At the first sign of mice in the house, many people automatically get out the mouse traps or poison. But there are other ways of ridding your home of mice that don't involve killing them. Here are a few suggestions before you bring home a couple of cats.

Home Repairs
Many times some simple home repairs will be all it takes to eliminate mice. Places to look for entry points include openings in the floor where pipes go under the house. If there is a gap around the pipe, no matter how small, fill it in. Depending on the structure, the hole can be covered over with duct tape or filled in with caulking, plaster, steel wool, a green kitchen scrubber, Styrofoam® cut to fit, or sheet metal.

Check the dryer vent to see if mice have crawled up the vent hose and chewed their way through it and into the house. If there is a doggy door, see that it fits properly and only allows the dog to enter and go through it. Heating ductwork, basement windows, crawl space vents, chimney caps, cable line entry holes, loose screen doors—all these can be places that a mouse can squeeze through and enter your home.

Eliminate Temptation
Mice, like all other creatures, go where there's food. Keep the area around your house free from mouse treats such as pet food, grass or other seeds, birdseed (except what's in the feeder), and fruit that has fallen on the ground. Keep outside items like these stored in tight containers. Set trash cans up on some type of platform and make sure the lids are a tight fit. If they don't fit well, consider using bungee cords to secure them. Eliminating temptation near the house will help deter mice from entering it.

The same should be done indoors. Use trash cans that have lids, especially in the kitchen where there are food scraps. If mice are getting into the cupboards and chewing their way into cardboard boxes, such as cereal or pasta boxes, consider putting the product in plastic containers with tight-fitting lids. Don't leave anything out on the counter that isn't in a closed container. Wipe counters clean. Make sure bread wrappers are closed tightly.

Goodbye Mouse
The mice have already made themselves at home in your property and are making plans to raise a family in your nice cozy attic. You've already seen their autographs here and there, and even caught a glimpse of a furry head and beady eyes peering at you from behind the refrigerator. What to do? You have already ruled out traditional mouse traps as being cruel. You don't want to set poison around and have Rover feast on it before the mice even know it's there. Furthermore, any animal that eats a poisoned mouse can get sick and possibly die, too. What are your choices? Here's a couple to consider:



Live Traps
Rather than using the kill traps, you could choose to get a couple of live traps. Baited with cheese, apples, peanut butter, or anything you think the mouse might like, this type of trap will lure the mouse inside, and then slam the door shut on it. Then you can take the mouse on a one-way ride to the country. If you choose this method, be sure to check the traps frequently. It would be even more cruel to set it and forget it, leaving poor mousey to starve to death inside.

Mint
Here's an unusual idea, and one you can benefit from in more than one way. Mice don't like the smell of mint, so you could plant mint all around your house. Since mint spreads like weeds, put the plants in small containers and set them around your house. This way you can eliminate mice, plus have all the fresh mint you want to use in cooking or to make mint tea. Another way to use mint is to put a few drops of peppermint oil into your regular cleaning solution. The mice will avoid wherever you use it.

Fencing
Lest you think that building a fence to keep out mice won't work, consider using 24” aluminum flashing for the fence material. Select the place where it appears that mice are getting into the house, garage, or anyplace they aren't wanted. Cut a slit in the ground where the fence will go. Insert corner supports in the appropriate places around the perimeter of the fence line. You can use PVC pipe, treated wooden dowels, 1” x 1”s, or anything you have on hand that will work. Place the aluminum flashing into the slit and tamp the earth down around it to secure it. Mice can't climb the smooth aluminum.

Just a little attention to detail and some ingenuity will help you win the war against mice in your home.

Read the How to get rid of mice page or these other pages:
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