Finding unwanted visitors in your home or business can cause quite the scare. In addition to discovering these unwanted pests, knowing where they came from is crucial. Rodents, such as mice can carry various diseases into your home or business as well as cause significant damage.
Where Do They Enter From?
Mice tend to make their way into your home through holes and cracks typically found in floors, walls, and foundations. In addition to these entry points, they may also squeeze their way through gaps in ceilings, windows, dryer vents, and even sewer lines. Often, the No. 1 way mice enter homes is through faulty overhead garage doors. This is especially true when the rubber seal is either missing or damaged. Many homeowners do not notice mouse holes until signs such as infestations become increasingly relevant. Since mice tend to be small in size, they are capable of fitting into holes as small as one-fourth inch thick.
What Time Of Year Do They Enter Your Home?
The most popular time of year mice enter your home and create infestations is early fall. As temperatures continue to drop, they seek out warm shelters they feel are safe. Mice have tremendous reproductive activity, typically giving birth to five to 10 litters in a single year alone. With that in mind, once in your home, the population will most likely grow at a rapid rate.
Where Do They Go Once In Your Home?
Once mice have entered your home, especially in the cooler months, they begin to build their nest. From newspaper pieces to various fabric, mice will use anything they can find to create their "home." They enjoy living in hidden areas of your home such as storage boxes, lofts, wall interiors, attics and more. Since mice rarely leave their nest in the daylight, you will first hear them through their gnawing and clawing sounds.
What Are They Looking For?
When mice make their way into your home or business, they are typically seeking out shelter. With that, they are also in need of food and water. As they scour your home they will leave droppings and urine along the way, contaminating everything in their path. Once in your pantry or storage space, rodents will typically chew through packaging to get to the food. Rodents that succeed may also be the cause of foodborne illnesses that transmits when a person drinks or eats contaminated water or food. As stated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), rodents can also directly transmit diseases to humans, such as:
- Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome
Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome
How Do I Prevent Mice From Entering?
The most efficient, long term, way to keep mice from entering your home is to "build them out." Eliminate all possible entry points, such as faulty overhead garage doors where the rubber seal is either missing or damaged, to keep mice from making their way inside:
How To Detect If You Have a Faulty Overhead Garage Door Seal
You can determine if you have a faulty overhead door seal by closing the door while you are inside the garage. From there, look at the bottom of the overhead garage door with the lights out. If you can see any daylight, replace the seal.
Overhead Garage Door Seal Replacement Options
1. Rubber-only seal. The type of seal that comes with the original door. It is useful for making a good seal with the concrete floor. The downside is that rodents can chew through it.
2. Rubber seal with a metal mesh inner core. This seal is superior because it is impossible for rodents to chew through it and thus enter your house.
How Do I Remove Mice?
The two primary tactics used to eliminate mice from your home include baits or traps. However, these strategies require special care when there are children and pets within the home. Along with traps, seal entry points to keep mice out long term. Inspect cracks and openings in overhead garage door seals, foundations, vents, water pipes, and utilities with concrete or metal. If you find that you have a faulty garage door seal, Preferred Pest Control will install top of the line Excluder garage door seals.
Don't Let Mice Take Over Your Home
Are mice infestations wreaking havoc in your home or business? As central Iowa's leading commercial pest control service, our dedicated technicians will solve your pest control needs immediately. Make an appointment today and receive service you can rely on.