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Mice are disease vectors, they chew through wires, and they reproduce fast. One mouse becomes ten in a month if you ignore the problem. You need to act now, not after you hear scratching for the third night in a row or find droppings behind the toaster.
The good news: mice are predictable. They follow walls, they hate open spaces, and they’re obsessed with food. Use that against them. Get rid of existing mice with traps, block their entry points so new ones can’t get in, and remove anything that makes your house appealing to rodents.
1. Set Snap Traps Along Walls
Snap traps work. They’re cheap, reusable, and instant. Place them perpendicular to walls with the trigger side facing the baseboard. Mice run along edges, not across open floor, so that’s where you intercept them.
Set multiple traps. One trap won’t solve an infestation. Use at least six in a typical house – more if you’re seeing activity in multiple rooms. Space them 10-15 feet apart along walls where you’ve seen droppings or heard noise.
Bait with peanut butter, not cheese. Tie dental floss around the trigger to make them work for it – increases your catch rate because they have to tug instead of grabbing and running.
Check traps twice daily. A sprung trap with no mouse means you need better placement or fresher bait. Move it closer to the wall or try a different route.
2. Seal Entry Points With Steel Wool and Caulk
Mice squeeze through gaps the width of a pencil. If you can fit a ballpoint pen into a crack, a mouse can fit its body through. Check where pipes enter walls, around door frames, behind appliances, and anywhere two different materials meet. Foundations are full of gaps.
Stuff holes with steel wool first – they can’t chew through it. Then seal over with caulk or expanding foam rated for pest control. Skip the steel wool and they’ll just chew through the foam overnight. Use Great Stuff Pestblock foam, not regular expanding foam.
Don’t forget the gap under your garage door. Install a door sweep or replace the rubber seal if it’s cracked. Garage doors are a common entry point because the seal degrades over time and leaves a half-inch gap.
Check window and door screens for tears. Mice climb, so don’t assume a second-story window is safe.
3. Use Electric Traps for High-Traffic Areas
Electric traps cost more but they’re cleaner and you don’t have to see the result. Place them in areas where you’ve seen droppings or heard noise – typically kitchens, basements, or garages.
They run on batteries and kill instantly. Empty the chamber into a plastic bag, don’t overthink it.
Good for people who are squeamish about disposal or have kids who might stumble onto a snap trap.
4. Remove All Food Sources
Mice eat 15-20 times per day in tiny amounts. If they can’t find food, they leave.
Move all pantry items into thick plastic or glass containers. Cardboard and thin plastic bags are worthless – they chew through both in minutes. Clean up crumbs immediately after meals. Don’t leave pet food out overnight.
Take your trash out daily and use cans with tight lids. Mice will climb into an open trash bag for a single crumb.
5. Eliminate Outdoor Entry Routes
Mice don’t teleport inside. They climb, so trim tree branches and shrubs that touch your house. Any branch within two feet of your roofline is a bridge for rodents.
They nest in woodpiles, so stack firewood at least 20 feet from your exterior walls and elevate it off the ground. Mice love the shelter and warmth of stacked wood. Keep it far away and check it before bringing logs inside.
Clear your gutters. Mice use clogged gutters as highways to access roof gaps and attic vents. Leaves and debris also provide nesting material, so clean gutters twice yearly at minimum.
6. Declutter Storage Areas
Mice nest in cardboard boxes, piles of fabric, and undisturbed corners. Basements, attics, and garages are breeding grounds if you treat them like storage units.
Get boxes off the floor. Use plastic bins with locking lids instead of cardboard. Clear out anything you haven’t touched in a year – if you’re not using it, the mice are.
7. Try Peppermint Oil (But Don’t Rely On It)
Mice supposedly hate peppermint. Soak cotton balls in pure peppermint oil and place them near suspected entry points or nesting areas.
Does it work? Sometimes. It’s not a substitute for traps or exclusion, but it’s non-toxic and might deter new mice from setting up camp while you’re handling the current problem.
Reapply weekly. The scent fades fast.
8. Know When to Call an Exterminator
If you’re catching mice daily for more than a week, you have a bigger problem than traps can solve. That means active nesting inside your walls or a large colony nearby.
Professionals use tracking powder, commercial-grade traps, and exclusion techniques you can’t DIY. They also identify entry points you missed.
Don’t wait until you’re hearing scratching in multiple rooms.
Getting rid of mice takes persistence. Traps alone won’t fix the issue if you’re not sealing entry points. Sealing entry points won’t help if you’re leaving food out. Do all of it, and check progress weekly. Most infestations clear in 2-3 weeks if you stay on top of it.