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December 07, 2024
When the temperature drops in Maine, cozy homes aren’t just inviting to people—they’re also prime real estate for mice. While these small rodents may seem harmless, their presence can lead to serious health risks and property damage. This winter, don’t let mice make your home theirs – use the tips below to keep them out!
Why worry about a mouse problem?
Health concerns
Mice can carry hantavirus, salmonella, and leptospirosis, which can be transmitted to humans through their droppings, urine, or contaminated surfaces. They also bring fleas, mites, and ticks into your home, which can pose additional health threats to your family and pets.
Property damage
Mice are gnawing machines. They chew through wood, insulation, and even electrical wiring, which can increase fire risks. Mice can cause a lot of damage if an infestation goes unchecked, not to mention the damage to stored food and household items.
Mouse hot spots in your home
Mice are experts at finding secluded, warm areas to nest. Common hot spots include:
- Basements and crawl spaces
Mice love these quiet, dark areas where they can hide undisturbed. - Attics
The insulation in your attic offers an ideal nesting material and warmth. - Kitchens and pantries
Food sources like crumbs, grains, and pet food attract hungry mice. - Garages
These provide easy access and plenty of hiding spots among stored boxes and equipment. - Wall voids
Mice can squeeze through tiny openings to hide within your walls.
How to prevent mouse infestations
Follow these steps to make your home as mouse-proof as possible this winter:
Seal entry points
Check your home for gaps, cracks, and holes where mice might enter. Pay special attention to:
- Areas around doors and windows
- Utility pipes and vents
- Foundation cracks
- Gaps under garage doors
- Roofline
Seal holes and other openings with steel wool, caulk, and other exclusion materials. Replace missing or broken shingles, cover vents, and cap the chimney.
Eliminate food sources
- Store food in airtight containers, especially grains and pet food.
- Clean up crumbs and spills immediately.
- Take out the trash regularly and keep the lids secure.
- Take down bird feeders or swap for rodent-proof ones.
Declutter
Reduce clutter in areas like basements, attics, and garages to eliminate hiding spots. Avoid storing items like cardboard boxes directly on the floor. And speaking of cardboard boxes, replace them with durable plastic containers with lids that mice cannot chew through.
Keep your yard maintained
- Trim shrubs and trees near your home’s foundation to eliminate natural pathways for mice.
- Keep firewood stacked away from the house and elevated off the ground.
- Relocate outdoor trash cans so they’re not up against the house.
- Repair broken screens and replace weather stripping.
Don’t put too much stock in natural mouse deterrents
If you’re considering using natural deterrents such as peppermint oil, mothballs, or ultrasonic devices to discourage mice from entering, keep in mind that they are not really that effective. Strong odors might initially repel mice, but they can adapt and find ways around the deterrents.
Ultrasonic devices are touted as a convenient, chemical-free way to keep mice out of the house, but they have limited range and coverage; the sound waves they emit can’t travel through walls or solid objects. Although the noise might discourage them at first, they can quickly get used to it and return to their normal behavior.
What to do if mice have already invaded
Even when mouse prevention tips are implemented, mice can still find a way inside homes. Once they’ve made entry, they are very hard to get rid of since they will nest in places you cannot see or access easily or at all. The best way to eliminate mice and prevent new infestations from developing is by calling the professionals at Pine State Pest Solutions.
Offering the best rodent control in Auburn, Mechanic Falls, Gardiner, and throughout our multi-county service area, our locally owned and operated pest control company is ready to tackle your mouse problem, whether you have a single mouse (there’s never only one) or a full-blown infestation.
Our service starts with a thorough inspection, and then, based on our evaluation, we’ll develop and implement a customized rodent control plan that may include the following:
- An initial clean-out of the mice already infesting the home.
- Minor rodent exclusion to seal obvious entry points.
- Installation of exterior rodent bait stations.
- Installation of rodent bait stations in the garage, attic, and basement, if necessary.
- Follow-up services, if needed.
We’ll also let you know if we see landscaping issues or other conditions on your property that could attract mice and rats.
Ongoing home protection that keeps rodents and insects away
While we offer one-time rodent control services, we highly recommend signing up for an ongoing home pest control plan that targets common house-infesting insects such as ants, roaches, spiders, mice, and rats.
Pine State's Home Protection Plan
Pricing starting as low as $35/month
Pine State’s Home Protection is an affordable pest control plan that is ideal for homeowners who want general pest control services that target common house-infesting insects and rodents.
When you sign up for this ongoing service, you’ll receive an initial service visit to treat the existing pest problem and then seasonal service visits spread out over the year to ensure pests stay out. That’s a total of four services annually.
Pests covered under Pine State’s Home Protection plan include carpenter ants, cornfield ants, crazy ants, field ants, little black ants, pavement ants, carpet beetles, cigarette beetles, drugstore beetles, flour beetles, ground beetles, hide beetles, larder beetles, saw-toothed grain beetles, warehouse beetles, boxelder bugs, carpenter bees, centipedes, clover mites, American cockroaches, brown-banded cockroaches, wood cockroaches, field crickets, house crickets, European earwigs, firebrats, cluster flies, fruit flies, bald-faced hornets, European hornets, deer mice, house mice, millipedes, Angoumois grain moths, drain moths, Indian meal moths, Mediterranean flour moths, mud daubers, Norway rats, paper wasps, pill bugs, rice weevils, silverfish, sow bugs, springtails, cellar spiders, daddy longlegs spiders, house spiders, jumping spiders, sac spiders, wolf spiders, Western confider seed bugs, and yellow jackets.
*Some exclusions apply- please see your agreement
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