During the winter months, we imagine being snugly locked inside our warm homes while the cold winter winds howl outside. It brings images of warm fires or heated rooms to protect us from the cold. Unfortunately, your home also starts looking mighty fine to mice and rodents this time of year.

Rodents have been known to damage buildings, contaminate food and transmit diseases to people. They’re diverse; the rodent family includes rats, mice, gophers, voles, beavers and more.

Many people who have a mouse problem/infestation may never actually see a mouse. Mice are nocturnal and most often come out at night when people are sleeping or businesses are closed. If you see a mouse in the daytime, odds are that the infestation is very serious. The most common signs of a mouse/mice problem are the presence of droppings around baseboards, kitchen cabinets, and storage areas. Some people can hear mice gnawing in walls, scampering, or squeaking. Cat and dogs may scratch at a wall hearing or smelling mice within.

Get Rid of Mice: Prevention

Mice are one of the most common and unwanted house guests ever!

To get rid of mice start by making your home as uninviting to them as possible. Before you setup some traps, make sure you understand how to keep mice out.

To get rid of mice means not tempting them into your home. The average mouse only needs a hole a quarter of an inch (1/4″) in diameter to squeeze through. Make sure you seal your door sills, cupboards, walls and any places where mice might come in. Check your foundations for possible entry points. Make sure doors and ground-level windows are sealed correctly. If you find any discrepancies, use putty, caulk or my favorite – steel wool to address the problem before mice get into your home.

Rodent proofing your home can be fairly easy.  Rats can fit through a hole roughly the size of a quarter, and a mouse can get through a hole smaller than a dime.  Your first line of defense is to block all access and keep them from getting into your home in the first place.

* Replace any damaged or missing weather stripping and seal cracks at exterior doors.

* Place 1/4 inch screen over all external openings and vents.

* Seal any gaps at your foundation.

* Trim back branches and shrubs that come into contact with or hang over your home.

* Keep all ground vegetation trimmed back at least 12 inches from your home.

* Keep the interior of your home and garage clean.

* All food and garbage should be stored in sealed containers

* Do not leave pet food or dirty dishes sitting around over night.

Once in, they chew through nearly everything from walls to food to cardboard boxes to electrical wiring, which may lead to electrical short and fire.

If you don’t see one directly, you can tell you have a problem by the gnawing evidence, or hearing scampering or gnawing sounds in the attic or inside walls. You could also find droppings in undisturbed areas of the house such as pantries, attics, and along baseboards and walls.

Keep Mice and Rodents From Invading Your Home This Winter

Even though some pests are “out of sight, out of mind” for the winter months, there are still many insects, mice and rodents that would be happy to make your Minnesota home theirs.

If you find these telltale signs, seek out a professional pest control expert quickly. Besides causing damage to your home, rodents can also cause allergies and spread potentially lethal diseases such as the hantavirus and arena virus. A Minnesota animal control expert can help you get rid of the rodent problem you have and help you to prevent a future invasion.

They will have the tools and techniques to rid you of these unwanted pests once and for all. They will starting with removing animals humanely all the way through repairing their damages and preventing it from happening again.

Facts About Hantaviruses

“Facts About Hantavirus” Brochure  [PDF - 182 KB]
This brochure provides detailed information for prevention of hantavirus in and around your home.

During the winter months, we imagine being snugly locked inside our warm homes while the cold winter winds howl outside. It brings images of warm fires or heated rooms to protect us from the cold. Unfortunately, this is also the most likely time that rodents will invade and infest your house. Rats, mice, and squirrels are the most common invaders, though there have been cases of a raccoon getting in as well.

They can squeeze through almost any opening on your house from pet doors to vents with missing screens to dryer ducts to even holes they chew through your walls. A mouse needs only a space the size of a nickel to fit through and rats only need a space the size of a half dollar. Once in, they chew through nearly everything from walls to food to cardboard boxes to electrical wiring, which may lead to electrical short and fire.

If you don’t see one directly, you can tell you have a problem by the gnawing evidence, or hearing scampering or gnawing sounds in the attic or inside walls. You could also find droppings in undisturbed areas of the house such as pantries, attics, and along baseboards and walls.

If you find these telltale signs, seek out a professional pest control expert quickly. Besides causing damage to your home, rodents can also cause allergies and spread potentially lethal diseases such as the hantavirus and arena virus. A animal control expert can help you get rid of the rodent problem you have and help you to prevent a future invasion.

