Blog Layout
4 Tips to Keep Mice Out of Your Yard
Admin • Aug 23, 2019
No one wants a mouse in the house, but before a mouse can get in, it first needs to be in your yard. Many homeowners make the mistake of simply setting trap after trap. However, it is better to first find out what attracts mice to your yard.
Once mice are in your backyard, it won't take them long to find their way in the house. Here are four ways you can discourage mice from making the transition from outdoor vermin to indoor pests.
1. Clean Up Yard Vegetation
Mice love the protection an unkempt yard affords them. They can scurry through tall grass, unseen by their natural predators like hawks, snakes, and cats. So keep your grass cut short.
You also want to keep the perimeter of your home free from excessive vegetation. Shrubbery and flowers may look nice around your home, but this vegetation gives mice the opportunity to find ways into your home unnoticed.
Consider using planters instead of planting directly in the soil, and keep them set back a few feet from the house. In addition, you can plant natural deterrents such as lavender, pennyroyal, and mint to help keep mice away.
2. Take Care of Your Trees
Mice aren't picky about food. They will chew the bark off the base of your trees. If they chew through the bark and into the living part of the tree called the cambium, they could kill the tree. Paint the tree base with a mixture of black carborundum sand and white interior latex paint to deter them. Other options include using plastic pipe or hardware cloth to protect sensitive trunks from gnawing rodents.
You also want to prune any trees that have branches that extend over the roof of your home because mice are excellent climbers. When branches overhang your home's roof, all a mouse has to do is jump down onto your roof. Once there, they will find a way into your home through the chimney or other suitable point of entry. Install a mesh-covered rodent proof chimney cap for extra protection.
3. Don't Allow Food Sources to Accumulate
Your yard likely has many food sources. If you have nut or fruit trees, you have a ready-made rodent smorgasbord. To prevent this, keep the trees picked. Any nuts or fruits that fall to the ground should be regularly raked up and either used or disposed of.
If you have a garden, mice will feast all summer long. From the time you plant the seeds until the plants develop, mice will browse your plot. While you can't deter mice activity in your garden 100 percent, pick ripe vegetables daily to help protect your harvest from mice. Pick the berries from your blackberry, raspberry, and blueberry bushes as they ripen too.
Bird seed and your pet's dog or cat food is also perfectly acceptable food for a mouse. Store bags of seed and cat and dog food in the garage, placed in a metal garbage can with a tight-fitting lid.
4. Move Your Woodpile
Some homeowners keep a stack of firewood for occasional backyard bonfires or for barbecue. While it may be more convenient to keep your woodpile near where you use it, it should be as far from your house as possible. A stack of firewood makes a perfect mouse abode.
Take proactive steps to keep mice from finding your yard hospitable. This will go a long way towards keeping them out of your house.
A pest control expert can point out other attractants on your property and in your home that also need attention. Contact us
today for an assessment of your home and yard and to learn which methods of rodent control are right for you.
Silverfish are especially a big problem in Texas homes, but why is that? What can you do to make your Texas home less appealing to them? Learn here.
Scorpions are not uncommon in Houston, especially during summer. Discover all that you need to know about these potentially dangerous pests in your home.
If you have mice in your house, don't let them a minor problem turn into a major infestation. You might think that one or two mice in the attic isn't a big deal, but that's simply not the case. The common house mouse can give birth to between five and ten litters per year, with the average litter size being anywhere from 3 to 14 mice. Unfortunately, mice aren't mere nuisances; they're a major risk for you, your family, and your home. If you've discovered mouse activity in your home, here are five potential risks you face. 1. Chewed Electrical Wires If you've discovered mice in your home, you have to assume that they've found their way behind the walls, which is where most of the electrical wires are located. Unfortunately, mice will chew through anything they come in contact with, which includes the electrical wires. The first part of the wire that mice chew through is the protective cover. Once that's gone, the wires are left exposed, which increases your risk for electrical fires. 2. Damaged Attic Insulation If mice have found their way into your home, they'll make a beeline for the attic. After all, they'll find plenty of dark spaces to hide out in and an abundance of material for nest-building. Unfortunately, the material they'll most likely use is your insulation. Once they tear up the insulation for their nests, your home will lose out on the energy efficiency. Not only that, but the insulation that does remain in your attic will be saturated with mouse urine and feces, which will fill your home with unpleasant odors — not to mention the fact that mouse urine and feces cause breathing problems for humans and animals. In fact, the hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is commonly spread by mouse droppings. 3. Contaminated Counters and Food If mice leave the confines of your attic and walls, they usually head towards your kitchen, where they'll find plenty of food. Unfortunately, while they travel through your kitchen, they'll contaminate your counters and your containers — not to mention the contamination they'll introduce to the food that they attempt to eat in the cabinets. Contamination that is left behind by mice can pose serious health risks to you and your family. The contamination can also be costly since you'll need to replace all the food that the mice come in contact with. 4. Increased Allergic Reactions If mice are allowed to infest your home, you and your family run an increased risk of severe allergic reactions and breathing disorders. This is particularly true of young children, who have an increased sensitivity to rodent dander and droppings. Your young children may suffer from allergic respiratory disease, as well as more severe symptoms associated with asthma. The problem can be made worse once mice find their way into the heater and air conditioner ducts because the dander and droppings in the ducts get blown through the house. 5. Infected Bed Space If mice have taken over your home, they may have found a way into your beds at night. Mice will travel throughout your home while you're asleep. If you've had a snack in bed, or you've sent an infant to bed with a bottle, mice will be attracted to those odors, which means your bed space is no longer safe from mice-related diseases, contamination, or the fleas that might transfer from the mice to your bed. Unfortunately, fleas can carry the same diseases as the mice that brought them into your house and can easily spread from one person to another. Those house mice might be furry and small, but they're not safe. If you've discovered mice in your house, and you're in the Houston, TX area, contact us at Southwest Exterminating. We'll take care of your rodent infestations right away.
Do you have raccoons in your home? Understand the impact they have, as well as the ways you can identify, prevent, and get rid of them in your home.
The more you know about mosquitoes, the better you'll be able to keep them away. Check out these four fascinating facts about mosquitoes.