Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Utah University Extension offer the following tips for discouraging mice from weaseling their way inside:
* Seal openings to the house larger than one-quarter inch with such materials as mortar, sheet metal or heavy-gauge hardware cloth.
* Keep closed doors to houses, garages, barns and other structures.
* Store bulk foods, pet food, bird seed, garbage, compost and recyclables in rodent-proof containers made of metal, glass, ceramic or heavy-duty plastic with tight-fitting lids. Mice can chew through wood, aluminum siding, plastic garbage cans, Sheetrock and lead or copper pipes!
* Promptly clean up crumbs and spills.
* Keep stored items off the floor, reduce clutter and remove cardboard boxes if possible.
* Clean garbage cans and chutes regularly.
* Refrigerate uneaten pet food instead of leaving it out in food bowls.
* Elevate outdoor compost piles or enclose them with quarter-inch wire mesh.
* Keep birdfeeding areas clean of spilled seed.
* Monitor woodpiles for mouse shelters in gaps and hollow logs, especially before bringing wood in the house.
* Move firewood, garbage cans, debris piles, discarded appliances and vehicles away from the house. For easier inspection, maintain a 1-foot-wide gravel border that’s free of vegetation around the foundation or keep plants closely trimmed.
* Remember that thick vegetation, debris like garbage and leaves, clutter like bricks, lawn furniture and discarded appliances, and piles of wood or rocks are favored by mice.
on Oct 5, 2014