The droppings, saliva and urine of certain rodent species are known to transmit Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS).  Disturbance of the droppings causes the virus to go airborne in a process known as aerosolization.  Deer mice are the most common transmitters of HPS.

Although transmission is rare, HPS can prove deadly if left untreated. Symptoms include tachycardia and tachypnoea. Cardiovascular shock may occur in severe cases.  Rodent control is still considered the most effective prevention of HPS.

Rodent Droppings

Rodent Droppings

Rodent droppings should be handled with utmost care. Particularly after they have dried, feces can be reservoirs of a variety of dangerous diseases and viruses.  These dry droppings break apart upon contact and release airborne particles that may enter your nasal passages, causing infection.

Droppings of any animal are perfect breeding grounds for bacteria and diseases, and if you are not careful it could be harmful. For instance, not wearing a mask while cleaning bat guano can be dangerous, and raccoon feces can harbor parasitic worms that can make you very ill and in rare cases, death.

Do not handle droppings in your home without first taking preventive measures.  Tightly fitted facemasks and rubber gloves are highly advisable.  Avoid sweeping or vacuuming the location, as this may lead to further release and dispersal of virus particles.  Sanitation of affected areas with spray disinfectant is recommended.

Contact your local Minnesota animal control expert to discuss extermination options.

Fall and winter are an especially busy time of year for encounters with these less than welcome house guests.

It’s winter and the critters living outside are looking for a warm place to spend the winter. Your home offers everything that mice, chipmunks, and squirrels are looking for, warmth, water and food.

Protect Your Home From Mice and Rodents This Winter

Between the chipmunks, squirrels and the mice, they will have a great time staying warm… and destroying insulation and wiring.

Rodents can be cute in cartoons and movies, but it’s not so cute when they find their way into your home.  Your house, especially your kitchen provides all that a mouse could possibly ask for.

These critters are a threat to your home as they can carry disease, cause structural damage to your home, and contaminate food.  Wiring that has been gnawed on by mice have been known to start fires in homes. They spread disease through their urine, feces and bites.  Ticks and fleas can also be brought into your home and can carry infections to humans after feeding on rodents.

Rodent proofing your home can be fairly easy.  Rats can fit through a hole roughly the size of a quarter, and a mouse can get through a hole smaller than a dime.  Your first line of defense is to block all access and keep them from getting into your home in the first place.

* Replace any damaged or missing weather stripping and seal cracks at exterior doors.

* Place 1/4 inch screen over all external openings and vents.

* Seal any gaps at your foundation.

* Trim back branches and shrubs that come into contact with or hang over your home.

* Keep all ground vegetation trimmed back at least 12 inches from your home.

* Keep the interior of your home and garage clean.

* All food and garbage should be stored in sealed containers

* Do not leave pet food or dirty dishes sitting around over night.

If you have done everything you can and still have rodents in your home, it is important to contact a professional.  Mice can colonize under concrete and porches, in your attic and other hard to reach places.  A professional exterminator can remove the mice from your Minnesota home. They will have the tools and techniques to rid you of these unwanted pests once and for all. They will starting with removing animals humanely all the way through repairing their damages and preventing it from happening again.

Mice and other Rodents are not capable of going dormant for the winter. Most seek a warmer shelter.

Suggestions On keep Rodents from Moving In:

• To prevent squirrels, rodents and other animals from roosting in the eaves or attic, repair and patch any holes or other damage.
• Clean out gutters and overhangs, where rodents can also build their nests.
• Store yard waste like leaves and moss away from the house prior to disposal. These materials are popular nesting materials.
• Keep birdseed in a sealed metal container. Mice can gnaw through plastic and eat seeds.
• Common entry points are around pipes, where small cracks are frequently just large enough for a mouse to squeeze through. Block holes with steel wool.

A certified animal control professional would be more than happy to inspect and assess your home, business or other property, if you have noticed signs of a mouse infestation. They will also do their best to locate the source of the infestation and eliminate it.

