How to Keep Mice from Moving in for the Winter

As the fall weather turns cool, rodents, like mice, will make their way into your home, seeking warmth, shelter and food. Mice can be a big problem for some home owners, while others barely seem to be affected by them. Here are some tips to keep the mice out of your home this winter.

Seal Holes

Closely inspect your house to find any small holes that might be an entryway for mice and other rodents. Stuff the holes with steal wool or fill them with expandable foam sealer. Both of these are available at your local hardware store.

Be Smart About Storage

Mice are attracted to things they can chew through to makes nests. Instead of storing items in your basement, attic and garage in cardboard boxes, transfer everything to plastic storage containers. Mice can't chew through the plastic, will be dismayed at the lack of nesting material in your home and will be less likely to stick around.

Food should always be stored in sealed containers. Mice are especially attracted to pet food and birdseed. Be sure to store these items in plastic or metal containers as well.

Trim Branches

Squirrels find it easy to enter a home when tree branches are overhanging a roof. Keep all tree branches cut back several feet away from the roof line. Likewise, keep shrubs trimmed so they don't touch the siding on the house. There should be at least a foot clearance between shrubs and the outside walls of your home. Not only will this keep any rodents scurrying through the shrubbery from finding a path indoors, it will cut down on insects that are able to make their way inside.

Keep the Foundation Clear

In addition to keeping shrubs and trees trimmed away from the house, keep the foundation area clear of debris and mulch. Wood chip mulch invites insects and rodents into your home. Leaf debris and weedy, untended flower gardens near the foundation give rodents the perfect cover to scurry around looking for an easy entry into your home. Keep this area raked and clean.

Consider a Sonic Pest Control Device

Though the effectiveness of sonic pest control devices is debatable, there is some evidence that they do work at repelling rodents. The devices, which are plugged into an outlet, emit a high-pitched noise that is undetectable to humans and pets. However, rodents are repelled by the noise. To be fully effective, one sonic pest control device is recommended for each room of your home. Consider the Heavy Duty Sonic Pest Chaser, made by Victor.

Cooler weather means mice and other rodents will start looking for their winter homes. Use these tips to make your house less attractive to them. Let this winter be a mouse-free winter!