Mice in your home is not only an uncomfortable living situation, but it’s also potentially dangerous. Mice can transmit bacteria and diseases to humans and pets through their bites, saliva, urine, and feces. When they run across your food preparation surfaces or leave feces and urine throughout the house, they put you and your family at risk for getting sick. In addition to their potential to transmit disease, mice can cause expensive damages to your home! Even though you don’t want mice in your Greenville home, there’s a good chance you’re doing the following five things that attract mice to your home:
- Putting food away without sealing the containers – If you keep cereal boxes and cookies in your pantry in the packaging you bought them in, mice can chew right through those boxes and packages to get to the food inside. You may as well leave a plate of food out on the counter for them! Keep all food in tightly sealed glass or plastic containers to keep away from hungry mice.
- Ignoring potential cracks and openings on the exterior of your home – Mice only need an opening about the size of a pencil eraser to get into your home. You should thoroughly check the exterior of your home several times each year for any potential entry points and take action to seal them to prevent mice and other pests from getting inside.
- Allowing your home to become cluttered – Keeping boxes of items in the basement, attic, and closets is a common habit. We all have things we don’t necessarily want to get rid of but also don’t have any use for in other areas of our home, and these items often end up in cardboard boxes or hidden away in other areas of our home. The trouble with this practice is that it gives the mice places to hide in your home where they feel safe. Once they take up residence in your clutter, they can quickly reproduce and cause a large mouse infestation.
- Forgetting to clean up crumbs quickly – Mice are not picky eaters, so any morsel of food left on the kitchen counters or floors will attract them. For example, if you make a sandwich and forget to wipe the counters down, you’re feeding any mice who happen by.
- Not repairing leaking faucets and pipes – Faucets that drip and pipes that leak provide a source of water for mice. Many people don’t notice the drips or just let it go since it’s only a few drops of water here and there, right? Mice don’t need a lot of water so that dripping faucet or pipe is providing more than enough water for the mice to survive in your home.
If you see a mouse in your home, instead of jumping on the internet to search for do-it-yourself methods to try and eliminate the infestation, consider year-round pest control. Year-round pest control programs in Greenville will eliminate existing infestations of mice and other pests in your home while taking steps to prevent future pests. Since Greenville has a mild climate all year round, your home is at risk for pests throughout every season. Receiving pest control services throughout the year ensures that you enjoy a pest-free home with a predictable expense, versus spending a fortune on potential DIY methods for each pest you find in your home that may or may not work. If you want to enjoy a home free from pests, give Spencer Pest Services a call to learn more about our year-round programs.