5 Ways to Get Rid of Rats and Mice

Mice and rats can be kept out of your home. Once they get in, they breed quickly, chew wiring and leave droppings in your pantry. Below are five of the most effective ways to keep rodents out of your life.

1. Get a Cat

Cats are built to catch mice and rats. It is how they have made their living for thousands of years, and a cat or two in the house is a strong deterrent.

However, some people do not like cats, and indoor cats can only do so much. There are still countless mice outside waiting for a chance to scurry into your clean, warm home. Keeping them out is the real first step in rodent control. Stray cats in the yard can often help, too.

2. Keep It Clean

Limiting food is critical to keeping mice away.

Wipe up kitchen crumbs every night and keep floors clean. Food left on counters and floors is an open invitation for mice and other pests. Cleaning counters with a 10% bleach solution helps keep mice and insect pests away. Keeping food in the kitchen only makes cleanup easier and goes a long way toward keeping rats and mice out of your house.

3. Tidy Up the Clutter

Mice and other rodents do not like to cross open spaces. They are much more comfortable running along the edges of walls, and they prefer cover.

Remove wood piles, leaf piles, children’s toys and tools like rakes and shovels from around the outside of the house. The more open an area is, the less it appeals to rodents.

Trim back bushes, shrubs and flowers that grow right against the foundation. The less clutter there is, the fewer pests you will have.

Move or remove bird feeders. Birds are a nice addition to a backyard, but spilled seed draws rodents, especially mice. Prevention is much easier than dealing with a problem later.

4. Seal the Way In

A mouse can squeeze through a gap about the width of a pencil. A rat needs only a little more. If you can find the gaps, you can close them.

Walk around the outside of your home and look for:

• Gaps where pipes, wires and cables enter the house.
• Openings around dryer vents and crawl space doors.
• Gaps under garage doors and exterior doors.
• Cracks in the foundation and holes in soffits and eaves.

Steel wool packed into small holes, then sealed with caulk, stops most mice. Larger gaps need hardware cloth or metal flashing, because rodents chew through foam and plastic.

5. Call a Professional

Everybody has a limit. One or two mice make some people very uncomfortable, while others do not care until there is a major infestation. Doing the job yourself takes time and money, and without the right products and a good understanding of rodent habits, you may not get rid of the problem completely.

Professional exterminators are licensed in the states they serve. State agencies test them on the safe use of pesticides and traps. A professional also knows the fastest, most effective ways to get rid of rodents, and a professional company is insured.

Jarrod’s technicians find where rodents get in, set and check bait stations and seal the entry points so they stay out. Call (706) 841-9912 for a free inspection.