Winter nights can mean a mouse in the house or even a rat. But poisoning isn’t the only way to get rid of them – humane mouse traps and deterrents are both possibilities that cause far less unnecessary suffering.
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You're also more likely to see mice and rats in your garden during winter, but so long as they stay in the garden and don't cause damage to your shed or anything else, they shouldn't cause any problems out there.
Our guide explains what attracts rodents to your house, how to get rid of them humanely and how to prevent them from returning to your home.
Which rats and mice enter houses?
House mice (Mus musculus), wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus), yellow-necked mice (A. flavicollis) and brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) are all common in UK houses. Of the three mice, the one you’re most likely to encounter at home is the wood mouse, as this species is even more common in houses than the house mouse.
House mice and brown rats are most frequent in houses close to city centres, wood mice in the suburbs, and yellow-necked mice in rural areas in the South-east and Welsh borders.
Rats and mice are most common in roof spaces, then cellars and cupboards. They can also live in wall spaces. Other visiting small mammals may include voles and shrews.
What attracts mice and rats to your house?
There are two main things that can attract mice and rats to your house – food and shelter. If you don't tidy up properly and there's food waste on the floor or surfaces, rodents are going to love it!
Rats and mice also need shelter, particularly during winter to avoid the worst of the cold. The same is true when they're trying to find a nice warm spot to raise their young. A heated home with lots of places to hide away is perfect, and an untidy home even more so.
Mice can squeeze through gaps less than 2cm in diameter, and rats only need slightly more space, so any small hole to the outside can serve as a rodent gateway straight into your home.
Signs of rats and mice in your house
Cloying ‘acetamide’ smell characteristic of house mice, which is often described as vinegary or ammonia-like; other mice leave little odour.
Gnawing sounds: rodents need to gnaw continuously to keep their incisors short.
Tooth marks: larger ones are made by rats, who can gnaw through soft metals, such as lead and aluminium.
Droppings: rat droppings are 12mm long and often tapered at one end; mouse droppings are roughly half the size and thinner.
Greasy fur marks: rats and house mice leave dirty black smears along well-travelled routes, particularly ‘loop smears’ where they squeeze under roof joints.
Rodents generally cause minor problems in houses – of those with yellow-necked mice, 42 per cent suffer damage to furnishings and internal structures, 31 per cent to food, and 9 per cent to insulation and wiring; 18 per cent suffer no damage.
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Chewed wiring is a particular problem as it can lead to fires and be expensive to repair.
Droppings or scats can tell us a lot about which animals have been visiting our gardens, parks and countryside, including hedgehogs, foxes and badgers, as well as rats and mice.
Snap traps are a kind of mouse trap that kills instantly.
Live traps (pictured above) may appeal, but ‘dumping’ the animal in the wild is likely to lead to its death as it will leave it exposed to predators. What's more, if you don’t take the rat or mouse at least 2km away, it may well arrive back home before you do.
Indoor devices that use electromagnetic interference or ultrasound to drive rats and mice out of houses can work brilliantly. But don’t use them if there are bats in the house or roof.
Anti-coagulant mouse and rat poisons cause a slow, painful death. Problems also occur if the rodent is eaten before it dies – 40 per cent of barn owls, polecats, stoats and weasels carry rodenticides from eating poisoned prey. There's also a risk to children and pets.
Prevention is the best long-term way to get rid of rodents in your house.
How to keep rats and mice out of your house
The one thing you can do straight away is to have a really good tidy and clean to remove all the traces of food (crumbs, grains of sugar left on the counter after you make a coffee, droplets of juice dried onto the cupboard door). Food left out is irresistible to rodents, so deal with it and wash it up straight away. Keep all food – especially dry food, and compost waste – sealed away in an airtight box.
Secondly, examine your house to make sure it's as airtight as possible. Seal up large cracks in floorboards, repair broken air bricks and holes in outside walls or skirting boards; tidy up cupboards and remove any material lying around that could be used for nesting.
Rodents have a highly tuned sense of smell, so strong scents such as peppermint oil are overwhelming and unpleasant for them. Try leaving cotton wool balls with 8-10 drops of peppermint essential oil in the corner of rooms or near suspected entry points (you'll need to refresh these every couple of days or so). There are also plug-in devices which emit a high-frequency noise disliked by rodents, which can help.
Alternatively, if you're a cat lover and have been looking for a reason to give a good home to a feline friend, here's the excuse you've been waiting for!
Do cats keep mice and rats out of your house?
The short answer is, yes – cats are highly effective deterrents in the areas of the home that they can reach, even if they're not really 'mousers'. Rodents do not like the smell of cats, one of their natural predators, and will avoid being caught in the open.
However, cats cannot get to mice once they're back inside the walls of your house, or in floorboards and attics, so you'll just be deterring them from your living spaces. If you have a cat, make sure you've taken the preventative steps listed above in order to make your home as unattractive to mice as possible.
