Mice are some of the most dangerous and irritating rodents that can plague a home, especially a kitchen.
If you’re concerned that there may be mice in your kitchen, then you need to get rid of them immediately. However, doing so isn’t so simple.
Oftentimes, you need the help of a professional pest control expert to carry out the extermination for you.
If you think you can take on the challenge yourself, then we have a few of the most effective tips for getting rid of mice from your kitchen.
Identify and Eliminate Entry Points in the Kitchen
The first thing that you need to do is to look for the spots from where the mice may be entering your kitchen.
The most effective way to make your kitchen rodent-proof is to block or eliminate all the entry points, so that the mice can’t find their way into the kitchen, to begin with.
Mice can easily trespass into your home and get to your kitchen because of their small size.
Even if there is half an inch of a hole or crack, mice can crawl through it and enter your kitchen with ease.
That is why it is important to deal with all of these entry points as soon as you can.
You need to block all the entry points that the mice might be using by applying seals on the cracks in the walls and holes in vents and pipes.
You can choose any good readily available seal, such as caulking or steel wool.
Make sure you avoid any rubber, plastic, or wood sealants because mice can easily make their way through them.
For your window and door gaps, consider getting weather stripping to completely close them.
Choose the Right Mouse Traps
If your kitchen is already infested, then you need to take action to eliminate your mice problem.
You can do this by setting up mouse traps to capture the mice, causing havoc.
Most people use traditional wooden traps to capture mice, but sometimes the infestation is much more serious for that kind of intervention.
If the infestation is widespread, then you’ll need to use several traps to get it under control.
Make sure you use different types of traps so all the mice are captured effectively. Take a look at some of the most effective mouse traps that you can use below:
Electric Mouse Traps
Electric mouse traps attract mice into the trap’s chamber and then shock them with electricity that proves fatal.
If you’re concerned about the hazard posed to humans and pets, then don’t worry because these traps are engineered to only shock mice.
Snap Mouse Traps
This type of mouse trap is the most common and contains a highly effective trigger system that catches mice quickly.
If you place them correctly, the snap trap can kill a mouse immediately and help eliminate the infestation from your kitchen.
You can get a bar, hidden kill, or a calm snap trap for your kitchen.
Live Catch Mouse Traps
This type of mouse trap doesn’t kill mice, instead only captures them.
These traps come with a cage or chamber that has a trigger-activated door, which you can press open once you’re ready to release the captured mouse.
Sticky Mouse Traps
This type isn’t as efficient or technologically advanced as the ones mentioned above.
It traps the mice with an adhesive glue board and keeps them stuck until you’re ready to free or eliminate them.
The biggest drawback of sticky mouse traps is that they can only be used once.
The aforementioned traps are the most common types of mouse traps that you can use in the kitchen. Except for sticky traps, all the others require some sort of bait.
Most people use peanut butter as bait to capture mice. You can also use cheese, chocolate, nuts, or any other food item that can lure the mice inside your trap. We talk more about trap bait below.
Choose the Right Bait for the Traps
After choosing a suitable mousetrap, you need to select the right bait for it.
If you already know what the mice are feeding on in your kitchen, you can use the same food as bait.
Alternatively, you can use its favorites like bacon, dried fruit, peanut butter, chocolate, hazelnut spread, and oatmeal.
Once you have chosen the bait, you can set it up on the trap by attaching it to the trigger using a fishing line or dental floss.
If you don’t have any tying material, you can also use a glue gun to keep the bait intact. Keep changing the bait food every couple of days.
Place the Mouse Traps at the Right Locations
After fixing the bait on the trap, you need to place the mouse traps at locations that the mice are frequently attracted to.
Set the traps vertically by the walls in a way that their trigger section is facing the baseboard.
This placement traps the mice as they scurry parallel to the walls instead of waiting for them to interact with the bait directly.
This technique also prevents the trap from triggering prematurely.
Mice don’t go too far from their nesting areas, so we recommend you place the traps in areas with visible signs of an infestation.
Make sure you change the location of the traps every couple of days to keep trapping the mice effectively.
Keep the Kitchen Spotless
Although a clean kitchen doesn’t completely get rid of the rodent, an unclean kitchen can surely attract a mice infestation.
That is why it is essential to keep your kitchen spotless to prevent any mice from making it their new home.
Make sure you clean the crumbs and the leftovers properly because mice don’t require large amounts of food to survive.
Wipe your counters, vacuum the floor, and clean away all the crumbs, and access food so that your kitchen remains spotless.
Make sure all jars and containers with food items are firmly closed.
Also, remove your garbage as frequently as you can so that rodents don’t cut their way through it.
Tackle the Mice both Indoor and Outdoor
If your kitchen has frequent mice visitors, then it means they are coming from outside.
To prevent that, you need to remove all the possible nesting spaces around your house.
If there are weeds growing right outside your home, trim it down. Clear away all the clutter and debris so that mice can’t hide there.
Consider lining the foundation of your home with a heavy gravel strip to stop mice from nesting there. Just make sure the area around your home is clean and organized.
Get a Cat
As cliché as it sounds, there are many cats that love hunting mice.
If you’ve been considering getting a pet, then it may be time to become a cat parent. Cats are actually very good at spotting and killing mice.
Moreover, the presence of a cat inside your home will be a big red flag for rodents and will keep them away from entering your home.
So, not only will you have a fun furry friend but also a great mice repellant.
Call Pest Control
At the end of the day, if the mice infestation gets out of hand, then you need to call pest control for professional extermination of mice from your home.
Hiring professional help ensures that the problem will be eliminated from its roots and you won’t have to worry about mice any more.
When hiring an exterminator, make sure you check if they are licensed. Consider asking your neighbors or friends in the area for recommendations.
Calling pest control is the surest way of eliminating all rodent and mice infestations from your kitchen and the house.
Parting Words
Mice can damage your kitchen and waste your food persistently, so you need to find a way to red rid of them right away.
If you spot any signs of a mouse, you must take immediate action. By following the techniques that we discussed above, you can eliminate them easily.
If the infestation has gotten out of hand, then it is best to call professional pest control and extermination services as soon as possible.
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