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| The HSUS/Janet Snyder |
| House mice emerge from beneath loose floorboards. |
Our conflicts with mice may be our most ancient engagement with any animal. When humans began growing crops thousands of years ago, mice were right there with us to begin consuming seeds and grains.
If it were only a matter of sharing our foodstuffs, co-existing with these rodents might not be so difficult. But since mice can spread disease to humans, we're clearly at odds. Effectively resolving mouse problems requires diligence, but it is possible to permanently and humanely evict mice from your home or other buildings. Keys to doing so include:
- Recognizing signs of mouse presence early
- Identifying the foodstuffs that are attracting mice
- Removing the mice and the attractants
- Using exclusion techniques to prevent other mice from entering the building
Removing Food Sources
The removal of food sources through proper sanitary techniques is essential. Because mice eat so little, attention should be paid to both obvious and not-so-obvious sources of food. For example, a small amount of spilled birdseed stored in a garage or shed can be more than enough to sustain mice. Dry pet food left in the garage overnight, or next to an appliance which shields rodent access from a wall, can provide a bona fide feast.
Where mice are known to be a problem, accessible food items should be stored in metal or heavy-duty plastic containers with tight-fitting lids. Pets should be fed indoors and their uneaten food picked up promptly.
Keeping Mice Out: Exclusion Techniques
Outside, eliminate protective cover for mice by removing weeds and trimming a vegetation-free perimeter at least 18 inches out from the foundation of the house or building.
Mice can enter buildings through openings no larger than the size of a dime, making exclusion sometimes difficult. Nonetheless, exclusion is by far the most effective way to permanently deal with mouse problems.
Thoroughly examine possible points of entry around foundations, such as where pipes and wires pass into the house and where siding has deteriorated. One common entry point mice use to gain access to homes is beneath kitchen or bathroom sinks, since the hole cut to accommodate the pipe is often much larger than the pipe itself. Plug up holes or cracks with materials like steel wool, wire mesh, hardware cloth or quick-drying cement; caulking and foaming sealants are also excellent for filling small to medium-sized openings. All these materials are widely available in home improvement or hardware stores.
If you're having difficulty determining where mice are entering your home, sprinkle baby powder or talc along the inside perimeters where mice are active in order to show tracks and help you determine where exclusion efforts are needed.
Surviving the Elements
Native mice—usually white-footed mice or deer mice—sometimes move into a building during the early fall or winter as a part of normal seasonal movement patterns. These species can be live-trapped and released back into the great outdoors.
However, non-native house mice (Mus musculus) tend to be exclusively building dwellers, as their name suggests. These animals will probably not do well if set free outside, but given the alternative many homeowners are willing to try. Their best chance at survival may be in wooded areas where there is plenty of existing cover.
A number of commercially available devices allow for mice to be humanely live trapped and removed from a building.
Prevention Before Lethal Control
Lethal control is commonly regarded as a necessary step in the management of rodent conflicts, but this almost always leads to a cycle of killing as rodent population continually rebounds. Unfortunately, lethal control is often employed because prevention was not considered. As with any species that comes into conflict with humans, the rule of thumb should be: Lethal control is never justifiable without a dedicated effort to apply other controls first and prevent the recurrence of problems. These include exclusion strategies, habitat management, and sanitation improvements.
The HSUS condemns the use of poisons (rodenticides) and glue board traps to kill mice and other rodents. Both of these methods are far less humane than either standard snap traps or those traps that use electricity to kill these animals. In considering the arsenal of lethal methods available for rodent control, the bottom line is that none are completely humane in their modes of action, but some inflict less suffering than others. Therefore if rodents must be killed in a given situation, it is far preferable that the least inhumane methods are used.
For more information, view our Guide to Retail Sources for Products to Resolve Wildlife Conflicts.
Posted Nov. 13, 2007
