Keeping Mice Out Is More Than Just Setting Out Traps Or Bait

Keep your home and family safe from mice this fall and winter with help from Wil-Kil

If you’ve ever opened a cupboard in your home and come face to face with a little mouse, you probably realize that setting mice traps to catch these annoying pests is not enough. Even as you empty one successful trap, there could still be more of these rodents wandering through your cupboards, under your floors and in your attic. To completely eliminate mice and prevent new rodent activity, it is absolutely necessary to correct the conditions in and around your home that may invite the entry of these pesky creatures.

Firstly, what are the signs of a mouse problem?

While there is no more concrete proof of a mouse problem in your Wisconsin home than actually seeing one of these creepy little critters, oftentimes their quiet and elusive nature lets them avoid being noticed for quite awhile. But because mice are prolific breeders, their numbers will increase quickly, and you will soon start to see signs of their presence, including:

• Mouse Droppings – Normally found in areas where mice are looking for food or building their nests and breeding, mice droppings resemble black grains of rice, approximately ¼-inch in length.
• Gnaw Marks – You may see gnaw marks on furniture, cardboard boxes and clothing, as mice need to gnaw in order to keep their teeth short, as well as collect materials to build their nests. They will also chew through electrical wiring, which can be very dangerous to the safety of your family.
• Nocturnal Activity – Mice are routinely nocturnal rodents and will venture out of their nest and other hiding places when night falls. If you are lying in bed and hear scratching noises inside the walls or up in the attic, you could very easily have a mice infestation.

I didn’t invite them, so how do mice get in?

Mice like to find a warm place to spend the winter, and will enter your home looking for shelter from the cold through tiny holes and cracks in your home’s exterior. Wisconsin homes have all a mouse needs to be happy in the winter, including food, water and protection from the elements. These pests can squeeze through holes as small as ¼ inch in diameter, so it’s important to seal these holes, install chimney caps and add screens to vents to help reduce the possibily that mice can enter your home.

Seek assistance from the professionals

If you have seen only one mouse, or suspect that there is a neighborhood of mice hiding in your home, contacting a pest control professional is the best bet to completely take care of your mouse problem. Our trained pest control technicians can identify and treat a current pest infestation as well as help you locate possible places of entry or environments that may be encouraging these pests to thrive inside the walls of your home. At Wil-Kil, we have been serving Wisconsin since 1926 and we are ready to help homeowners take care of their mouse problems– contact us today!