How to Keep Mice Away in Knoxville

As we prepare for winter, so too do the wildlife around us, including mice. If you’re not careful, your two worlds might come into contact in a way that is much too close for comfort. In the event that mice or rats make their way inside your home, it’s important to take care of them and keep them away. They can cause extensive damage to a home and present some serious health hazards to the people residing in the home, as well.

When fall hits, rodents realize that it’s not as warm as it was a couple of months ago and that food supplies are not as plentiful as they were in the summer. Their instincts kick in and they begin to look for warm shelter that also offers an easily accessible food source. Oftentimes, they’ll find both of these things within the walls of your home.

Before crawling around in your pantry, mice may have walked through sewers, dumpsters, or other bacteria-laden places. So when mice find their way into your home, they can track in all kinds of filth and deposit urine and feces everywhere they go.

While DIY methods of extermination are often tempting, they are also frequently ineffective. Traps, for instance, rarely take care of an entire rodent population. Instead, the best way to eliminate the entire problem is to bring in professional pest control experts like Russell’s Pest Control. We’ll eliminate your rodent problem at its source, as well as correct any conditions that make it easy for rodents to get inside in the first place. 

How To Keep Mice Away From Your Knoxville Home

Fall is an important time of year to think about mouse exclusion because it’s when Knoxville mice start looking for a place to hide from the cold. If a mouse is exploring the foundation of your home and senses heat coming out, it will be highly motivated to find out where that heat is coming from. 

When mice get near your home, they start exploring for entry points. You can keep them from finding entry points by using a caulking gun, expanding foam, a foundation repair kit, or wire mesh to seal gaps, cracks, holes, and other openings.

To prevent this, it is important to reduce mouse populations around your home and seal any gaps, cracks, or holes they might try to get in through. Here are some methods to consider to keep mice away:

• Keep your grass trimmed short and remove any overgrown areas. Mice hide in tall grass and weeds. Also, remove toys, cinder blocks, leaf piles, appliances, and other lawn clutter. If you have a wood pile or stack of construction materials, store them as far from your home as possible, and get them up off the ground.
• Remove food and water sources from your yard. Clean up after parties, don’t leave pet food out, and protect areas where fruits or vegetables may be. 
• Make sure your trash is secure inside cans with tight-fitting lids. If you have bird feeders, keep them well away from your house.
• Trim back any vegetation that touches your home. Mice and other pests use these as bridges to your home.
• Inspect the outside of your house and seal up any gaps or cracks you find. Pay attention to areas around pipes, wires, air conditioning units, and other objects that pass through your foundation or walls.
• Place wire mesh inside downspouts, and cover chimney or vent openings with screening to keep mice from climbing in.
• Keep your house clean of any water sources or food particles, just in case a mouse does manage to get in.
• Consider landscaping options that keep grass trimmed short and bushes, shrubs, rock walls, and wood piles away from your house.
• Call in the assistance of a professional pest control company.

What Attracts Mice?

Overall, mice will be attracted to your home if there are food sources available. Once near the perimeter of your home, rodents will look for any entry points to get inside. Mice can fit through an opening the size of a dime, and rats can fit through an opening the size of a quarter, so it does not need to be big to serve as an easy entry point.

Here’s a more in-depth look into what mice are attracted to:

• Water: if you have puddles, containers, or some other source mice can use to get a drink of water, they’ll be happy to do so. Remove containers and conditions that lead to puddles to reduce mouse populations.
• Food: Seeds are a primary source of food for mice. If you have bird seed on the ground near your home, mice will take notice. If you have recently planted new seeds in your garden, these critters will come in to dig them up and eat them. They are also known to commonly feed on emerging grass seeds. Protect or remove seeds to control mouse populations.
• Harborage: If your backyard is cluttered, it is a playground for mice. Remove clutter to make your yard less interesting. Trimming grass and landscaping will also deter mice because it makes it more difficult for them to stay hidden.

While you can’t eliminate the warmth or food in your home, you can prevent rodents from getting inside. To do so, you need to understand how they find their way indoors in the first place.

Sometimes, the only way to reduce mouse populations is to actively remove them. If you need ongoing monitoring and control of mice on your property, the team at Russell’s Pest Control can help. 

Call Russell’s Pest Control Experts to Keep Mice Away

When it’s all said and done, one thing will always be true, mice are a pain to deal with. They commonly elude traps, wreak havoc when the lights go out, and are an all-around threat to your health and well-being. So, if your home has mice, we want to help. 

Don’t let mice run amok in your home, get fast, efficient help from Russell’s Pest Control.

We give coverage for rodents as part of our residential pest control. While you’re protecting your equity from subterranean termites and you’re protecting your family from serious pest-borne diseases, you can get control of rodents as well. 

Reach out to us today to request a free in-home pest evaluation to get started. Any day, any time, we would be happy to do right by you and your home. So give us a call today!