Have you spotted a mouse in your home?
To prevent it from making a nest and damaging your home by soiling it and nibbling on your food in the cupboards, it is best to react quickly.
How to recognize a mouse and hunt these small rodents without killing them?
How to prevent their appearance?
Here are some effective tips for getting rid of a mouse.
How to recognize a mouse?
The house mouse is a small rodent of the Muridae family, usually brown or gray, which measures between 7 and 10 cm with a tail of the same length.
It weighs about 20 grams and lives 2 to 3 years.
She has a pointed muzzle, large ears with a very well developed sense of hearing and smell, large black eyes and small paws.
It is a very intelligent mammal, which lives mainly at night and has a very varied diet: seeds, cereals, vegetables, bread, fruits, rice, flour, mushrooms, roots, etc.
But it can just as easily devour soap, candles and gnaw plaster and wood.
A mouse lives in a group, so if you see one, find out if it has made nests somewhere to avoid an invasion (the mouse is one of the most invasive species in the world).
The attic and the cellar are two places appreciated by rodents, but they can also take up residence in the laundry room, the attic, the ducts, the frame, etc.
Mice and rats are not dangerous, but can be a vector of disease for humans, especially if bitten.
Like hedgehogs, they are often infested with lice, ticks and fleas.
Read alsoRats, mice and field mice in the garden: 7 repellent plants to scare them away
How do you know if mice have taken up residence in your home?
Just look for a few clues left by these pests:
Mouse droppings
: they are the size of a large grain of black rice, and you will probably find them under furniture or at the foot of walls and partitions.
Nocturnal noises
: the mouse moves to look for food and produces scratching against the walls and squealing.
Unpleasant smells of excrement
: mouse urine in particular reminds ammonia.
Traces of passage
: paw prints, teeth marks on the walls, electrical wires and cables can testify that a mouse is doing damage to your home.
Read alsoHow to get rid of a dormouse in a house?
How to hunt a mouse without killing it?
What to use to avoid rat poison, anticoagulant bait (or rat poison type poison) and deadly rat traps?
Mice (like most rodents, rats, field mice, etc.) can't stand strong smells.
Those of clove, eucalyptus, sage, laurel or peppermint (plants or essential oil on soaked cotton) are effective in repelling them.
Place them in strategic places (doors, corners, cupboards, etc.) or directly in the nest if you have spotted one to scare away undesirables.
However, avoid overusing essential oils if you have pets: this could irritate them.
That said, if you have a cat, rely on it to chase away mice.
Walk him around the house so that his scent soaks in and acts as a natural repellent.
Read alsoCockroaches in the house: solutions to get rid of them
Another solution: opt for an ultrasonic repellent, effective against mice, it keeps them at a distance.
The ultrasound device is a temporary solution, however: a mouse quickly adapts and gets used to this noise.
Finally, bet on mouse traps or trapdoor rat traps that allow you to catch the mouse with bait and capture it alive.
It will then suffice to release it in the wild.
Solutions for rodent control
Mice are harmless, but can create some damage in homes and especially plunder your pantry.
Here are some preventative tips for hunting rodents, fighting rats and mice and avoiding infestation.
Do not leave food lying around that could attract them to your interior and be sure to close your open food packages (or put them in airtight jars).
Close trash cans tightly and take them out regularly.
Strong food odors are a real mouse magnet.
Close the cracks, galleries, pipes and mouseholes through which rodents take advantage to sneak into your home.
Use materials that mice cannot gnaw (metal, cement, aluminum foil, steel wool, chicken wire, etc.).
Also check that they cannot pass under your doors.
With natural methods, you should be able to get rid of mice, rats and dormice.
If, however, the classic trap does not work, in order to avoid proliferation, call on an exterminator, a rodent and insect control professional who will advise you and offer a free estimate.