As a Milwaukee homeowner, the last sounds you want to hear in your home are scratching and scurrying of mice inside your walls and finding tiny droppings in your kitchen or attic. These clever rodents are busy making nests and raising large families year-round, and during the fall, adults seek out warm, dry places to spend the winter. Knowing how to get rid of mice and keep them away during the fall can be a challenge, but here at Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control, our experienced technicians are ready to help you prevent these tiny invaders from taking hold of your property.

Mouse Behavior In the Fall 

Mice head for your home during the fall after giving you a break in the summer. This is because they sense the arrival of colder temperatures and know that this means a scarcity of food.  They will use any means necessary to get inside as their survival instincts kick in. Unbeknownst to you, mice can enter through the roof just as easily as they would enter through the foundation of a house. Mice are accomplished climbers and are able to climb the exterior of your home’s walls, where they have a knack for finding all the little cracks that will gain them entry to the home. Considering that a mouse can fit into a space as small as a dime, they usually have no trouble getting into some buildings. In fact, it is not uncommon to see mice squeezing their bodies between bricks.

Female mice are especially driven to find a warm, dry place to spend the winter, especially if they are ready to give birth. A pregnant mouse might be drawn to your home by the smell of pet food or water, and once she finds a way in, she will prepare a nest. This means finding nesting material and most mice will use almost anything they can find, including:

• Insulation

• Paper or cardboard

• Fabric

• Wallpaper

The nesting phase marks the beginning of a mice infestation, as one mouse can birth up to ten large litters per year, and the generations will continue to breed and take advantage of their warm, dry surroundings for as long as they can.

Watch for Signs of a Mouse Problem 

Because fall urges mice to find shelter before the cold weather comes, you may want to start looking for signs of their presence around your home. The most obvious sign is mouse droppings, which you may find behind furniture, in the corners of your attic, or behind appliances. You may also notice signs of gnawing along your home’s baseboards or other wooden items, as like other rodents, mice need to chew constantly to keep their front teeth from growing too long. Once mice start to raise families inside your walls or attic, you may also start to notice the strong smell of mouse urine, which may remind you of ammonia and can be quite acrid.

Knowing what to look for is the first effective step in mice control during the fall. If you do find signs that these rodents have moved in, calling in our rodent removal technicians can not only keep you and your family safe but offer you a variety of techniques for how to keep mice away.

Our Mice Removal Strategy 

When it comes to getting rid of mice in your Milwaukee home, chances are you tried using traps and poison. However, this often only rids your home of the mice you see and does not have any effect on those hiding elsewhere in the walls. Over time, your infestation situation will probably only continue or worsen, and trying to handle live mice can result in a painful bite, as these rodents will defend themselves and their litters by scratching and biting. Mice also carry several diseases that are transmittable to people and pets, including hantavirus and salmonella. Mice can also cause a secondary flea infestation that can spread rapidly, as these parasites are not choosy about whether they feed off of the nice population, people, or pets.

Our experienced technicians can provide you with more effective results by first gauging the seriousness of the infestation. Once they locate one or more nests, they will humanely remove all adult and infant mice, along with the nesting material that causes foul odors. Removing the nests also means that adult mice cannot return and will likely abandon the area. Once our techs clean these areas, they will inspect your home to discover any entrance points such as torn screens, gaps in door thresholds, and loose door frames. Sealing cracks, crevices and holes can also discourage mice from searching for a way inside your home during the fall.

Creating a Mouse-Free Zone 

Our knowledgeable technicians can also help prevent mice from invading your home during the fall and curtailing the issue before you find yourself trying to handle an infestation. If you do not yet have a mice infestation, no doubt you want to prevent such a nightmare from occurring. Skedaddle also has a solution for you. We ensure that your home remains a mice-free zone by evaluating the environment and physical structure and crafting an exclusion plan. These plans are tailor-made to your home’s design, including the backyard and any exterior structures.

You can avoid attracting mice to your home by maintaining its exterior. Keeping your grass and trees trimmed can remove hiding places, and storing firewood well off the ground can prevent mice from climbing and finding their way inside. Keeping a well-maintained roof can also lock mice out, as they can find their way under damaged metal flashing and chew their way into your attic. Our technicians will likely review all these conditions and provide you with a prevention plan you can trust.

As you enjoy the change of seasons in Milwaukee, mice are looking for ways into your home to seek shelter from the upcoming winter.

Contact us at Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control today for mice removal and prevention services that protect your family and your home’s value.