How to Keep Mice Out of Your Home This Winter

“Honey, how are we going to keep the mice away? I don’t want to deal with them again all winter like we did last year!”

Mice are some of the most common pests to sneak into our homes during the winter to wait out the cold, taking advantage of our heat and food resources. Unfortunately, they’re able to squeeze through tiny, dime-sized holes we often don’t even know are there. To help you ward off mice and prevent them from entering your home this winter, we’ve compiled a list of tips.

5 Tips to Prevent Mice from Entering Your House

Keep your kitchen clean, and store food safely.

Leaving your dishes around the kitchen or food scraps and crumbs on counters, tables, or in the sink can attract mice to these areas. Keep eating and meal prep areas tidy by cleaning up right after meals and doing the dishes as you go. Make sure food is stored safely in sealed, rodent-proof containers—even pet food.

Don’t let clutter pile up.

If you have a storage room in your home or a lot of clutter throughout your living space, you’ve created an environment where mice can easily hideout. Areas located in parts of your home that you don’t often use, such as the basement, garage, or attic, are especially attractive for mice and rats to build their nests without being disturbed. Keep your home clean and organized so rodents have fewer places to hide.

Manage your yard and landscaping.

Take a look around your yard. Do you have bushes or plants growing right up against your home or trees with overhanging branches? If so, you’re giving mice and other pests easier access to your home. Keep trees and bushes trimmed so they don’t act as step stools or ladders.

If you have a wood-burning fireplace in your home and a woodpile in your backyard, keep it as far away from your home as possible. Mice like to hide in woodpiles.

Seal any possible entry points.

Seal cracks, holes, and other drafty areas to keep unwanted visitors out of your home. Check around doors and windows, the foundation, and siding and roofing components. Make sure that seals are tight and that rodents can’t enter through vents, fascia and soffit boards, or chimney flashing. If you have small holes around the house that you need to fill quickly (to act as a temporary solution while you’re waiting for someone to make a permanent repair), you can fill them with steel wool, which mice can’t chew through.

Check the weather stripping at the base of your garage door as well, and make sure it’s free of holes and tears and is effectively keeping out critters, rain, and snow. Sealing all of these areas will not only help prevent pests from entering but make your home more energy-efficient as well.

Keep doors shut, and add brush strips.

Make sure when you enter or exit your house, you close the door as quickly as possible. Mice are sneaky and can make their move quickly when you’re not looking. Also consider adding a brush strip to the exterior doors of your home to block gaps across the bottom of your doors, where mice often squeeze through. These strips will also help drafty doors keep heat indoors during the winter.

“Honey, there’s a mouse in the house!”

If you find you already have a rodent problem at home, the most effective way to fix it is by calling a professional with proven knowledge and equipment. Springer offers professional residential pest control services for Des Moines and Central Iowa. Contact us by phone (call or text) or email. We look forward to working with you and helping you rid your home of any pesky mice!