Mice are stubborn rodents that can cause a significant damage to your indoor and outdoor properties. They are known to chew on items, dig holes, and spread numerous diseases through urine, saliva or direct contact with humans. So, can mice climb walls?
Yes, mice can climb walls to access your yard or home. So, if you live in mice prone areas, then you have to put in place effective control measures.
Can Mice Climb Walls?
In addition to blocking neighbors view, a perimeter wall around your property provides a great relief from intruders including wild animals and thieves. However, your concrete wall will not help in keeping mice away from your home or property.
Mice can climb walls to gain access to your yard or home. While searching for food or somewhere to hide, they will also climb the wall of your house and get inside through open windows or any opening in the roof.
Cracks in the foundation, open drainage pipes, sink or bathtub drains are also ideal areas where mice can get into your home. Plenty of food and warmth in your home will make these rodents not to think of venturing outside again. They will reproduce and within a few months, your home will be full of mice.
There is need to act quickly to get rid of mice in your home. Mice enjoy chewing on items without sparing your wooden or fabric materials. If they gain access to your kitchen or food store, these rodents will feast and leave your food soaked with urine, saliva and some droppings.
Mice also spread a number of deadly pathogens which can lead to health problems. They also host ticks, fleas and mites that can be left on your surfaces. These parasites will also attack humans and in the process transmit infections obtained from their host.
How to Keep Mice Away from Your Yard
Field mice are likely to invade your yard before they get into your home. While it may not be easy to see them, small holes in yard and droppings are signs of mice your homestead. There are a number of things you can do to discourage these rodents from staying in your yard.
1. Keep your vegetation trimmed
Mice love hiding especially during the day to avoid predators like birds of prey and foxes. In the yard, they will prefer tall grass and bushes. Keeping your lawn grass short and regular trimming of your shrubs leaves mice with nowhere to hide.
2. Fill any small holes and crevices in yard
Mice like any other rodents, will dig holes in yard to nest, burrow or hide. Cover any holes you find in your yard with dirt or rocks as these may be entry or exit points for mice burrows. You also need to be careful with such holes as more dangerous animals like snakes also like hiding in them.
3. Remove any piled trash around
Large piles of trash including leaves, grass clipping, wood or other debris in your yard is likely to attract mice and other pests. This is where mice will nest and even reproduce from. Large piles of leaves are common during fall. After collecting, immediately take them for disposal instead of piling them somewhere in your yard.
4. Keep bird feed or pet food indoors
Mice like scavenging on food leftovers from birdfeeders or pet pots. One way of discouraging them from your yard is to avoid leaving bird seed or pet food outdoors especially during the night. Keep the feeders and pet plates clean all the time after using.
5. Keep your dustbins clean and covered
Dustbins are where we damp food leftovers and other trash. Keeping them open can help in attracting mice in your yard. Mice have a great sense of smell and from a distance they can sniff and detect food leftovers in the bins. Ensure to cover them and clean them to also keep away flies from your yard.
6. Try a mice repellent for yard
There are a number of mice repellent products you can use in your yard to keep mice away. They include paper mint sprays that have unpleasant scent for rodents, ultrasonic repellent devices that use strong waves of sound to repel animal and special pellets infused with essential oils. Always use as directed by the product manufacturer.
7. Screen important openings to your home
Screen any important openings to your home including drains and vents. A woven stainless steel mesh can offer a lasting solution when screening your doors, windows, drains and vents. Avoid using weak materials as mice can chew at them and still gain access to your building.
8. Install bright flash light in you landscape
Mice becomes active when there is darkness. They hide when there is a bright light. One way of discouraging mice is to install bright flash light in your backyard. This will also boost your outdoor security.
9. Encourage natural predators
Birds of prey, wild cats and foxes hunt and feed on mice. Natural predators can discourage mice and rats in an area. You can encourage these wild animals in your yard to hunt and prey on mice and rats in your yard. Although natural, some of the predators might also turn to be a nuisance, so be careful with the idea.
10. Contact pest control agencies
Mice can sometimes be difficult to control especially when their numbers have surged. Also, trying to keep away mice out of your yard will be fruitless if you are doing nothing about your overgrown neighbor’s garden. Pest control agencies are great at tackling pests at a large scale and they are the solution to recurrent problem of rodent menace in your home.
What to do with Mice in your Home
During fall and winter mice are likely to relocate to your home in search of food, warmth and shelter. Mice will not lazy around but will keep running side to side in your ceiling and damage your properties by chewing on them.
You can tell presence of mice from their annoying noise during the night, their urine and droppings and damaged food packages. There is a great danger living with rodents in a house. You can easily get infected with dangerous diseases that mice spread.
The very first important thing to do is to locate their entry point and completely seal it. If it is an important opening like vent or chimney, then you can screen it. Next is to try setting a mice trap. Various type of traps can help in killing the mice or capturing them alive. If traps don’t help, then seek help from a nearby pest control agency.
