Mice can be tricky pests to deal with, thanks to the many ways they can infiltrate your Portland home. Proactive prevention is the best way to keep these rodents far away from your property.

House Mouse Dangers

House mice are the most common home-invading pests around the country. This rodent is small with a brown or grey coat and narrow feet, a tail, and small ears. House mice typically have large sensitive whiskers that enable them to detect food, water, and predators.

Despite how common it may be to see a house mouse around your property, this pest is quite dangerous to have around. Besides carrying diseases such as hantavirus, salmonella, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis, the feces, and urine mice leave behind can contaminate food or food storage areas and dry up enough to become airborne and spread illnesses throughout your home. They may also bring parasites like fleas, ticks, and mites, onto your property.

Mice are greatly attracted to the easily accessible food, water, and shelter around your house, such as unsealed trash or food waste, large food pantries that contain dry goods, and areas of moisture around your home. Mice typically prefer secluded, dark areas to live in, so they are most likely to infiltrate your ceilings, walls, attics, and basements once they enter your home.

Additionally, mice can squeeze through openings that are no larger than the size of a regular pen, which makes the prevention of mice very difficult. They may also chew through materials such as wood, plastic, electrical wires, vinyl, and aluminum, causing significant property damage to your home.

Preventing Mice In Your Home

In order to prevent mice from infesting your house, there are several prevention tips that you can follow.

• Seal up potential entry points around your windows, doors, and foundation with chew-proof materials, such as steel wool, stone, and hard concrete. Be sure to be thorough, as mice can fit through incredibly small openings.
• Make sure that all food waste and trash is tightly sealed and disposed of as soon as possible. The aroma from trash is a major attractant to mice. You should also promptly clean up all food and liquid spills and ensure that food is kept in sealed containers.
• Inspect the areas inside and outside your home for leaks. Pools of moisture may attract mice to your property and encourage them to move in.
• Keep your yard clear of debris and your grass trimmed low to eliminate any outdoor hiding places for mice and to deter them from entering your property in the first place.
• While it may not be the best option for everybody, adopting a cat and employing their help around your home can seriously deter mice. Even the scent of a cat on your property can keep this rodent away.

Expert Mouse Control

Though using mouse traps to get rid of your mouse problems may be tempting, this DIY method is unlikely to work. Traps can reduce their numbers but are unlikely to reach all the mice hidden around your home, prolonging your rodent troubles. For expert mouse control and effective solutions, contact the professionals at Kanga Pest Control. Our experts will be sure to eliminate mice at the source and return your home to its prior rodent-free condition.