Products to Get Rid of Mice

It's the middle of the night, but thirst has driven you to your fridge. You walk into the kitchen, switch on the light and your heart sinks as you see a mouse disappearing into one of the gaps between your appliances. You know that if you see one, no doubt more scurry inside the walls. With their propensity for breeding, numbers will increase rapidly. It's time to take action.

Choosing The Correct Method

• You can set traps, lay poison or call in professional rodent exterminators to get rid of mice. An alternative is to adopt a rescue cat to hunt the mice for you, but don't do this unless you like cats and are willing to provide one with a home for life.

Traps

• A variety of traps are available to catch mice, whether you want to kill them or remove them alive from your home.

  If you decide to bring the problem to a swift, albeit gruesome, end purchase a number of spring traps which you bait with food to attract the mice. When they try to get the food, they trigger the mechanism and are killed by a sturdy steel bar. Alternatively, an electronic, battery-powered trap electrocutes a mouse once it is attracted by food.

  Humane traps come in various sizes, some designed for individual mice and others designed to catch multiple mice at once. Release the mice in a wooded area some distance from your home to avoid re-entry.

Poisons

• Many kinds of mouse poisons are available from hardware stores and the household section of department stores.

  According to Do Your Own Pest Control, baits should be placed right beside the wall, otherwise mice may just walk past them. It is also important to place them where there is no other source of food so hungry mice will not be distracted. Baits should also be placed at entrances to your home and any points which mice may use to gain access.

  The website Mousetrap urges users to remember these substances are toxic to more than mice. If you have children or pets, great care must be taken when using baiting stations.

  Mice which eat poison may also die in places difficult to access, giving rise to unpleasant smells in your home.

Pest Control Companies

• If you feel your home has been invaded by a large infestation, you really have no choice but to call out the professionals. They know how to identify exactly where the mice are living and how best to get rid of them.

  This is more difficult than it sounds. Mice can climb to very high areas of your home and may be residing somewhere unexpected. Pest control employees know exactly what signs to look for.

Post-Mouse Hygiene

• The aftermath of even one mouse romping through a kitchen cupboard can be quite distressing. Droppings will have been left on utensils and on shelves along with urine. Contaminated food will have to be thrown out. Employ all the cleaning tips contained in guides such as "The Cleaning Bible" by Kim Woodburn and Aggie Mackenzie.

  Remove everything from the cupboard, rinse off the utensils and wash them in the hottest possible soapy water. If you have a double sink then drop them into boiling water to rinse and become sterilized. Alternatively place them on the draining board and pour boiling water over them. If you have a dishwasher, use the hottest water setting to clean kitchen items.

  Wash the cupboard out with hot soapy water to which disinfectant has been added. Alternatively, use a steam cleaner to sanitize the interiors. Sanitize all your countertops using a hot disinfectant solution or a steam cleaner. Anywhere the mice may have been must be cleaned as thoroughly as possible.