​House mice are most common and destructive household pests and never welcome guests in homes. They can spread diseases such as hanta virus, salmonella and listeria through their urine, droppings, saliva, and nesting materials. In addition, they cause considerable damage to structures and property.

To control mice DIY, you must have a basic understanding with Mice behavior, feeding and hiding traits e.g. from their nest, Mice search usually not more than 10-25 feet. If food and shelter are adequate, their searching range may be only a few feet. There are three basic steps one should follow to control the Mice control DIY option; Sanitation, Exclusion and Trapping. The use of Poisoning or rodenticides is only permitted to certified pest control technicians.

Bro Pest Control Edmonton is your ultimate choice for mice removal. We implement all methods in our mice extermination program; prevention, exclusion and lastly use of rodenticides.

1. Sanitation Procedure

Because mice can survive in very small areas with limited amounts of food and shelter, controlling them can be very challenging, especially in and around older structures. Mice feed on both human and pet food. If possible, get rid of any food sources that the mice can access. Sanitation improves a successful baiting or trapping treatment plan, removing their food supply, and reducing their shelters if possible.

• Enclose any exposed food (including pet food) in tight-fitting containers.
• Clean areas under stoves, fridges and dishwashers. Keep counters clear of food
• Keep pantry, food and other storage areas free of clutter.
• Properly maintain landscaping, cut tall grass and weeds back from your home or buildings.
• Secure garbage, recycling, and compost containers with tight-fitting lids.
• Elevate and raise woodpiles about 30 centimeters (1 foot) off the ground. Place them away from the house or building entrances.
• Clean and disinfect rodent areas where the mice have been nesting and all runway areas. Use a dust mask and rubber or vinyl gloves. Bleach works well at a ratio of 9 parts water to 1 part bleach.

2. Exclusion Procedure

Mice can enter a home through cracks in the exterior, gaps in the windows, roof, utility lines and they are also attracted by food left out in the open. Amongst a number of ways, mainly the house mice find their way into a building through openings or gaps in the exterior of a building. Within multi-residential units or attached structures sometimes they enter through interior gaps larger than 1/4 inch in the building around openings for water pipes, vents, and utility cables. Occasionally they are introduced as stowaways, but more often, house mice enter buildings from outdoors through gaps.

No matter how good the sanitation, the buildings in which food is stored, handled, or served will support house mice if the mice aren’t excluded. Good sanitation seldom will completely control mice, if they have few places to hide, rest, build nests, or rear their young.

Exclusion is the best option. Seal all accessible entry holes in the structure both inside and outside. Mice can enter through very small openings by selling all gaps and openings less than 1/4 inches to 1/5 inches with products of Polyurethane or Siliconized Acrylic Latex sealant. For larger holes and cracks not served as a quick fix, should be filled with steel wool or a blend of poly fibers and stainless steel mesh cloth and foam fillers but alone are not recommended, then sealed with a siliconized acrylic latex or polyurethane sealant. It is necessary to cover the edges of doors and windows with metal to prevent gnawing. Plastic screening, rubber, vinyl, insulating foam, wood, and other gnaw able materials are unsuitable for plugging holes used by mice.

3. Trapping Procedures

Because mice can survive in very small areas with limited amounts of food and shelter, controlling them can be very challenging, especially in and around older structures. Mice feed on both human and pet food. If possible, get rid of any food sources that the mice can access. Sanitation improves a successful baiting or trapping treatment plan, removing their food supply, and reducing their shelters if possible.

Trapping Merits;

• Monitoring; Traps are the best toll in locations where poison bating is prohibited along with poisoned baits.
• The top advantage of trapping is locating the dead rodent instead of a decomposing corpse.
• Because mice are caught by the trap, there is less chance of odor from mice dying in wall voids or other inaccessible areas.
• As Trapping doesn’t rely on potentially hazardous poisoning, it facilitates home users or technicians to view its success while disposing of trapped mice, thereby eliminating dead mouse odors.

Trapping demerits;

• Trap is effective when only a few mice infested a structure, and after ensuring Mice has been excluded by sealing opening and gasp then traps are generally preferred over rodenticides.
• Trapping is time consuming and will be less effective in cluttered homes, and homes in which food is plentiful in multiple locations, all of the time.
• Constant use of Trap sometimes overlooks the Mice real threat as mice is a prolific rodent and has increased and established its population over the time.

Where placed Traps;

Setting mice traps or placing traps, if done properly can eliminate mice quickly. Residential traps should be inaccessible to children and pets, especially snap traps; placing inside lockbox stations avoids accidents. Traps should be placed up against walls, behind objects, and in isolated areas where mouse droppings, gnawing and damage are evident.

Traps Types;

Setting mice traps or placing traps, if done properly can eliminate mice quickly. Residential traps should be inaccessible to children and pets, especially snap traps; placing inside lockbox stations avoids accidents. Traps should be placed up against walls, behind objects, and in isolated areas where mouse droppings, gnawing and damage are evident.

a) Snap traps; Conventional snap-type traps can be purchased in most hardware and supermarkets. Non-toxic rodent bait is very useful to entice Mice and increase efficiency of Snap trap or live trap.

b) Multiple-capture live traps; Multiple-catch mouse trap (Ketch-All) can capture and catch several at a time without being reset. Multiple-capture traps are available from hardware stores and pest control suppliers. Their use reduces the labor involved and needs to be removed frequently and humanely euthanized.

Precautions when handling dead house mice:

• Always wear disposable gloves and spray disinfectant traps and the dead mouse until wet.
• You can use 10% solution of bleach diluted in water, or any on the counter household disinfectant. However, surrounding carpet and furnishings may be damaged by some disinfectants.
• Put your hand inside a disposable plastic bag and pick up both mouse and trap (disposable) on which trapped mouse and invert the bag over seal or tie the bag with the rodent and trap inside.
• Place the bag in a second plastic bag and dispose in an external dumpster.
• Spray the area where the trap or the dead mouse was lying with disinfectant
• Dispose of gloves in the trash. Then wash hands with soap and water.