1. After two months of age, house mice produce 6 to 10 litters of five to 10pups per year.
2. Like all rodents, mouse teeth never stop growing; they can grow up to 5 inches a year
3. Mice can jump down 12 feet without injury; they also have a 13-inch vertical jump.
4. Mice chew through anything softer than their teeth, including electrical wire.
5. Their whiskers can sense smooth and rough surfaces, temperature changes and breezes.
6. Mice may make 20 to 30 visits to different food sites each night.
7. Mice can transmit salmonellosis when food is contaminated with infect mouse feces.
8. Mice have tails as long as their bodies.
9. Mice prefer to travel adjacent to walls and other edges.
10. Each year in the US alone, rodents cause more than one billion dollars in damage.
11. Mice prefer to eat grains, seed and insects as food source but will consume almost any food.
12. Mice explore their territory daily, showing no aversion to new objects (neophobia).
13. They forage only short distances from their nest, usually not more than 10 to 25 feet.
14. Fresh mouse droppings are dark, 1/8 to ¼ inch in length and pointer at both ends.
15. Mice can scale rough vertical surfaces and walk along thin ropes and wires.
16. Mice see best in dim light. Their eyesight is weak, but their other senses are acute.
17. Colonies of mice found thriving in the supplies used on polar expeditions.
18. The average mouse has a life expectancy of less than 18 months.
19. Mice squeak at very high frequencies, often above the range of human hearing.
20. Mouse-tails have scales that help with climbing.
21. When they are full-grown they weigh between ½ and 1 ounce
22. Mice constantly leave droppings and urine in the areas they frequent.

Mice Control Ideas:

1. Food spills and soiled dishes should be cleaned promptly
2. DO NOT stack lumber, firewood, bricks, pipes or other debris next to foundation.
3. Door thresholds and framed fitted with gaskets or brush shields.
4. Place dog food, birdseed and human food inside rodent proof containers.
5. Keep shrub, vines and tree limbs trimmed away from structure.
6. All gaps should be less than ¼ inch to prevent entry
7. Garage removed daily and stored outside in closed containers
8. Storage areas organized and clutter-free with access to perimeter walls
9. Vents (attic, crawl and dryer) covered with mesh screen (1/4 inch)

How can MN Pest Control Help get rid of my mouse problem?

Once Mice  have become a problem, they can be extremely hard to get rid of. If in a home for a good period, a large amount of mice may be living in your attic, foundation or walls without homeowners being aware of their presents or damage done. In addition, as said earlier they can live off almost nothing. Hiring a Minnesota Animal Management Company is your best bet in getting rid if these rodents finally. The professionals have well-established techniques and are well experiences in dealing with these pests. Not only will the Pro’s control the animal’s population in your home, they will also ensure they will not come back through proper sealing and guarding of entry points.

Hiring a MN Pest Control Expert also guarantees everyone’s safety and that the job is completed correctly.

That furry little blur you just saw zip across in front of your fireplace? Those brown, rice-shaped droppings behind the refrigerator? O.K., how much trouble can a couple of mice be?

So, how many is too many?  ONE!  One mouse is One too many!  If you have one, you have many, and five in five days is WAY too many.

One Mouse In My House Is One Too Many

Well, according to an article published by the Illinois Department of Health, in a single year a female mouse can have 5 to 10 litters of 5 or 6 young each. In 10 weeks, those babies will be mature enough to repeat the process. Assume half the litter is male, the other half female. You do the math.

Keep Mice From Taking Up Residence In Your Home

There’s more. Though mice have dietary preferences – grains, cereal, even peanut butter , they’ll basically settle for anything they can get.

They can climb vertically up just about any rough surface, navigate cables like the guy who walked across Niagara Falls, jump about a foot high, and crawl through holes you could sharpen a pencil in. Oh, and they use your insulation for nests and contaminate your food with their droppings; they can cause structural damage by chewing on wood and a safety hazard by gnawing on your wires.

Controlling Rodents

This short video, produced by Howard University’s CapComm Lab, the Earth Conservation Corps, and EPA, takes a humorous look at how conditions inside the home can provide food, water, and shelter where pests can thrive, and provides practical ways to prevent infestations.

Controlling rodents movie http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/controlling/rodent.mov

Want To Get Rid Of Them?

Most experts in mice and rodent control, say the best way to keep mice out of your house is, well, to keep them out. In other words, any opening larger than, say, a pencil, should be sealed.

Ahhh! Don't they look cozy!

For most people – including those who just don’t have the patience to crawl around looking for quarter-inch openings — rodent control consists of catching the mice quickly and efficiently.

Unlike insects, mice and other rodents are not capable of going dormant for the winter. While some mammals, such as raccoons, do hibernate during the winter, most simply seek a warmer shelter. Mice, rats, and squirrels actively work on building warm nests year round, often inside homes.

Don’t Let a Rodent Infestation Get Out of Control

Get Rid of Mice

Because mice multiply so quickly, just a few can lead to an out-of-control infestation before you know it.

