Winter brings cozy nights, hot drinks, and of course, some unwanted guests. As the temperature drops, wildlife and insects start looking for shelter and warmth. In the winter season, your home is the ideal spot for hibernation, offering food, shelter, and warmth.
However, these rodents are not alone; they carry diseases, leave droppings, cause damage, and emit foul odors. To prevent mice and rats from entering your house, it’s crucial to take preventive measures before they do. We spoke with Wildlife Removal Pro experts, and they shared some tips on how to keep mice out of the house during winter. Let’s get straight into it:
How to Know If You Have Mice in The House?
It’s difficult to encounter a rat in winter because they usually stay inside. However, they leave behind clear signs of their presence. Here are some common red flags to notice:
- Small but dark pellet-like droppings and urine
- Scratching sounds from the walls and attics
- Chewed wires, wooden frames, or food packaging
- Scratch marks and gnaw marks
- Nesting material like torn insulation, paper, and fabric
- Persistent foul-smelling or ammonia-like (acetamide) musty odours
Burrows or holes in walls, lawns, or near foundations
Why do Mice Keep Coming to Your House?
The following are some main reasons that attract mice and rats to your house:
- Warmth and Shelter
- Easy access or entry points
- Availability of food resources
- Clutter and hiding spots
- Poor maintenance and poor sanitation
7 Ways to Keep Mice Out of The House in Winter
Seal Entry Points
Mice and rats can squeeze through surprisingly tiny gaps of any shape, so it’s crucial to seal all the entry points. Inspect the interior and exterior of your property and seal all gaps larger than 6 millimeters (¼ inch) in width. To ensure long-term prevention, use durable materials for repairing cracks. Fill the gaps with mesh and use steel wool, caulk, or expanding foam to seal holes and cracks. For larger holes, use steel mesh or bricks to block the entry spots.
The Following are some of the most common entry points:
- Pipes and vents
- Chimneys and insulation
- Gaps under the door and windows
- Baseboards and electric outlets
If you noticed multiple gaps and don’t know how to seal them, you can call Wildlife Removal Pro. Our rodent control Toronto team professionally removes mouse infestations and seals entry points, ensuring long-term prevention.
Remove Food Resources
Rodents are mainly attracted to food resources. Ensure that all food items are properly stored to prevent mice from entering the house. Look for leftover crumbs, vegetable peels, flour, or food debris on the countertops or near cabinets, and clean promptly to remove potential attractants. Moreover, store the food in airtight jars or substantial plastic containers, and check occasionally.
Do not leave any food in pet bowls or bird feeders overnight, and clean these bowls regularly. Use tight-fitting lids for trash cans to prevent access to leftover food. Try whatever you can to make your house less appealing.
Change Firewood Storage Site
People love to burn wood in winter to keep the surroundings warm. That’s why they store wood piles in the house, not knowing that these piles are perfect hiding spots for rats and mice. Wood stacks provide shelter and easy cover for rodents without drawing attention to them. To keep mice out of the house in winter, store firewood at least 18 inches off the ground. To minimize the risk, store them on a rack rather than on the ground or grass, and keep them away from your home.
Reduce Clutter and Maintain Cleanliness
Mice and rats are attracted to areas that are untidy and provide nesting or hiding spots. Cluttered garages, basements, piles of cardboards, old clothing, and unused household items offers endless opportunities to settle them at your place. You can discourage their activity in your house by reducing the clutter and keeping everything tidy. Declutter your home occasionally to reduce nesting opportunities. Although it’s hard to keep everything tidy, doing so is worth it, as it helps spot early infestation signs and remove potential hiding spots.
Use Natural Deterrents
As you know, using deterrents is an effective way to keep wild animals out of the garden naturally. Similarly, using scent-based repellents is an eco-friendly method that helps keep the mice out of the house. Soak cotton balls in these deterrents and place them in basements, attics, or areas with high mouse activity. Similarly, planting strong-odour plants like rosemary, lavender, marigolds, onions, and tomatoes also repel mice.
The following natural deterrent helps to keep mice away:
- Peppermint oil
- Apple cider vinegar
- Cloves
- Cayenne pepper
- Kitty litter (cat urine)
However, natural remedies are not a complete solution, but these deterrents reduce the likelihood of mice and rats indoors.
Maintain Landscaping
Overgrown weeds, grass, and piles of leaves provide multiple hiding spots to rats and mice. Untrimmed trees and shrubs also offer mice a way to enter your house via pipes, vents, and chimneys.
To keep mice away, make sure to trim the tree branches close to your home’s windows or roofs, cut overgrown grass, and remove weeds and shrubs. By maintaining your garden, you can make your house less attractive to rodents.
Set Mice Traps
If you suspect your house has multiple mice or a colony of rodents, then prevention alone is insufficient. To remove rat infestation, you need to set traps and baits, as it also provides an additional protection layer. Several humane traps and baiting stations are available on the market, offering catch-and-release options.
Simply set them in high-activity areas such as attics, basements, or along walls. Monitor the traps and boom; you can catch the intruders before they multiply.
You can choose a location where you notice droppings, gnaw marks, or scratching sounds. Repeat this procedure throughout the winter to ensure a mouse-free environment.
Prevention is The Key- Inspect Regularly
If you want to keep mice out of the house using natural remedies, it’s crucial to inspect your property regularly. Regularly check entry points, foundations, basements, and attics for even the smallest gaps.
Focus on both indoor and outdoor inspections, checking for any signs of activity. Catching the vulnerabilities early saves you from costly damage.
Winter Specific Tips to Keep Mice Out of The House
- Seal the potential entry points.
- Keeps the house clean and decluttered on a regular basis.
- Keep the indoor temperature moderate.
- Use brush strips.
- Check seasonal storage.
- Keep an eye on vulnerable areas, such as vents and chimneys.
When Prevention is Not Enough- Call a Professional
As we discussed earlier, mice and rats can enter through extremely tiny openings, and even with the best prevention, they can find a way into your house. Particularly in winter, the season when you can barely notice their activity, which results in severe infestations afterwards. At this stage, DIY will not be effective, and you will need the help of professional exterminators.
Wildlife Removal Pro offers reliable and affordable mice control services in the Greater Toronto Area. We remove severe infestations, seal entry points, and install barriers to prevent future infestations.
Book Expert Rodent Removal Today!
Winter infestations can escalate quickly. Protect your home from mice and rodents with professional removal services from Wildlife Removal Pro. Schedule your appointment now and ensure a safe, mouse-free winter.
Book An OppintmentFinal Verdict
Protecting your house from mice and rodents in winter can be particularly challenging. Particularly in areas of the GTA where the weather is freezing, these intruders invade houses for shelter and warmth.
However, their presence brings a lot of challenges. Read our article Top 5 risks of having wildlife in homes, to understand how this invasion affects your life. You can use DIY hacks to prevent this invasion or, in case of a severe infestation, contact our rodent control Toronto services for immediate removal.