Having mice in your home is not only a nuisance, but it can also be potentially dangerous. Once they get in, mice pest control in Toronto is the most effective way to get them out. However, by mouse-proofing your home, you may be able to prevent an infestation, which is preferable to removing mice after the fact.
Mouse-Proofing Benefits
Mouse-proofing means preventing rodents from getting into your home. It can be difficult because mice are very small and agile. Nevertheless, it is worth the effort. You may not be able to tell by looking at them, but mice are dangerous and destructive creatures.
All rodents, including mice, have front teeth that never stop growing. Rodents have to keep gnawing on things to keep their teeth filed down; otherwise, they would grow to unmanageable lengths. Mice aren’t too picky about what they chew on. Anything from antique furniture to support beams is fair game. There have been instances when mice have chewed on electrical wires and either pulled off all the protective insulation or severed them completely. Sparks from electrical wires can ignite house fires. When the damage happens behind walls, you may not even know it is happening.
Mice can also damage porous materials, such as wood or drywall, by urinating or defecating on them. This can cause staining and foul odours. Mouse urine and excrement can also carry pathogens that cause disease in humans. One of the scariest of these is the hantavirus, which causes severe respiratory illness. Hantavirus is fatal in approximately one-third of cases. You could contract it by inhaling aerosolized particles of mouse droppings.
Mouse-Proofing Methods
Mouse-proofing your home in the hopes that you never need residential pest control involves finding and sealing off any openings that could allow mice entry. This may sound simple, but rodents can squeeze through an opening the size of a dime. Gaps around windows, HVAC vents, and access points for utility lines are all potential vulnerabilities.
Once you locate potential entry points for mice on your property, you need to seal them off so the rodents can’t get in. Make sure that you don’t prevent the opening from doing its purpose; for example, blocking HVAC vents prevents oxygen from getting into your home and harmful gasses from getting out. Cover these with a wire mesh so they can still do their job.
Be sure to choose materials that mice can’t chew through when sealing off potential entry points. Avoid plastic or wood as these are vulnerable to mice’s teeth. Steel wool is a tough yet pliable material that stands up to mice’s attempts at chewing. Hemp is a natural rodent repellent for sealing off potential entry points and has the added advantage of being impervious to moisture.
If you are sure that you do not already have a rodent infestation, you can use silicone sealant to close off entry points. This material keeps heat and food smells from escaping the house and enticing mice in. However, if mice are already in the house, they may chew through silicone to escape outside. If a mouse can get out, other mice can get back in.
Call Truly Nolen for Mice Pest Control in Toronto
Our professional pest control services start with an assessment of your property. First, we determine whether you have a rodent problem. If so, we remove them and perform exclusion so they can’t get back in. If you don’t have a rodent problem, we can still perform the exclusion to mouse-proof your home and continue monitoring to make sure you don’t develop a problem in the future. Learn more about all the services we offer in Toronto.