With the warmer weather comes time spent outdoors. People will enjoy the company of friends and family around their decks and patios, but there is one thing that can put a damper on the spring and summer fun: mice. While a single mouse might pass as cute, a hoard or infestation is anything but. Unfortunately, the underside of your deck can act as a refuge for mice, leaving you wondering how to get rid of mice and protect your property.

3 Tips for Preventing Mice

Mice are versatile and motivated. If your house presents any vulnerabilities, the animals will find a way inside. Why? A home represents everything a mouse could want: food, shelter, and water. If the animal cannot get inside, it will settle for the next best thing, taking up residence as close to the house as possible, often under a deck. Thankfully, you can prevent any infestation with diligence and the right tools.

1. Avoid Poisons

Many homeowners jump right to poisons for treating mice and other wildlife problems, but the chemicals are inefficient and unsafe. Using poison is more likely to put you and your family at risk than resolving an infestation.

Besides putting your family, including pets, at risk, poison is unnecessarily cruel. It is painful and abusive. Remember that mice are not intentionally hurting your property; they are only trying to survive in the best way they know how. Imagine if roles were reversed; would you want to be poisoned for minding your own business and living your best life?

The most effective and efficient method for removing a rodent population is also the safest, and it is called exclusion. While it is not a DIY tactic, professionals can help you humanely and quickly retake your property and home without harming a furry head.

2. Make the Area Unattractive for Mice

If you want to encourage wildlife to move on and keep mice away, the best thing you can do is make the area as unattractive as possible. Don’t worry, the space won’t look ugly. Making an area inhospitable for mice is about taking away hiding places and letting in the light.

First, you must remove any vegetation, plantings, or overgrowth surrounding the deck, making the space open and airy. Next, get your broom or leaf blower and start cleaning out any debris from underneath the structure. You want to eliminate all potential hiding places and any nesting materials. Because mice prefer dark areas that are left alone by predators, they will not take too kindly to you cleaning out their nest and will probably move on.

3. Avoid Mouse Traps 

Although many homeowners resort to mouse traps, mouse traps create inhumane solutions for any infestation. Mouse traps can easily injure other wildlife and pets during the process. Not only are traps inhumane, they do not create a long-term solution due to the ability of mice to reproduce every 21 days. This means new mice are very likely to take the place of those that have been caught in a trap. 

Protect Your House From Mice

You can also protect your home by keeping your property well-maintained. Keep the grass cut short, trash secure in tightly sealed bins, and eliminate access to food, including bird feeders. A Madison mice removal service can help you come up with and implement several other preventative strategies.

Contact Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control if you have a rodent problem. Mice in close proximity to your home may find their way inside, creating worse situations and resulting in significant costs. Skedaddle will send a team to your house to assess the severity of the infestation and make suggestions for exclusion and repair.