash that is related to food. Opting for a trash can with a lid can keep mice from feasting on your garbage and make your home less attractive.

Since mice will eat an incredible range of items, eliminating their food source means keeping your home as clean as possible. Any crumbs spread throughout your home can be enough to attract these rodents so regular cleaning is a must. Just taking a few minutes to put food away and clean up your eating area after a meal can be enough to prevent mice.

What About Repellents?
There are plenty of products available in store and online that claim to repel mice and keep them away from your home, but unfortunately, very few will actually work. Mothballs and peppermint are both common suggestions that work on the idea that the smell will be strong enough to send the mice packing. In reality, however, mice know that your home offers protection and if they are already safe and cozy inside, they won’t risk leaving and interacting with predators just because of a bad odor. Those expensive sound machines produce similar results or a lack of them. Just like mice will ignore an annoying smell to stay safe, they will do the same with a noise. So whether you see a suggestion for using mothballs, ammonia, predator urine, bright lights, sound machines, toilet cakes, peppermint oil, or human hair, don’t be tempted. You will just be wasting time and money as mice will still come into your home. Remember that even if these repellents worked, you would have to use them constantly. That means leaving the sound machine on all day every day or reapplying ammonia or predator urine every few weeks so the smell remains, something most people don’t have the time or energy to do.

What To Do If You Find Mice
Keeping mice away is always ideal, but what happens if these rodents do get inside your house? In this situation, you need to be prepared to tackle the problem head on. Remember that if a single mouse is left behind, you will have more trouble on your hands. It is possible to get rid of the mice by yourself, but you will have much better results with a professional and can avoid details that aren’t for the squeamish.

A professional will start by finding out how the mice got into your home and then work had to seal up each and every entrance, whether the mice actually used it or could do so in the future. They will then set up a large number of snap traps in strategic locations. These are the most humane method of taking care of mice since trapping and relocating them leads to almost certain death. Since the mice would die anyway, it makes sense to do it instantly with some help from snap traps as this is the most humane method. The expert will then clear out the traps and reset them until your problem is gone. Remember that unless you take the above steps to keep mice away, they will keep returning to your home no matter how many you kill.

The Bottom Line

How to prevent mice - outside is hard, and maybe trapping is the only option. But it's very easy to keep them away from your attic, by performing simple home repairs to seal shut open holes they can use to get in. Presumably you are visiting this website because you already have mice in your attic, but if they're just in your yard or garden, well, I actually don't have great advice for you other than trapping and removal. Just don't waste your time and money on ineffective repellent products.