Mice. Some people love them, but most folks want to live without them. These furry four-legged furniture munchers can cause numerous problems and headaches. Cables? Chewed on. Furniture? Burrowed into. Furniture crannies? Sess pools of mice dung and more. With winter on its way and the cold on our doorsteps, these fuzzy little creatures will find shelter in our homes and then inevitably destroy them. So what is there to do when they invade? Who can you turn to? What signs are there to tell you the mice have invaded? When is it time to call the mice exterminator?
In this short guide, we will inform you of all those and more as taking a deep dive into the warning signs for these fuzzy troublemakers.
Signs of a Mice Invasion
1. You see a mouse in your home
The first and most obvious sign is seeing a mouse. It ultimately doesn’t matter the amount as mice tend to live in groups when confined in a structure, i.e your beloved house. Mice breed like rabbits, and if a male and female are in the house, you’re bound to have many more problems than you initially thought.
2. You hear mice scurrying around in your walls or ceilings
If it sounds like your house is haunted, it’s not. It’s mice. Mice like to live in attics, floors, ceilings, and any crawl spaces they can fit into so you might hear scratching or squeaking sounds at night. They often make nests in walls as they contain insulation that is soft and squishy, so these areas tend to be their primary stomping grounds.
3. You find mouse droppings in your cupboards or on your floors
Another obvious sign is finding mice droppings. These tiny rice-shaped pellets can be found anywhere the mice decide to lay them but are usually tucked away. If it’s brown, it’s new; if it’s gray, it’s not; and if there is a lot and a strong ammonia smell it means your house is seriously infested.
4. Your food has been tampered with by mice
One of the worst signs is seeing your food eaten. Usually, this comes in the form of tiny bite marks on fruit or plants or just about anything left out for them. Even sealed bags of chips can become their snack as they’re known to eat right through those too. Any food that’s been tampered with has to be immediately thrown away, and if there’s an invasion, the cost of food will skyrocket.
5. You have pet dogs or cats that seem to be playing with something invisible
Along the lines of step two, if your cat or dog plays with something invisible it’s not Casper the friendly ghost, but Stuart Little. If you notice your cat’s reenacting scenes from Tom and Jerry, it’s probably a good sign your home is infested.
6. Your things have been chewed on
Another sign of an infestation is chewed furniture and wires. Mice will chew anything from furniture, clothes, paper, wood, and wires. They use these materials to make their nests but they can be quite destructive especially when there are a lot of them. It’s sometimes hard to notice as they can chew things left stored away and you won’t discover them until you go for your winter scarf and find holes in it.
Why getting rid of them is so important
Ok, so mice are admittedly kinda cute. Obviously or we wouldn’t keep them as pets. However, mice can wreak a lot of harm. They’re walking disease bags, having anything from rabies, to HPS to fleas which have a wide array of their own diseases. Breathing in the smell of ammonia from their feces can also be detrimental to your health as well. Not only can they bring disease but they enjoy chewing wires, which can cause your devices to short circuit and potentially cause electrical fires. Definitely some good reasons to get rid of them.
So how do you kill them exactly?
There are many ways to actually kill a mouse, some ranging from human to brutal. First is the classic mouse trap, which snaps down on a mouse killing it. This can be a bit messy or just plain sad to look at as no one wants to see a mouse’s neck snapped. Mice poison is another option, which seems easy enough as you can just leave it lying around and forget about it, but this leaves dead mice in your home which isn’t helpful to anyone. There are those close-top mouse traps you have to check every week, but considering you have to put them someplace secure, it’s easy to forget about them and have a similar problem to the mice poison. On the nonlethal end, you can make repellents and home-made mouse deterrents, but those really don’t work as well as they should. So how do you get rid of them?
Who are you gonna call? Ghostbusters -Pure Pest
Mice are no walk in the park, believe me. With all the diseases they carry and the destruction they cause to your home, killing them isn’t an easy task. If you kill one mouse, a hundred more can take their place, and they can get out of hand extremely quickly. By the time you notice the signs, it’s already too late. However, there is a simple hands-free approach that is strongly advised by many in the exterminator community: Pure Pest.
Fast action is the best way to get rid of mice and end the infestation once at all. Pure Pest has dealt with many house pests throughout its years, from mice to ticks, bed bugs, ants, and even fleas. One quick call to their certified technicians and you can set up a pest control plan and have your home regularly visited by their exterminators, ensuring an end to the mice menace once at all. After all, mice belong in cages, not in your walls eating your furniture so it’s best to make an appointment and wash your hands of it. So save yourself the time, spend the dime, and call Pure pest to fight this battle for you.