When a mouse comes into your yard, what do you think it hopes to find? This is a harder question to answer than you might imagine. It is difficult to understand what mice are looking for if you don't know much about mice. You may think they want to find cheese in your yard. This is actually not the case. They have a preference for seeds, rice, and fruit. If you understand simple traits like this one, you can use this knowledge to keep mice out of your Portland home. Let's take a look at this and other mouse characteristics.
A Preference For Seeds
Do you have seeds in your yard? You may if you have bird feeders. The seeds that fall from bird feeders are a primary food source for mice. When they find seeds littered about on the ground, they are motivated to live near this desirable food source. You can resist mice by removing bird feeders, or by placing them far from your exterior walls.
Another seed mice will eat is grass seed. Are you trying to replenish an area of your lawn? If so, you could be attracting mice. This is a difficult one to address. But, knowing that grass seeds are an attractant can help you bolster vulnerabilities in areas where grass seed has been sprinkled.
Poor Eyesight
Are you aware that mice have terrible eyesight? It's true. But they make up for this by using their whiskers to feel their way through their environments. This is one of the reasons why mice stay close to walls when they run. Do you remember those seeds we just talked about? When bird feeders are moved away from exterior walls, mice will have a harder time finding the seeds. They don't just run around willy-nilly through your yard. The areas they will explore first are near walls.
Another reason to be aware that mice have poor eyesight is that it gives you insight into what they hope to find in your yard. A mouse will do better in your yard if there are lots of objects to explore around. Removing these objects can make your yard less susceptible to mouse activity.
A Great Sense Of Smell
Do you know that mice can smell things from a long distance away? Yup. You probably see where we are going with this one. If a mouse smells something interesting coming from your property, it is going to investigate if it can. What do you think might attract a mouse? When food decays, it gives off a stronger odor. While you may find that aroma unpleasant, it is an attractive scent for a mouse. A mouse isn't nearly as picky as you are about what it eats, and it is able to find many sources of food within a bag of trash.
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Keep trash in bags.
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Store bagged trash in covered containers.
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Disinfect trash containers if they start to stink.
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Remove trash weekly to avoid having strong odors.
Thigmotaxis
This is a fancy word. Let's break it down as it relates to mice. When a mouse comes to an open field, it will prefer to explore the boundary of the field. This is the greater implication of thigmotaxis. But it is important to understand that the inclination toward thigmotaxis will cause a mouse to want to stay close to hard surfaces and also squeeze into places where there are hard surfaces all around them. This is one reason why they quickly take advantage of wood holes, concrete cracks, gaps around pipes, and other entry points into your home. You can prevent mice from getting in by doing a detailed inspection of your exterior and by sealing every entry point you can find. The tools for this job are:
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Wire mesh
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Steel flashing
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High-quality silicone caulking material
Are You Seeing How It Works?
The more you know about mice, the easier it is to manage them naturally. Let's take a look at one more characteristic of mice that you can use against them. Mice are curious. If you know where to place traps, what traps or bait to use, and how to track the progress of your trapping, you can get complete control of mice. But there is a downside. Mice are very smart. If you apply traps improperly, you can fail to get control of your mouse infestation and it will allow mice to continue to damage your property, contaminate areas of your home, and expose your foods to contaminants. The best way to go about trapping is to contact Big Blue Bug Solutions. We aren't just bug experts; we employ rodent and wildlife control professionals. If you live in Portland, Maine, or the surrounding region, reach out to us for service. We can help you get control of your mouse problems.
