Sharing your home with mice is never a good idea. Unwanted rodent guests often carry contagious diseases and can damage the structure of your house significantly. During cold weather, mice often move into garages seeking shelter and warmth. Here’s how to know if you have a mouse living in your garage and what you can do to discourage rodents from taking up residence.
Reasons Mice Like Garages
Rodents are most likely to enter homes during winter months as they look for warmth and food.Our garages and homes are made without mice in mind. This means that mice are able to use electrical and pipe lines, as well as find vulnerabilities to gain access. Garages make prime homes for mice for a few reasons.
Little Human Activity
Mice are afraid of humans because they perceive them as a threat. They are nocturnal creatures who are most active at night, and they tend to stay hidden when people are around. During the winter, most people don’t spend a lot of time in their garages, so rodents can stay away from humans with minimal effort.
Access to Food
Many people keep garbage cans and pet food in their garages. While this is a good way to keep clutter out of your living space, it’s also a way to attract mice. Rodents will eat any type of food, and once they have easy access to sustenance, they are unlikely to leave willingly. They can find plenty of food in most garages, which makes these spaces ideal homes for rodents.
Shelter
During cold and inclement weather, mice seek shelter from the elements. Garages may not be quite as warm as the rest of your house due to a lack of heat, but they are significantly warmer than outside. They are also great shelters from storms and snow, so mice can easily escape the elements if they live in a garage. In most cases, mice enter garages by chewing holes through the doors and then stay once they realize the spaces are ideal for rodents.
Steps You Can Take To Deter Mice
Once a mouse moves into your garage, an infestation will soon grow. Without professional removal and exclusion, mice will always be able to return. Prevention is the best tool for keeping mice out of your house. There are several steps you can take to make your garage less hospitable to rodents.
Clean Up Clutter
Cluttered and unorganized garages give mice plenty of places to build nests. Rodents are known to use string, insulation, pieces of fabric, carpet fibers and any other materials to create nests to stay warm and raise their kits in, and garages often have plenty of nesting materials for them to choose from. Take the time to declutter your space to give rodents fewer places to build nests so that they are less likely to move in.
Remove Food Sources
If mice do not have easy access to food, they are unlikely to take up shelter in your home. Remove any pet food or garbage bins from your garage and store them in a different place in your home. By taking away the food source, you can make your garage a less appealing environment for rodents.
Sweep Crumbs Regularly
Even if you don’t have food sitting out in your garage, mice are still attracted to crumbs. Take the time to sweep your garage out on a regular basis to get rid of any crumbs that could provide mice with sustenance and convince them that your garage is a good place to live.
Seek Professional Help for a Mouse Infestation
If you have a mouse living in your garage, it’s never a good idea to try to get rid of it on your own. Mice reproduce and cause damage at an alarming rate, meaning without removing their points of entry, your mice problem can always return.. Contact the experts at Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control for professional mouse removal. We have the skills and tools needed to remove mice in a humane fashion, so contact us today to schedule an appointment to get rid of the mice in your home.
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