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Poison-Free Ways to Get Rid of Mice

Mice are cute little critters, but i am not saying we long for them sharing our homes with us. As adorable as their tiny whiskery faces are, the virus they spread via urine (which they communicating with, therefore leave numerous lying around) and feces-not to say the extensive damage he or she can do when installed their teeth to something-is no joke. But much of us (myself included) don't need to choose from traditional snap traps (have you ever seen one be unsuccessful? It's actually not pretty) or rodenticides that pose serious risk to children, pets, other wildlife, along with the environment.

Why is Getting Rid of Mice a Priority?

According to a government publication from the UK:

Wild mice become sexually mature of them costing only about six weeks of age.

Litters usually contain up to eight baby mice, and females can reproduce close to eight times each year.

One two of breeding mice can, therefore, produce as long as 64 direct descendants yearly, and meanwhile all their descendants will start reproducing within six weeks. Which means that a couple mice can multiply right into a huge population in a short time.

Still not convinced mice are a problem? Then read this list from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), of a number of the diseases that mice as well rodents can transmit directly to you and your family:

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome: People typically contract this serious respiratory illness from breathing dust that was mixed with rodent droppings.

Rat Bite Fever: Mice are almost always too timid to scratch or bite people, but you should also contract this complaint by drinking or eating food or water that mice have contaminated with feces.

Salmonella: Even the more common house mouse can spread stress about this dangerous bacteria. That's one rationality why many medical researchers caution families against keeping pet rodents when they've got babies and toddlers in the home.

Besides spreading diseases, mice—through their dander and through their droppings—aggravate allergies. Additionally,they get more fleas, opening the entranceway to another sort of infestation and every one the potential for loss that include it. Mice will spoil stored food, destroy property, and contaminate your home. They will chew holes in essential structures in electrical wiring and insulation, and thus pose a risk in your safety plus your health.

Is it a Rat or Mouse Infestation?

Mice and rats are standard terms for other varieties of rodents that vary in behavior and appearance. The so-called house mouse (Mus musculus) can be a frequent home invader, and sometimes different types of field mice will also seek shelter inside, when you take in a rodent you can't immediately identify, there's a good chance it's actually a mouse. Additionally, you're unlikely to have a mice and rat infestation while doing so, as outlined by John W. Hermanson, professor of veterinary medicine at Cornell University. instead of employ a mouse infestation, you're unlikely to always be hosting rats as well. So provided you're able to catch a glimpse of among the rodents in your house, you may identify which kind of rodent you're struggling with in accordance with their physical characteristics:

Mice have relatively large ears, their own health usually are you can forget four inches long, and they've got thin tails which might be longer than their bodies.

Rats have relatively shorter and thicker tails which enable it to get older to ten inches long.

Rat and mouse infestations leave similar traces. While doing so, you usually tend to have a very mouse infestation. Mice will get hiding holes in including the cleanest, most well kept houses, and so they don't require a great deal of food to survive. Simply because can obtain enough water from the meals they eat, always necessarily even require a distinct approach of obtaining hydration, generates your own home a wonderful abode for these people as well.

DIY Mouse Control

Mice in the home have been a problem for as long as there have been homes, so it is no surprise that there are many different opinions on how to get rid of mice and a variety of methods on the market. Many of these traps are quite effective, but it is important to choose a trap with your specific circumstances in mind. Mouse poison, for instance, can be dangerous for pets and children, while live mouse traps require extra effort on your part to be emptied and reset for catching more mice. You also need to consider the level of mouse problem in your home – if you have hundreds of mice in the walls, it may be more practical to bring in a professional exterminator:
Popular mouse trap options include:

Traditional mousetraps, snap traps, and beyond: Traditional mouse traps use bait and a spring-loaded bar to attract and kill mice. They have been around a long time because they work. Recently the rodent control arsenal has grown to include the snap trap—mechanical jaws that close on the mouse when it springs a trigger. These types of mouse traps, however, will only kill one mouse at a time. In addition, even the snap traps can be challenging to set without hurting yourself. Finally, both traditional and snap traps require you to detect and get rid of each dead mouse before you can use them again. Today’s newer mouse trap options, like bait boxes, poison, live traps and high-tech models – which use gas or electricity to kill mice – offer improvements that are worth paying extra for.

Live traps: Live mouse traps use bait to attract mice and then trap the mouse alive. They are effective for trapping mice, but only catch one at a time – and require you to dispose of live mice yourself, usually by taking the traps out to an area far from your home and releasing the captive mice.

Bait station: A bait station is typically a plastic box designed to hold mouse poison or other types of poison. Bait stations are used around the world to administer poison and pest control measures both in homes and in the wild.
The bait station box is designed in such a way that it allows mice to enter and take the bait, but makes it difficult for other animals – like your pets – to access the poison. One of the biggest concerns when using poison in the home is ensuring that pets and children do not ingest it. The bait station solves this problem.

Mouse repellent: There are a number of different mouse repellents available, both chemical based and natural, non-chemical options (see below for some of these). There are also sonic repellent options out there, but according to researchers at the University of Arizona, “Scientific studies show commercially available devices to be ineffective. Devices developed by researchers demonstrate positive results, but have yet to be marketed.” It appears that the sonic mice repellents currently available for purchase are not capable of driving away mice in any measurable way.

Mouse bait: Mouse bait is anything you use to attract mice to your traps. Poison bait is bait that includes poison, too – attracting mice to eat it and ingest the poison at the same time. If, as with live traps, you are not using poison bait, you will need to choose bait that is highly desirable to mice. Some good choices for baiting include peanut butter, wet pet food, chocolate, and soft sweet candies, like fruit gummies. Cheese is not a good bait for mice, contrary to popular belief. Mice are much more likely to seek out peanut butter or chocolate as a food source than a piece of cheddar.

Glue traps: A glue trap is designed to trap mice who walk across it, leaving the mouse stuck to the trap until you can dispose of as you see fit. Studies have shown, however, that glue traps are most effective for catching younger mice who have not learned to avoid them. Adult mice may be more cautious around traps of all kinds, and thus less likely to get caught.
Many people who want to avoid the dangers of poison prefer glue traps. But glue traps are considered less humane than other mouse trap options, including poison or live traps, because mice can survive for days in the trap, an outcome many consider unnecessarily cruel. Glue trap users also often find themselves needing to dispose of live, struggling mice along with the trap, as there is no extracting the mouse once it has become entangled in the glue. Parents of young children and pet owners must be careful in the placement of glue traps as well, because anything that touches the trap is going to become stuck to it.

Mouse poison: There are a variety of poisons on the market designed to kill mice and other rodents. Most mouse and rat poisons are anticoagulants, which thin the blood of the mouse and cause internal bleeding. Mouse poison is definitely effective, and can eliminate large populations in a short amount of time if placed correctly. However, it is important to ensure that children and pets do not ingest the poison. Poisoned mice are also poisonous to any animal that eats them—including household pets and wildlife in the surrounding area—which is why the EPA has worked to limit the sale of mouse poison in recent years.

As you put out these traps and poisons, one thing to keep in mind that is that they’re also effective for rat control, so keep any reusable items in case you have another rodent problem down the road.

Natural and Herbal Mouse Repellents

Whatever type of mouse trap you choose, it is important to understand that capturing and/or eliminating the mice in your home is only half the battle. If you want to successfully rid your home of rodents, you also need to find effective ways to keep mice away. Fortunately, there are a number of natural mouse repellent options. Natural oils, for example, have been shown in studies to effectively repel mouse and rat populations, and through these and other means you can avoid using hazardous chemicals to keep the mice away. Here’s a partial list of DIY mouse repellents and herbal mouse repellents that are not only effective, but natural and safer for you and your family.

Mouse-proof food storage: The most effective natural mouse repellent is to stop feeding them. Mice are attracted to human houses because they are warm, dry, and filled with easy meals, and if you have a mouse problem, chances are they are feasting on something in your kitchen or home. For that reason, it is advisable to look carefully at all of your packages and other storage containers to identify these food sources. Even if you keep your food in containers, mice can chew through paper, cardboard, and plastic to get to your food, and this means you will need to purchase mouse-proof storage to protect your food and discourage rodents from visiting your kitchen.

Pure peppermint oil: Pure peppermint oil can be combined with water or witch hazel in a spray bottle to create a mouse repellent spray to use around your home. You can spray this liquid to create a perimeter where mice will not want to cross. You can also soak cotton balls in pure oil and place them in areas that mice frequent, or near the places you suspect they’re building their nests, for an even more powerful deterrent. Another option that is supposed to last even longer than cotton balls is combining peppermint oil with diatomaceous earth. The diatomaceous earth tends to hold the smell longer, and can be reactivated by adding more water when the mixture dries out.
Look for 100% pure peppermint oil, as you want the most potent oil you can find for a good mouse repellent. Keep in mind that the potency of the oil will diminish over time, so you will need to reapply at least once a week for protection.

