What Attracts Mice and How to Prevent Them
Knowing what attracts mice to your home is the first step in eliminating them and preventing future infestations.
There are a few different types of mice, but house mice are the ones mostly frequent invading our homes. They are naturally found outdoors, but unfavorable environmental conditions such as a harsh winter or scarcity of food sources prompt them to seek refuge indoors.
As much as a mouse looks innocent, their infestation can lead to the transmission of various diseases to humans. They are linked to the spread of Hantavirus, salmonella-causing bacteria, typhus, and plague, among other pandemics.
Many people experience recurring infestation issues because they’re unable to prevent them from coming back. To prevent them from entering at all you should know what attracts a mouse into the home in the first place.
What Attracts Mice?
The following are some of the major things that cause a mouse to come inside your home.
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There’s an easy entrance
A lot of the time, if a mouse sees a gap or cracks in a wall, they’ll just go check it out for the heck of it. Mice are always on the hunt for food and looking for a safe place from predators. For all they know, the small tear in your window screen can lead to those survival needs.
Where can they come in from?
A mouse can enter your home through the roof, the pipes, windows, and any crack in your home’s foundation the size of a nickel. They are also capable of sneaking in unnoticed from just leaving the door open for a couple of seconds.
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They need shelter and warmth
As said before, mice are hunted by bigger animals often. If your home seems like a safe haven where they can reproduce, they’ll test it out. This is especially true in the wintertime in areas that get much colder. Your home makes an excellent place to settle for a poor little mouse in the wild. Your home is even more attractive if you don’t have a cat!
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They’re looking for food
Mice mostly come indoors because of food. If their efforts at finding food outside are failing, they are more likely to invade a home for it. For the most part, they like to feed on fruits, cereals, and oats as well as seeds. They are also attracted to dog food.
If you leave such food uncovered, your home is more vulnerable. It is advised to keep them in airtight containers or packaging that is well sealed. A refrigerator is also helpful. If you have food that you don’t intend to use again, dispose of it into a trash container. Don’t forget to seal it properly to avoid mice that may be hovering around to reach it.
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There are trash and crumbs lying around.
If mice can’t get your groceries, fruits or pet food, they won’t mind heading to your trash. If there are fruit peelings, rotten fruits, human or pet food leftovers, they’ll feast on them. That’s why you will most likely see mice prowling around garbage bags in homes and hotels with an infestation.
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If you have a habit of letting trash accumulate that’s not well-sealed, your home is more attractive to mice.
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Clutter Piles
If these pests find ample food near or at your house, they will start looking for a place they can call home and begin to reproduce. Clutter, such as piles of cardboard boxes in your home’s basement, immobile furniture, and old cloth piles, offer them ideal habitats and materials for building their nests.
Clutter also makes for a great hiding spot, which usually goes unnoticed to people.
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Don’t forget that mice multiply at an alarming rate. So if they build nests at or near your home, you could have a serious infestation in a short time.
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Where are these mice coming from?
Mice have been infesting homes for years, it is not uncommon. They’re a very popular species, especially in bigger cities. Many animals rely on the mouse as a food source, which is why they’ve naturally become a widespread species. Being a vulnerable animal, they constantly seek safety and shelter from dangerous environments with predators.
If they find an entryway into your home, you can bet they are going to explore the option. This can be any crack in the walls, pipes, chimney, window, or roof of your home. If you spot one of these entryways, it’s important to seal it up right away. If left unaccounted for, it could result in more of them, and possibly other animals finding their way inside.
How to prevent a mice infestation:
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Seal Entrances
The best way to keep them out is to seal all the gaps that they enter through. Fill in any gap in your wall regardless of size or location. Remember that a mouse can squeeze itself through a very tiny nickel-size gap, especially if it is young.
The work is tiring and requires some expertise, so that’s why some people hire a professional pest control expert to do it for them. You can stuff some steel wool into the spaces for a stronger barrier. Mice cannot burrow through steel regardless of how much they try to enter.
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Keep a Cat or a Dog
Cats and dogs are the most popular predators of house mice. Instead of using poisonous chemicals you can just buy a cat or a dog and have your problem sorted.
Although keeping a cat or a dog comes with extra expenses for feeding and medication, with the animal you can rest assured of a nearly mouse-free home.
Obviously, none of these animals can eliminate a mice infestation completely. Their presence in your home, however, can prevent an invasion from happening in the first place.
Don’t forget to keep your cat or dog well groomed and treated from pests like fleas and ticks, otherwise, it can bring about another pest issue.
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Keep Your House Clean
Clutters of papers, food, and fabrics make your place susceptible to mice. They use them as food sources and material for making their nests.
In homes, mice make their nests using accumulations of dust and hair as well as clothes, newspapers, and magazines. So, if you want to keep them away you must clean your home regularly to remove these litters and dust buildups. A clean and uncluttered place is a put-off to mice as it offers them nothing to eat or build nests with.
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Dispose of Unwanted Items
Furniture or cookware left lying around over time offers ideal nesting grounds for mice. If you want to win your fight against these rodents you must get rid of these items so that they lack places to hide or breed in your home. Sell, give away, recycle or properly discard the items that you don’t need instead of leaving them lying around.
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Protect Your Food
Deny them the pleasure of eating anything they like in your house. If you have dry foods such as cereals, store them in airtight-lid glass or plastic containers rather than leaving them in their original packaging.
Don’t leave food containers on the floor. Instead, keep them on shelves or inside kitchen cabinets. Don’t leave pet food open and within easy access for them; put it in glass or plastic containers too.
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Use an Effective Repellant
You can plant mint around your home, sprinkle peppermint/spearmint essential oil. You can tuck bay leaves into your cabinets’ or pantry’s corners or sprinkle the crushed leaves on your window sills to keep mice away. These methods do not pose any health risks to you, your family or domestic animals.
Are you experiencing a mouse problem in your home or place of business? This information will help you find what is attracting mice into your home so you can be victorious in your fight against them.***
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