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How to deal with a serious rat or mouse infestation
If you've tried to humanely deal with rodents in your home and suspect an infestation it is worth contacting your local council pest control for advice, as rats can carry diseases, such as Weil's disease.
But what exactly do mice and rats hate to smell? Mice can be kept away by using the smells of peppermint oil, cinnamon, vinegar, citronella, ammonia, bleach, and mothballs.
There are two main things that can attract mice and rats to your house – food and shelter. If you don't tidy up properly and there's food waste on the floor or surfaces, rodents are going to love it! Rats and mice also need shelter, particularly during winter to avoid the worst of the cold.
While getting rid of mice may seem like a never-ending task, it is possible to get them out of your house for good. The trick is to use a combination of methods that are effective for your specific infestation. For example, trapping mice won't be enough if you have an active entry point allowing mice into your home.
Unfortunately, the light inside your house is not a very effective deterrent to mice. Once inside a house or a building, they can easily look for dark areas to hide until such time as all lights are turned off. Places they can hide include inside the walls, crawl spaces, attics, and ceilings.
Look closely at your foundation for cracks or gaps where a mouse could squeeze through. Wherever possible, climb underneath porches and look behind stairs, bushes, or other objects. There may be holes that have been made larger over the years by water damage and chewing pests.
Baking soda is one of the most effective ways to kill mice and rats. It works by producing gas in their bellies. They cannot pass through burping or farting. It finishes off these pests painfully!
That said, the most common places where rats like to hide in your house during the day include: air ducts; behind cabinets and cooking stoves; under refrigerators; inside woodpiles; in piles of clutter; in storage boxes; in ventilation systems; inside hollow walls; in drains; in wall and ceiling crawl spaces; and in ...
Yes, clean houses can get rats. And just like mice, rats are looking to see if your home can provide them with what they need, especially in the winter, regardless of how clean your house is.
These creatures are sensitive to bright lights and have poor eyesight. Survival instincts cause them to avoid larger animals and being active at night helps mice avoid being seen by predators, as well as people. Because mice avoid danger, they may be scared off by bright, flashing lights or loud noises.
Luckily, mice aren't aggressive and usually only bite people when they feel threatened or cornered. Unless you're handling them, you're very unlikely to get bitten. Mice bites usually aren't serious, but it's still a good idea to see a doctor if you get bitten. The main threat of rodent bites is the risk of infection.
One of the main reason is that they're resourceful and far more clever than your average spider or co*ckroach. No matter how pristine your home may be, it is susceptible to mice infestations. They enter your home for the same reasons you live in it; it's cozy, warm, it has plenty of food, and it keeps them safe.
House mice prefer living in cool, dark places during the day. The most common areas they like to hide are in between walls, pantries, cupboards, sofas, old boxes, and other similar areas wherein they would not be disturbed inside your home.
A great way to bring mice out of hiding and steer them in the direction you want them to go is to sprinkle potent scents they find particularly unpleasant. Mice don't like the smell of garlic, onions, cayenne pepper, cloves, ammonia and alcohol.
While you may not look dangerous while you are asleep, mice can use smell to identify you as a large animal and potential predator. While mice usually do not climb on beds, they may make an exception if there is something up there that they really want. Most often this is food.
Although finding mice in your bed is not a common phenomenon, there are a few things you can do to prevent mice from entering your bedroom: Seal off any holes you may have in walls. Mice can sneak through the tiniest of cracks, so don't miss any spots. Stop snacking in bed.
If you have a mouse infestation, rest assured you are not alone. Each winter, mice and other rodents invade an estimated 21 millions homes in the United States. Mice typically enter our homes between October and February, looking for food, water and shelter from the cold.
A mouse can leave behind anywhere between 50 and 75 pellets per day as a single creature. You're not going to sit around and count them, though. You'll have to estimate the number of droppings, but if you see large mounds of them, then you know that it's not just a single mouse.
The most popular type of rodenticide is called an anticoagulant. This prevents the mouse's blood from clotting, causing internal bleeding that eventually kills the rodent. Other types of mouse poison include vacor, yellow phosphorus, strychnine and arsenic.
Sweet or fatty foods are favorites of these rodents, so peanut butter, soft cheese, or wet cat food often work well. In general, a small amount of a sticky bait is most likely to make a mouse trigger the trap.
Mothballs repelling mice and rats is a common misconception. Mothballs contain a small amount of naphthalene and can be a deterrent in large quantities, however, they aren't powerful enough to get rid of mice and rodents.
It turns out that baking soda catalyzes some form of reaction inside the rat's stomach. Baking soda combines with the stomach acids to produce carbon dioxide gas which rats are unable to tolerate. In turn, it builds up within their system and eventually causes internal blockage and rupture.
Baking soda is one of the most effective ways to kill mice and rats. It works by producing gas in their bellies. They cannot pass through burping or farting. It finishes off these pests painfully!
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