Soap: Some people report success using soap in repelling mice. You can’t just reach for whatever is sitting in your soap dish, however. It appears that the most successful repellents consist of strongly smelling soaps like Irish Spring. It’s not clear why mice avoid deodorant soap, but it’s likely they work for the same reason as peppermint oil. The same powerful, fresh smells that humans enjoy, mice seem to hate. Whatever the reason, you can take a bar or two of the soap, cut it up into smaller cubes, and place it in areas like your crawl space or attic where you think mice are coming into your home.

Cat urine: The idea that cat urine and other strong smells put out by predators would repel mice makes sense. Mice do not want to be eaten, and will therefore avoid areas where predators are. However, a recent study demonstrated that over a two month period, cat urine actually made male mice more aggressive. At first the rodents acted as expected. They smelled the cat urine and ran away. But when the cat urine was continuously present, the male mice eventually became more combative, which attracted more females. Based on the study, it appears that cat urine can be effective when applied once or possibly even several times, but for long term solutions you will need to choose another natural rodent repellent.

Mothballs: There are plenty of people who swear by mothballs as a mouse repellent. Mothballs smell quite unpleasant, and are certainly effective for driving away and even killing moths – so why not mice? While mothballs may work for driving away mice, the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) does not recommend them for this purpose. In fact, according to the NPIC, mothballs should only be used according to the instructions on their packaging.
A moth ball is a solid form of pesticide, made of either naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene. These products are designed to be placed inside of garment bags and other containers to kill the eggs and adult moths that eat clothing. A moth ball will change slowly from a solid to a gas, releasing the pesticide into the air. As long as the gas is contained in the garment bag, it is relatively safe. But when mothballs are scattered throughout the home, they release pesticides into the air that can cause health problems. The balls also pose a danger to kids and pets.

Pets: Can a dog or cat keep mice away? Many pets do catch and kill rodents out of instinct. It’s also likely that rodents will exercise some caution around these larger predators. But many domestic pets are neither hungry enough nor bred for the task of hunting rodents. There have been plenty of stories about mice stealing food right out of the cat’s dish while the cat watches curiously. Dogs and cats that roam outdoors may train their offspring to hunt, but pets raised only by humans do not have the benefit of this education.

One final note: many of even the most effective natural repellent approaches are specific to mice, so they may not help with a rat problem in the same way some traps and poisons will.

Keeping Mice Out of the House

Based on Cornell's Dr. Hermanson, even relatively clean houses may provide attractive nesting and hiding places for mice. These tiny creatures can survive on leftover food at a pet dish or perhaps a few crumbs that were swept into a corner.
Before you start while using natural repellent of your choice, it is best to therefore take a tour of your dwelling inside and out to identify any locations mice could very well get in. Then create and execute a mouse-proofing plan.

These flexible creatures can slip through holes as small in diameter as a pencil. They are spotted entering houses through open vents, pipes, and drains. Mice can chew through paper, soft plastic, and cardboard, too, so your repellent might be best choice if you determine it inside locations where mice will type in the home, unlike using it randomly.

You could often place permanent barriers at common entry ways, for example around pipes and electrical lines entering your home, holes within the siding, etc. You will find products which will fill gaps, like spray foams, or use metal, wood, or plastic to fill in gaps where mice are coming in. It is important to spend some energy for this first line of defense: the fewer opportunities you allow mice to go in your home, the less need you could have of repellents and traps. On top of that, once mice sometimes make your dream house for themselves in the house, other mice can be attracted by their scent.

When to Call a Professional Exterminator

Regulations occasionally such as the State of New York require landlords to only have licensed commercial exterminators apply pesticides inside occupied rental units. During these areas, tenants can be free to apply ones own measures, but also probably can provide the right to ask their landlord to manage the problem.

Amateur tries to rid homes of rodents can on occasion backfire, considering the invaders simply moving to a more secure location, so if you aren't sure how to avoid mice in your residence, that's another advantage to rely on a professional. However, exterminators can't end your mouse problem unless you take their advice. To illustrate, your pest control technician may carefully apply traps or poisons, but you are going to still want to heed their suggestions to seal up tiny entrances, keep dirty dishes from piling up, and store food properly. Unless you use exterminators together with a team, the situation will return.

Getting Rid of Mice in Your House for Good

If the home becomes infested with the tiny creatures, remember how fast they breed and cause destruction perhaps even disease. To be able to properly rid the home of mice, you will need to evict the techniques you have and stop others from entering. Fortunately, many preventative measures against mice also protect against other pests…but will keep your self happy and healthy on your home. And keep in mind we now have professionals around – people well-versed in how to eliminate mice – who can assist you to maintain home mouse-free.

(source : http://www.pests.org/get-rid-of-mice/)