How to deal with mice in an apartment

Mice in an apartment are a rare occurrence. Modern panel designs practically do not give chances to penetrate rodents into apartments. Most often, pests affect residents living in an apartment building in an old housing stock. Rodents find loopholes for penetration and cause a lot of trouble with their presence. In such cases, the burning question is how to permanently get rid of mice in the apartment.

Why rodents start in apartments

Mice, unlike rats, are characterized by smaller dimensions. The length of the adult varies in the range from 6 to 10 cm, and weight from 12 to 30 g. They spend the warm season in the natural environment, with the onset of cold weather they are forced to look for warm places with a food source. These conditions are fully consistent with a person’s housing, which is why mice appear in apartments and private houses.

The appearance of rodents is impossible not to notice. Their invasion is evidenced by characteristic signs:

• the rustling and squeak made by mice;
• unpleasant mouse odor, which cannot be eliminated even after wet cleaning;
• excrement in the form of tiny oval grains up to 2 mm in size;
• damage to furniture, cardboard products, books.

It seems strange to the city dweller that the tailed animal could get into the apartment and he wonders wonderingly where the mice come from. There are very few invasion methods:

• on ventilation communications;
• accidental penetration through an open door, windows, if the apartment is located on the lower floors;
• with agricultural products in bags brought from storage facilities where the mice settled.

In Soviet times, it was very popular and fashionable to plant weaving decorative grapes under the balconies of multi-storey buildings. The plant grows rapidly and in a few years covers the balcony constructions from the first to the fifth floor with a green carpet. The “plant blinds” has one drawback - rodents easily move along it and thus get into the apartment.

On a note!

If the apartment is in disrepair, mice can penetrate through slots, openings in the floor or walls.

For some people, musophobia is characteristic - fear of rats and mice. However, this is far from all the harm caused by rodents. Mice are carriers of dangerous diseases and parasitic insects. They are highly fertile - each female gives a brood of 5-12 individuals. Therefore, upon detecting signs of pests, fight with mice in the apartment should be immediately, using all available means.

In-house pest management

The fight against mice begins with a banal cleaning. It is necessary to completely prevent access by tailed animals to any food and water. Rodents are very sensitive to lack of food and it is likely that after a hungry diet they will leave the apartment on their own.

If the settlers are in no hurry to leave their favorite places, there are several options for what to do if a mouse starts up in the apartment:

• put mousetraps;
• apply the latest technological advances - electronic, ultrasonic rodent repellers;
• use folk remedies;
• use poison from mice.

On a note!

The simplest and most affordable method that is easily applicable at home is to get a cat. For these purposes, it is better to choose not an elite breed, but the most ordinary feline, for which catching mice is an ordinary activity.

Rodenticide with rodenticides

Rodenticides will help to quickly get rid of tailed pests in the apartment. So called chemical compounds for the destruction of rats and mice. They can be produced in the form of grains already treated with poison, or they can be directly poisonous, which must be mixed independently with the bait.

According to the type of action, the poison from mice is conditionally divided into 2 types:

• Rapid exposure drugs that cause rapid pathologies in the body of a mammal, entailing its subsequent death. Single dose poison for mice enough to ensure the lethal outcome of the animal during the day.
• Means of delayed action - anticoagulants. Active components inhibit the formation of thrombophlebitis, as a result of which, after a certain period of time, the pest dies. The disadvantage of such drugs is their slow effect. The concentration of harmful substances in the body of a mammal, necessary for the death of a rodent, is achieved on 3-14 days.

Important!

When choosing funds from mice in an apartment, one should pay attention to the presence in the composition of substances that provide mummification. Otherwise, the corpse of a dead pest will decompose for a long time and exude an unpleasant odor, which will be very difficult to get rid of subsequently.

In order to guarantee the removal of mice from the apartment, not to harm household members, you should adhere to several rules:

1. Determine in advance where the bait with poisonous components will be laid out. It is extremely important to limit the access of children and pets to areas where the poison is located.
2. To cook, remove the bait from the packaging must be in rubber gloves. Mice smell human well and if they smell it, they will bypass the preparation prepared for them.
3. If the product involves mixing it with food, it is worth following the instructions. Increasing the dosage will not give the desired result and will negatively affect the taste characteristics of the bait.
4. Spread the poison in small portions, using cardboard, polyethylene, paper substrates or boxes with holes for this.
5. During bullying of rodents in the apartment, make sure that the products do not remain on the kitchen tables. All food must be cleaned in a refrigerator or hermetically packed in an appropriate container.
6. Check baits regularly and update them as necessary or report new portions.

On a note!

Indoor rodent harassment agents are usually painted in bright colors. Mice do not respond to color, but they warn humans about danger. Also, the composition is often supplemented with the bitter substance Bitrex, so that children or pets can not eat the bait and get a dangerous dose of poison.

You can poison mice in the apartment with the following drugs:

• Zookumarin Rubit is a ready-to-use product for exterminating mice in granules. Also available as a grain mixture. The composition includes two insecticides, to which the mice do not develop addiction. Differs in the low price. So, on the Moscow Market, the price of one package ranges from 40-70 rubles.
• Ratindan is a time-tested effective drug based on anticoagulants. Presented in the form of a red powder, intended for self-cooking baits. The death of rodents can be ascertained after 7-14 days.
• Anti-Rodent Green House - Series funds from mice based on bromadialion in the form of baits, concentrates for the preparation of baits, granules, briquettes. Helps kill mice that have developed insecticide resistance.

Also, in apartments they use such means as The Nutcracker, Storm, Mortorat, Goliath, Best.

Rodent traps

Mousetraps have been used by people since ancient times. This method is not outdated and now, it is often used to get rid of mice in an apartment, private house, garage, cellar. The arsenal of classic designs has expanded significantly. But the principle of operation remains the same - the bait is placed in the trap, the rodent attracted by its smell gets into the device and remains in it. The fate of the pest depends on the type of construction: the mouse either dies or waits for the catcher to determine its fate.

On a note!

Cartoons and fairy tales formed a firm opinion that the favorite delicacy of mice is cheese. However, according to research, such information is nothing more than a myth. Small rodents are more likely to eat cereal products, sweets, so it is better to catch them, luring cereals, seeds, nuts.

The most popular mousetraps:

• Wooden mousetrap with a metal bracket - when a rodent tries to take the bait, a mechanism is triggered that kills the mouse or seriously injures it. The disadvantage of this method is the flattened bloodied body of the animal, which must be disposed of.
• Humane traps are a kind of mini-aviaries in which the mouse enters, but cannot get out. The method is suitable for those who do not want to exterminate the rodent population in the house, but only to clear the territory of pests. Caught mouse traps the animals are set free outside their home.
• An electric trap is a design when hit by a mouse that receives a fatal discharge of current. