How I Solved My Mouse Problem
A while back, before I worked in pest control, I had a deer mouse problem in my garage. It was winter, and they just moved right in. I first became aware when I was getting an item from a cabinet in the garage and something scurried off, out of sight.
This sent me down a long search through my garage storage cabinets to find he had made his home in an empty camera bag – nice and cozy. I really miss that camera bag.
Cleaning Up After Mice in the Garage
After a long weekend of disinfecting and discarding because of Hantavirus fears, I set out to make my garage rodent-free. I bought remedies from the home center and considered my job done. I was wrong.
Evidence of mice continued to show up in the garage (and in my car, but that’s a story for another time). One night, while I was working at my bench, a mouse came out from behind a cabinet and just stared at me, like I was in his space! This had to stop.
DIY Mouse Extermination
Let me walk you through some of the rodent control remedies I attempted.
d-CON: First, you never want to put poison inside – it is dangerous for pets and children, and who knows where you’re going to find a dead mouse, or who might find it (as my three-year-old daughter did, so much hand scrubbing).
Rodenticide is an effective tool for controlling the population of invasive rodents; but should be used in conjunction with IPM (Integrated Pest Management), as described in our Seattle rats article.
Glue Traps: Glue traps are an effective method for catching mice; though the CDC does not recommend the use of glue traps or live traps as they may cause the mouse to urinate, which could increase your risk of exposure to disease.
For this reason, we recommend taking necessary precautions when dealing with removal. Always wear non-absorbent gloves and dispose of the dead rodent(s) in a safe manner. When cleaning up, if there is a risk of creating airborne particles, wear a mask which is rated for fine particulates.
Snap traps: An effective method when you know how to set them and what kind to buy (they are specific to what you are trying to catch). The quality varies. The traps I bought at the home center were not effective; more than once I found the trap intact with the bait cleaned off completely!
Dryer sheets: Yes, I was told the scent of dryer sheets would keep mice away and while my cabinets were summer fresh, they still had mouse droppings in them – more disinfecting. And while we’re at it, the same goes for peppermint and other scents thought to be just too awful for mice to live with.
Ultrasonic waves: Apparently, at some point, someone decided rodents are very particular and don’t want to live anywhere with annoying noise – not true. When a rodent finds a warm, protected place to live, he is going to make that his home and no sound, smell, or other persuasion is going to make him leave on his own accord.
How to Keep Mice Out of the Garage? Hire a Pro.
After all this, I hired a professional. Well, actually I hired a couple because the first pest control company put poison in the garage, which I had just learned not to do. The process involved setting the correct traps in strategic locations, baited, and correctly situated.
Then I was advised on how to make my garage less inviting and implement IPM strategies. And finally, child and pet resistant bait stations were placed some distance from my home to help control the population and to keep them at a distance. I reclaimed my garage for myself and my family.
You want to work with professional pest control services who will treat your problem and help you prevent a recurrence.
If you are ready to call in support to fight the battle against unwanted winter guests, like the house mouse, deer mouse, or rats, contact Croach® and we’ll get it done.