If you notice droppings or signs of gnawing around the house could indicate a mice problem. Contact a mice removal expert right away to help identify the culprit and quickly eliminate the infestation. Proper removal of any animal droppings, along with sanitation is absolutely necessary.

Hiring a Minnesota Wild Animal Management Expert is your best bet in getting rid of these rodents once and for all. They have well established techniques and are well experienced in dealing with these pests. Not only will they control the animals’ population in your home, they will also ensure they will not come back through proper sealing and guarding of entry points as well repair any of the damage they may have caused.

Do you think you have rodents infesting your home, barn or workplace, but aren’t sure?  Here are some common signs that you may have a rodent problem.

You see rodent droppings.  This is one of the most reliable signs that you have a mouse or rodent problem.   You may find droppings in places where you store your food or your pet/animal food, such as in cupboards and drawers or in bins.

Rodent Droppings

Because mice like to run in places that offer them some protection from predators, you may find droppings in cupboards or under the sink, along walls, or on top of wall studs or beams.  Mice will leave droppings near their nests as well (see below).  Storage rooms, sheds, barns, or cabins loaded with boxes, bags, old furniture, and other objects make an ideal home for rodents, so you may find droppings there, even inside boxes and other containers.

Workplaces can also make good rodent homes.  Warehouses, restaurants, and the like are obvious places to look because food may be plentiful there.  However, rodents can infest office buildings, too.  Once again, look for droppings in protected places like closets, storage rooms, or inside boxes.

You see signs of rodent nests.  Rodents tend to build their nests from materials that are soft, fuzzy, or warm.  Among common rodent nest materials are shredded paper, bunches of dry grass or small twigs, fabric, and furniture stuffing.  Rodents will nest wherever safety from enemies can be found close enough to food and water, and they prefer places that are relatively quiet.  Inside buildings, here are some places to look:

1. inside cabinets
2. under or inside dressers
3. in and among boxes
4. behind and inside machinery and appliances (kitchen appliances such as stoves or refrigerator drip pans; water coolers; and electric motor cases or computer cases)
5. inside upholstered furniture
6. inside double walls or the space between floors and ceilings
7. You find food boxes, containers, or food itself that appears to be nibbled.  Look for droppings nearby.  Rodents can chew through plastic, so plastic bags do not make safe food storage containers.
8. You find signs of rodent “feeding stations.”  These are semi-hidden spots where rodents eat food they have collected.  At these stations, rodents may leave larger-than-normal amounts of droppings/urine, plus remnants of a variety of foods (such as nut shells), bits of plastic or paper, and cockroach carcasses.
9. You find evidence of gnawing.  To get to food, rodents will gnaw on almost anything that is softer than the enamel of their teeth.  This includes such things as wood, paper board, cloth sacks, and materials even harder than these.  Because rodents’ teeth grow continuously, they must gnaw to keep them short.  That may help to explain why chair legs or similar surfaces show gnawed spots or tooth marks in rodent-infested places.
10. You notice an odd, stale smell.  In closed-up rooms infested by rodents, you will commonly smell an unusual, musky odor.

You see a mouse in your house.  However, this doesn’t happen very frequently!   Why?  Rodents are normally active at night, and generally avoid humans.   If you have rodents, unless the infestation is large, you may never see one.

Do You Think You Have A Mouse or Rodent Problem In Your Home?

If you notice droppings or signs of gnawing around the house could indicate a mice problem. Contact a Minnesota mice removal expert right away to help identify the culprit and quickly eliminate the infestation.

House Mice are the most common type of mice to invade Minnesota homes and businesses.  They can cause serious damage, and can be difficult for a homeowner to get rid of.

House Mice are very small and grayish brown.  They weigh only about 1/2 ounce, making them able to squeeze through very small openings undetected. House Mice cause the most damage by feeding on stored human and pet foods.  They will contaminate any food they come in contact with through their feces and hair, making the foods unfit for human or pet consumption because of possible salmonella contamination.  House Mice will eat through many types of packaging, making the best way to deal with them in your home or business to get rid of them altogether.

House mouse control

Effective control involves three components — good sanitation, mouse-proof construction and population reduction. The first two are useful as preventive measures. When a mouse infestation already exists, some form of population reduction is almost always necessary. Reduction techniques include trapping, poisoning and fumigation.

