As the weather gets colder, like many of us, mice seek warm, dry places to spend the winter. The first step in controlling mice and turning your home into a vacation spot is to keep them out. Easier said than done. An adult mouse can fit through an extremely small opening, as small as the diameter of a pencil. You do not need large holes in its base to place the mouse welcome mat. Every pipe and cable that enters your home through a wall provides an entrance. The space around the pipes is usually large enough for a mouse to pass through. Before it starts to get cold, check the following to make sure you’re not forgetting a welcome mat for mice:

· Put new caulking around every pipe and utility cable that enters your home, and look for cracks in the foundation that are ¼” or larger. Also look for gaps under doors.

You can use caulk where appropriate, or plug gaps with steel wool or wire mesh. Be sure to use a material that isn’t something a mouse might chew on or use to help make a nest like cardboard, insulation, or Styrofoam.

Your garage door is an ideal place for mice to enter. Check your weather stripping, especially at the bottom

Make sure you don’t provide a mouse cafe. The average family of mice can live in a very small nesting area and can survive on small amounts of food. Mice eat a wide variety of foods, but prefer seeds, cereals, grains, high-fat and high-protein foods such as nuts, bacon, butter, and candy. Mice are “nibbers” and may make 20 to 30 visits to different food sites each night.

Even the best sanitation practices don’t always prevent a mouse infestation. You have to be persistent in removing their food supply.

· Keep food in glass jars, metal cans, and airtight storage containers.

Rodents can chew through plastic, so the average grocery store container may not be enough to keep them from feasting on peanut butter, bags of chips, etc.

Cereal boxes and other dry foods are easily accessible and provide excellent nesting materials.

· Store as much food as you can in your refrigerator, especially items like fruits and vegetables that are difficult to fit into secure containers.

· Mice love to share your pet’s food. Empty pet food dishes at bedtime each night and keep bags of dry food in mouse-proof containers, such as a tightly closed trash can or heavy plastic bag.

Make sure your trash cans have tight-fitting lids, and never put food or trash in open trash cans in your kitchen.

Your first clue to a mouse infestation may be a dead mouse in your garage, pantry, or other point of entry. Be very careful when removing dead rodents, since they are carriers of all kinds of diseases that can infect you and your family. Always wear rubber or plastic gloves when handling a dead mouse. Put it in a plastic bag, place that bag in a second bag, and seal it tight. Place the sealed bag in a trash container with a tight-fitting lid.

Also wear gloves when cleaning or disinfecting items that may be contaminated by rodents, especially trash cans and recycling bins. If you have set up traps, either throw them out with the mice or disinfect them by soaking them in three tablespoons of bleach per gallon of water or a commercial phenol-containing disinfectant.

After getting rid of mice, removing faucets, and cleaning contaminated objects, keep gloves on and wash gloved hands with soap and warm water. If you can, add a household disinfectant. Once your gloves are clean, you can remove them and wash your hands thoroughly with warm, soapy water.

If you’ve seen signs of mice (described in my last post), you can try removing them yourself with products found in stores. These include toxic baits, rodenticides, traps, and sticky boards. Be careful not to put your family at risk by using what may seem like harmless solutions. Keep in mind that whatever is bad for a mouse is bad for children and pets.

Poison baits and over-the-counter rodenticides for home use are blood thinners that contain brodifacoum, chlorophacinone, diphacinone, or warfarin as active ingredients. They kill by interfering with the normal clotting of the rodents’ blood, causing the animal to die from internal bleeding. It’s an old wives’ tale that poisoning makes the mice thirsty and they go out looking for water. They are more likely to retire to their nests. And this can cause an odor problem if the mice die inside the house, inside the walls or in inaccessible areas. Be very careful when placing baits in areas inaccessible to children or pets. Dogs, in particular, are at high risk of poisoning, as they are attracted to bait and are good at finding objects they shouldn’t be playing with (how many socks has Fido stolen this week?)

Traps are safer than toxic baits and chemicals, but are still dangerous to little fingers, paws, and noses. We recommend using at least a dozen traps or sticky plates to be effective in removing the mouse on your own. Place them where you see mouse droppings or signs of biting.

Most hardware and farm supply stores sell multi-catch mousetraps that can capture and hold a dozen or more mice before they need to be emptied. But don’t leave one of these out for too long, as the smell of dead mice is quite unpleasant. Using cheese as bait only works in cartoons. The most effective options are gum drops, peanut butter, or a cotton ball moistened with a few drops of vanilla flavoring.

You can also find sticky boards at most stores. Mice suffocate to death when they run across the boards and get caught in the glue. Again, take care that sticky boards are out of the reach of children and pets.

Be sure to check the litter boards of the traps several times a day and follow sanitation instructions when emptying the traps and disposing of carcasses to avoid contamination. If you have found dead mice or signs of an infestation, the best thing to do is call in a professional exterminator who uses stronger solutions made for commercial use that will work faster and more efficiently. There are also many pest control companies, like Heritage Pest Control, that use organic products.