Cold Weather Often Means Rodent Infestation and the Biggest Intruder is ordinarily the Mouse
Here in Indiana our wind chill temperatures measured below zero degrees the last two nights.
It's risky to go surface when the wind is blowing hard adequate to make the air feel that cold. When you do investment out you'll want three or more layers of warm clothing for protection.
If you're like me you admittedly want to stay inside and hibernate until temperatures climb back to more agreeable levels.
We're not the only creatures that quest for heat this time of year. Think about that slight mouse that lives in your back yard all summer. She digs tunnels in the ground, hollows out a slight burrow to live in, and gives birth to litters of baby mice all summer long.
Come cold weather do you think she thinks about how nice she'll have it spending the winter curled up in that hole in the ground? Or do you think maybe her eye is on your house, and all that fabulous warmth you'll provide for her over the next few months?
Oh, and do you think when she moves in she'll just pack up her belongings, and make the re-location alone? Not a chance. She's bringing her whole house with her, and they'll make nests all straight through the walls of your home.
That's just the way they are. All they care about is their own comfort, and though they don't offer it, I'm sure they're full of appreciation for the fact that you give them a cozy place to live. Not to mention all the food you leave scattered nearby for them too.
Yep, they'll be happy critters all winter long.
Much of the time you don't have any way of preventing this invasion of rodents. They have a habit of looking entry points you'll never see. Your only option is to accomplish rodent control techniques inside your home to minimize or eliminate the infestation, keep damage to your home at low levels, and forestall the disease and sickness to your house that rodents threaten.
Rodents are creatures of habit. Once you understand the way they act, and learn how to effectively get rid of them, you'll find control of this pest a straightforward process. (Though not always easy or quick.)
Often the first indication that you have a rodent problem is the discovery of their droppings. The pest control manufactures calls them the slight "calling cards" of mice. Mouse droppings look like roach droppings. They're about the same size and shape. The major divergence is that a mouse dropping has points on the ends while roach droppings are blunt.
When you see those calling cards you know you have unwanted guests. You never know the size of the rodent population, and until you take action against this pest that habitancy will grow.
Mice like to tour along walls, and near furniture or appliances where they can duck into cover when they feel threatened.
Placing a glue board inside a cardboard tunnel is effective for catching a mouse. I once settled a glue board in what I identified as a "path of rodent travel" in a building where I found a large infestation. Rechecking that board a month later I found a house of mice, a momma and three babies, trapped by the glue.
That's rare, and I don't believe one glue board will trap more than one adult mouse easily, but glue boards do work. The downside is that they're normally only good for a particular use.
Mechanical traps work too. Some designs only allow one use, but many are reusable which makes them cost effective.
A sure way of eliminating a rodent infestation is using poison baits. They work highly well. You must keep them out of the reach of children and pets, and be prepared for the stink.
When a mouse eats the poison, dies inside your wall and starts rotting, it's going to smell bad for up to a week. If your rodent habitancy is large they won't all die on the same day, which means the smell of one mouse dying today takes over from the smell of the mouse that died yesterday. The stink might last a long time.
That cold weather promises the possibility of invasion by mice. If you don't have children, and you're hearing the pitter-patter of tiny feet, start looking for those "calling cards."
