How to Get Rid of Mice – 4 Signs of Mice & What to Look For

Homes and businesses often provide the perfect spaces for mice to take up residency, which can, unfortunately, lead to damage occurring to both the furnishings within the space or structural damage to the building. Many people often believe they may be noticing signs of a mouse infestation and need to figure out how to get rid of mice as quickly as possible, but before learning how to get rid of mice, it’s important to know the signs of mice in your home.

What Signs to Look For Prior to Learning How to Get Rid of Mice:

1. Unusual Noises in Walls and Ceilings

One of the most telling signs that you may be facing a mice infestation is that you are beginning to hear unusual noises in your walls and ceiling. To figure out how to get rid of mice, it’s important to learn where they live. Mice like to create their homes within cavities and cracks they find in walls, ceilings, floor and roof spaces to hide them from any danger. These pests are capable of fitting in places much smaller than their bodies and are excellent climbers. Typically, mice are very quiet animals but the sounds you may hear will sound similar to scratching as mice enjoy gnawing and burrowing into materials such as plasterboard, wood or wiring. These noises will be most common at nighttime as mice are nocturnal and are most active overnight.

2. Dirt Smudges

Dirt smudges can also be clue that you may need to get rid of mice within your home. Patterns of dirt smudges will begin to appear on floor and baseboards over time as dirt and oil from the fur of the mice will rub off on their surroundings. These smudges will build up quickly as mice are creatures of habit and tend to take the same pathways when leaving their protection as that’s what they know to be the safest route for them. Where the smudges are, you may also find droppings and urine which further cements the fact that you are facing a mice problem and need to find out how to get rid of mice as soon as possible.

3. Mice Droppings

Mice droppings are often one of the first signs that you may need to begin doing some research on how to get rid of mice. These dropping are easy to identify because they are small and dark, although sometimes people do disregard them for cockroach droppings as they look similar, both looking like small grains of rice. Droppings will be noticeable because there will be a lot of them – mice can defecate up to 80 times in a single night. The first place these droppings are generally spotted is in enclosed areas such as cupboards, along skirting boards, kitchen counters and windowsills, as this is where mice feel safe. If you spot mice droppings, it’s best to remove them while wearing gloves and place them straight into a sealed plastic bag to avoid bacteria and virus particles that they may contain from releasing.

4. Damage to Food Packaging or Furnishing

The final sign of a mice infestation is damage to food packaging or furnishings within your home. Mice will typically create their home close to a food source that they have easy access to. Although small, mice are very smart animals when it comes to identifying food sources so when close to food, they will actually gnaw through packaging to gain access to the food. Alongside gnawing through packaging to find food, mice will also gnaw on furniture throughout the home. This is because their teeth don’t actually stop growing so in order to keep them at a manageable length they will gnaw on furniture, building materials and electrical wires. Not only is having a damaged home frustrating, but mice can also create serious hazards by chewing through electrical wiring as it may remove safety covers or cause electrical shorts which can lead to a fire starting, making it imperative to find out how to get rid of mice from your home immediately.

So, we know how to identify a possible mice infestation. Let’s now discuss some possible ways on how to get rid of mice.

How To Get Rid of Mice:

Use Essential Oils

The first tip on how to rid of mice from your home is by using essential oils. Peppermint and clove essential oils have been found to repel mice so many have found by saturating cotton balls in these oils and placing them in spaces mice frequent such as draws, cupboards and cavities may help contain the infestation. These scents alone won’t help completely rid your house of mice, but in conjunction with other efforts it can definitely help. It’s also important when leaving essential oils out to ensure they are safe to be used around pets and children to avoid and irritation issues.

Set Humane Traps

Another tip on how to get rid of mice would be setting humane traps throughout your home. People like to use cheese and peanut butter to help entice mice into these traps before these traps capture mice but keep them alive so that they are able to be released somewhere else away from your home. Although it seems like a simple solution, trying to set human mouse traps yourself can often be difficult and tough to manage if you have no prior experience with a mice infestation, which is why we are here to help!

Have Professionals Do It

The best way to get rid of mice from your home is hiring professionals to do it for you. At South QLD Restoration our pest control experts have extensive knowledge when it comes to removing pests from your home or workspace while offering treatment options at affordable prices. We are able to tailor treatments so that they are specific to every home and businesses individual needs to ensure the treatment is an effective solution for your space. Not only do we have different treatment options available depending on each client’s needs, but we are also committed to having environmentally friendly products to rid pests. This means once the area has been treated it is still safe for your family, pets and employees to be near the space. Once the pests have been removed, our experts are able to then provide you with advice on how to prevent reinfestation of pests from occurring in the future. Get a quote now.

Take the pain out of removing mice from your home today, contact our Pest Control team of experts for a quote today!