house mouse on wood floor Out of all the problems that Philadelphia residents have to deal with, it can be hard to focus any amount of time on mouse prevention. However, as with many things in life, once you actually have a problem, you’re going to wish you had given your mouse prevention measures a little bit more thought. If you knew how dangerous a mouse infestation can be, and how hard these rodents can be to get rid of, you’d pay a lot more attention to mouse prevention on your property.

Home Damage And Health Concerns

The mice in Philadelphia are typically about three inches long in length, not including the tail, sporting light gray or brown coats. They’ll also have white to light pink undersides, and slightly darker feet. While they don’t look like much of a menace, their sharp teeth can create real problems in and around the house. Typically, they’ll invade basements and attics before exploring the rest of your home, initially putting your stored items at risk.

You see, mice may be one of the smaller kinds of rodents, but they are still rodents. That means their front incisors are constantly growing and needing to be shaved down, encouraging them to chew incessantly. As mice explore your home, they’ll not only attack your stored decorations, but also your walls, pipes, linens, laundry, shoes, and electrical wiring, causing hundreds of dollars’ worth of damage in a short amount of time.

Along with the potential for home damage, mice are also a severe health hazard. Since they usually spend most of their time in highly contaminated areas, like dumpsters, looking for leftover human food, they’ll pick up tons of bacteria and spread it throughout your house. They’ll search your kitchen for any accessible food sources, contaminating any stored food they might get into, and spreading bacteria to your meal-preparation areas. That’s why mouse infestations often lead to severe illnesses, including E. coli, salmonella, and others.

Tips For Proper Prevention

Since they have small bodies able to squeeze through openings no larger than a quarter, mice can use their sharp teeth to widen any crevice in the foundation of your home to get in. Keeping them out is seemingly impossible, but you can do some things to limit their attraction to your home. If they don’t think your home is an easy source of food, then they’ll probably move on to bug someone else. Here’s a few tips to limit factors that attract mice:

Store food and trash in containers with tightly secured lids.
Clean up clutter to reduce hiding spots.
Wipe down tables and counters after meals.
Vacuum and mop to limit loose crumbs.
Store bird seed and pet food securely.
Seal up welcoming cracks and crevices with extra caulking.
Monitor weather stripping below exterior doors for large openings.

Eradication Errors

Now, these preventative measures are key because of how difficult mice can be to get rid of. Once they’re inside the house, many homeowners have a very hard time getting them out for good. You see, mice are incredibly prolific, reproducing at high rates within your walls. If two or three of them make their way in, which is usually the case, then you could have a dozen or more in a very short period of time.

That’s why your DIY eradication methods, like toxic poisons and dangerous traps, never take care of the problem quickly enough to keep up with the rate of reproduction. Unfortunately, homeowners that rely on these methods are only increasing their risk of disease incursion by letting the infestation hang around longer. To get rid of mice for good on the first try, contact the professionals at Pestmaster® Services - Philadelphia, PA.