Sanitation
Because mice can survive in very small areas with limited amounts of food and shelter, it is almost impossible to totally eliminate populations, particularly on farms. Most buildings in which food is stored, handled or used will support mice if they are not mouse-proof, no matter how good the sanitation. Although good sanitation will seldom eliminate mice, poor sanitation is sure to attract them and will permit them to thrive in greater abundance. Concentrate on eliminating places where mice find shelter. If they have few places to rest, hide, or build nests and rear young, they cannot survive in large numbers.

Mouse-proof Your Home
The most successful and permanent form of house mouse control is to “build them out” by eliminating all openings through which they can enter a structure.  All places where food is stored, processed or used should be made mouse-proof.

Seal any openings larger than 1/4 inch to exclude mice.  Steel wool makes a good temporary plug.  Tightly seal cracks and openings in building foundations and openings for water pipes, vents and utilities with metal or concrete. Doors, windows and screens should fit tightly.  It may be necessary to cover the edges with metal to prevent gnawing.  Plastic sheeting or screen, wood, rubber or other gnawable materials are unsuitable for plugging holes used by mice.

At the first sign of mouse problem, call a professional pest or animal control expert right away!

Rodents have been known to damage buildings, contaminate food and transmit diseases to people. They’re diverse; the rodent family includes rats, mice, gophers, voles, beavers and more. They’re also adaptable, capable of learning by trial and error. As a result, people who need to control them have always struggled to “build a better mouse-trap.”

Rodent Control and Rodenticides

Keep in mind these important tips when controlling a rodent infestations in your home or business:

• Always read and follow label directions for any pesticide product, including rodent baits. It’s the law.
• Always store pesticides in a cool, dry place that’s not accessible to children and pets. Rodent baits, in particular, can be attractive and dangerous to kids, pets and wildlife.
• Many rodenticide baits have the potential to be toxic to wildlife if the product is eaten, or if an animal eats a rodent that was recently poisoned. If you suspect an animal may have been poisoned, please talk with a pesticide specialist.
• It’s important to know which species of rodent you’re dealing with; they have different capabilities and preferences. The first step in any effective control program is proper pest identification.
• Many experts recommend an IPM approach, which stands for Integrated Pest Management. This kind of approach emphasizes prevention, sanitation and exclusion, and utilizes pesticides only as a last resort when other options have been exhausted.

Rodenticides Fact Sheet

Prevent Rodent Infestations

The best way to prevent a rodent infestation and contact with rodents is to remove the food sources, water, and items that provide shelter for rodents.

Living in Minnesota can mean a vast array of different encounters with wild animals. Moles, mice, snakes, rats, bats, squirrels, or raccoons may be making a nice home in your yard, garage, attic, or walls of your house. In nature these animals may seem beautiful and peaceful, but when invading your area they soon become pests and nuisances.

Consider these facts: If you were to weigh every single human being on the face of the earth, and then weigh every single insect on the face of the earth, the weight of the insects would be 2.5 times greater than the weight of the human beings. Or this: for every human being on the face of the earth, there are 200,000,000 (yes, that number is 200 million) insects.

Insects play a vital role in the earth’s intricate and delicately balanced ecological system. Without insects we would not have the quality of life we enjoy today. But when insects infest our homes, lawns, buildings and public places, multiplying in geometric proportions, the delicate balance is disturbed, and our health and safety are threatened.

Ants, Bed Bugs, Spiders, Centipedes, Cockroaches, Crickets, Wasps, Ticks, Rodents, etc. enter homes, buildings and properties in search of food, warmth and security. It is impossible to keep them out! But the rule of thumb is: when you start to notice them or signs of their presence, you have a problem and need to take action.

A certified professional would be more than happy to inspect and assess your home, business or other property. If you have noticed signs of insect infestation, you might be surprised at what these experts, who know where to look, and what to look for, will find. With their knowledge of the habits and needs of insects, and their experience in learning where they live out these habits and get these needs met, you will be astounded at what they find.

After a thorough property inspection they will present you with a plan of action. The plan might include the use of insecticides, pesticides or traps. They will also do their best to locate the source of the infestation and eliminate it. If damage to your property has been done they will inform you. If your health is in jeopardy due to the insects they will tell you how to restore safe and sanitary conditions. Finally, they will educate you on how to prevent this and other infestations in the future. And please remember, before a professional does anything, make sure they discuss it with you and provide a full and complete cost estimate.

At the first sign of insect infestation or wild animal threat call a professional pest or animal control expert right away!