There are a number of low-cost methods to ridding your home or business of mice. These pesky rodents, cute as they are, must be controlled to maintain sanitary dwellings and reduce the spread of harmful diseases. Far more costly implementations are out there, like electronic mouse traps, which will reduce the local mice population, but why resort to such high-priced measures when more practical and inexpensive options exist?
Fill Those Construction Gaps: Begin implementing low-cost ways to get rid of mice by meticulously looking for locations they could gain access to the interior of your house or building. Where should you check? Openings around heating pipes, plumbing fixtures, and air conditioning ducting could be placed rodents may crawl right on in.
Did you know that a mouse can work its way through an opening as small as a quarter of an inch (6 mm)? It will use its constantly growing incisors to chew on almost any type of construction material, including plastic, lead, and certain varieties of concrete.
Once you’ve pinpointed probable entrances, fill the hole with coarse steel wool. Then apply duct tape or expanding foam insulation to prevent future invasions through that location. Do this for nearly every nook and cranny, and soon you’ll have an airtight area!
Frugal, Humane, and Homemade: If you don’t mind having to handle live mice, then this technique is right up your alley. It won’t be easy, what with a wildly excited rodent thrashing about, but it will cost you virtually nothing to put in place. Should the final disposal of the trapped mouse cause spinal shivers, you could humanely release it outdoors, but this may be a virtual invitation to your household again.
Rather than taking the time to drive out, consume gas, and buy traditional traps, as cheap as they are, making homemade devices can be the ultimate in frugality. What does it take to make one? Easy! A container of some sort, a thin strip of wood to prop one side of the box up, and some peanut butter to apply to the top of the stick holding up the box. That’s it.
When the mouse goes for the bait, it will knock the stick over, thus causing the box to fill and seal the trap. This is can be enhanced by using a transparent container, then you’ll have visual confirmation your contraption worked.
Sticky Stuff and Springing Snaps: Cheap glue traps and spring-loaded devices from discount stores or home fix-it shops will have to do. An advantage is they’re proven to work as advertised, but you’ll have to deal with seeing the aftermath of the carnage. Glue traps are not humane, as they hold the rodent in place while it goes insane trying to free itself. It may eventually expire from sheer exhaustion, starvation, asphyxiation, or a combination of all three.
With spring traps, near decapitation is a certainty, as are exploded bowels should the trap hit the abdominal area. Not a pretty picture, but you will be rid of these pests, at very low cost, which is your ultimate goal, remember? Another issue is that these methods tend to look unsightly and embarrassing if seen by house guests or your customers. Though the trade-off is that, they won’t see furry critters scampering across the floorboards.
To recap, low-cost ways of getting rid of mice include preventing them from entering your abode or place of business in the first place, building traps out of material already on hand, or purchasing low-budget traps. Any of these tried-and-true ways of pest control will suffice, but it is up to you which are best for your individual needs. For more info about mice, contact with a professional Pest Control Brisbane Company.
