How Do I Get Rid Of Mice In My Mooresville Home?

How Can I Tell If It's Mice In My Home?

There are a few signs you have a mouse problem in your Mooresville home, including:

• Mouse droppings are rod-shaped, about ⅛ to ¼ inch long, and pointed on the ends. Mice can form 50 to 100 droppings per day. When you clean them up, it's best to use disposable gloves and paper towels, so you don't risk spreading any diseases from their droppings to you or your normal cleaning products, such as sponges and wash rags.
• Gnaw marks will show up on your furniture, cabinets, baseboards, pipes, electrical wires, and walls. Mouse incisors, their front teeth, can grow more than four inches a year, so mice have to constantly gnaw to keep their teeth to a usable size.
• Greasy streaks along your baseboards or walls indicate that mice are passing along that wall. Their fur is oily and leaves behind these marks.
• The odor from mouse urine. They use the scent to communicate with other mice. The more mice you have in your home, the stronger the smell will become.
• Mice scurrying across your floor generally indicate that there's a family of mice living in your walls. Female mice can bear litters of half a dozen young every three weeks and may have up to 36 babies per year.

If you see these or other signs of mice in your Mooresville home, it's important to take action quickly before the population has time to grow.

Can Mice In My House Really Make Me Sick?

Mice in your Mooresville house can make you really sick. Some of the serious diseases mice carry include:

• Hantavirus
• Leptospirosis
• Tularemia
• Salmonellosis
• Adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
• Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM)

Mouse urine and feces can also cause allergic reactions, especially in children. They can trigger asthma attacks, as well. Mice can also bring ticks, lice, mites, and fleas into your home.

What Factors Attract Mice Into Homes?

The first factor that attracts mice into your home is the outside temperature. When winter weather hits, mice prefer to be somewhere nice and warm, like in your attic insulation or huddled around your hot water heater.

Another attractant is food sources. If you leave pet food outside, mice may become curious about what they might find inside to feast on. Mice can get in through tiny cracks and crevices, holes as small as a dime, and cracks as wide as a pencil. If their head fits, their bodies will fit, thanks to their collapsible rib cages.

Mice will eat any human food. They can chew through cardboard boxes to get to the food they're after, so keep an eye out for gnawed-on boxes in your cupboards and pantry.

Now that you know what attracts mice to your house, you can work on what keeps mice out of your house. Seal all the cracks and crevices in your foundation, repair torn window screens, and put ¼ inch hardware cloth over any vents. Take pet food inside at night. Get rid of bird feeders and bird baths. Keep your food in airtight containers.

What's The Best Way To Get Rid Of Mice?

By far, the best way to get rid of mice is to call a professional Mooresville rodent control specialist such as Lake Norman Pest Control. With over 30 years of experience, we're ready to take on any pest problem you may have, including mice. Call us today for your free quote and learn more about our residential and commercial pest control services in Mooresville.