Mice gnaw on food supplies, but also cables and insulation material. They can transmit disease and pollute your home with feces and urine. There are many effective measures that you can apply yourself to prevent mice in house.
Tips against mouse nuisance
- Make wide gaps and holes in the outer walls well closed to make it more difficult for the mice to enter
- Cats can prevent mice nuisance, but of course they are no guarantee that mice will not enter your house
- Store your food properly in a locked cupboard or box
- Do not leave trash lying around and dispose of it immediately in trash cans with a sealed lid
- Mice also dislike some plants and herbs such as peppermint, chamomile, lavender, cloves and chili pepper. The scent of these herbs deters mice, but at least they don’t rule out mice from entering.
What to do if there are mice in the house?
Have you done everything you can to prevent mice, but are they still there? The four most common methods of fighting or chasing away mice are mouse traps, mouse trap, mouse poison and ultrasound.
Catching mice with a mousetrap
If the mice really become a nuisance, you can opt for deadly mouse traps or traps that keep the rodents alive. With the classic wooden mouse trap, you can put any suitable bait (cheese, chocolate spread, bread, fruit, …) in the trap. You place the trap in a dark and sheltered place where the mice are. Place the bait in the direction of the wall as mice rarely cross open spaces. To increase the chances of success, use at least 2 or 3 traps.
An electric mouse trap instantly kills the mouse with a double electric shock. While this may sound cruel, it is one of the most painless ways for the mice to die.
More and more people are opting for animal-friendly mouse traps: The multi-mouse trap catches up to 10 mice in one go and is therefore ideal to use if you suffer from a mouse infestation. You can also release them alive afterwards, but of course don’t wait too long. Otherwise the mice will still suffer from stress and hunger.
A mouse trap is an excellent way to catch mice alive. With 2 entrances, the catch possibilities are much greater and the mouse cannot get out.
Use mouse poison
Strange as it may sound, the effect of good mouse poison is quite slow. Mice eat small amounts, wait a while and only continue eating if they do not immediately become ill. If a mouse eats poison and dies from it immediately, other mice can quickly become scared.
If you are going to work with mouse poison, it is best to combine it with a mouse bait box. This way, children and pets cannot access the poison and you can clearly see whether the mice are eating the poison. Preferably use mouse poison in a moist, dark place because then they are less shy.
BSI offers different types of mouse poison with different active ingredients as bait.
- Difethialone: werkzamestof van Generation Grain’tech, Generation Pat’, Generation Block
- Bromadiolone: active ingredient of Broma Kill and Rodi Bro Pasta
- (Alpha) chloralose: active ingredient of Flash Grain and Flash Paste . You can also choose to choose the bait in grains, pasta or cubes.
Of course this is still poison, so it is important to handle this product safely. It is advisable to use a food box where you sprinkle the poison. Place the food box in a place where pets and children cannot easily reach it. The bait box for mice can easily be placed along a wall with direct access to the bait. It is suitable for several types of bait (grains, pasta and cubes).
Scare away mice with ultrasound
BSI introduces a new generation of ultrasonic pest repellants with the ‘MULTISTOP’ range. These ultrasonic repellers are inaudible and harmless to the mice in house. An ultrasonic repellent is becoming increasingly popular because it is a very animal-friendly way to repel mice.
The device contains a loudspeaker that emits inaudible ultrasonic sound waves that provoke a strong irritation in mice and put them to flight. The frequency of the sound is so high that it is imperceptible to the human ear. Our pest repellants work for a small space of up to 30 m2, while others have an operation of up to 400 m2. Before purchasing, think carefully about how much surface you need a device for.
And what about rats?
You cannot always tell the difference between rats and mice right away. Rats are often slightly larger, have a longer, thicker tail and larger ears. Eating habits differ: a mouse eats 3 g of food per day and a rat eats about 15-30 g per day. However, rats and mice are very related and are generally controlled in a similar way. Mouse venom and pest repellant will therefore generally work just as well in rats as in mice. When purchasing a trap or trap but you have to watch out a bit because adult rats are slightly larger than mice.
