Mice infestations happen to numerous homes in Wisconsin every single year. One of the biggest factors that can attract mice to your home is clutter. These rodents feel safer moving into places with lots of spaces to hide, especially if there are also frequent food messes for them to feast on.
Homeowners that put extra effort into keeping a clean home may hope that they’re building a sturdy shield against mice problems. The truth is that while dirty homes are more likely to suffer mice infestations, clean homes can fall victim as well. Keep reading to learn why, and how you can keep mice out of your home in Wisconsin.
Why Your Clean Home Has a Mouse Problem
Mice are always drawn to our homes in Wisconsin by the same three needs: shelter, food, and water. Unfortunately, any home will offer at least some of these necessities, no matter how well they’re kept. It’s true that a cluttered, messy home offers more places for mice to take shelter, but even the cleanest home still has walls to live in and furniture to hide under. Your clean and tidy home is still more inviting than the great outdoors, where predators abound and the weather’s often unpleasant.
Food tends to be more easily available to mice in dirty homes, which are often plagued by dirty kitchens with used dishes piling the sink and crumbs strewn all over the floor and counters. Yet even in a home where you do the dishes every night and vacuum the kitchen floors regularly, there may be something edible lying around. Some Wisconsin homeowners make the mistake of leaving uncovered food out on the counter overnight or storing food in containers that a persistent mouse could easily break into. Their logic may even be, “I’ve never seen mice so it shouldn’t be a problem.” Don’t fall into that logic or you might see mice soon enough.
Water, like food, is usually more available to mice in dirty homes but there are still plenty of sources of potable water in a clean home. Mice have no qualms about drinking from your pet bowl or your shower drain. They don’t have to drink much to survive, so any part of your home that regularly gets wet can be enough to attract these thirsty rodents.
How Can I Keep Mice Out of My Wisconsin Home?
If cleaning your home isn’t enough to prevent mice infestations, you may wonder if there’s anything you can do to keep rodents out of your house. Sadly, there’s no 100% effective way to exclude mice from a property – but that doesn’t mean you can’t significantly reduce your vulnerability. Regularly cleaning your home – especially the kitchen – is still a good way to make your home less appealing to mice.
Some other effective means of mice exclusion for Wisconsin homes include:
- Seek out mice entry points, which are often small holes or cracks in the siding or foundation of a house’s exterior. Use caulk or other durable sealants to close off these holes.
- Adopt more secure food storage procedures. Keep all food in your home in airtight containers and never leave anything out on your kitchen table or counter overnight.
- Be proactive about fixing leaking pipes or drains in your home. Mice are attracted to both the moisture and the wood rot that it can create.
- Avoid storing piles of firewood or brush near your home, instead keeping them toward the edge of your property. Mice commonly use such piles for shelter, which could lead to the rodents invading your house.
- Be cautious of leaving bird feeders and pet food or water bowls outside your home overnight. These are popular food and water sources for mice, who may decide that your home is worth living in.
Professional Mice Control Solutions in Wisconsin
You can do your part to prevent mice by keeping your house clean; we can do our part by using professional solutions to thoroughly rodent-proof your property. Give Pest Badger a call today if you’re in need of professional mice control services in Wisconsin!
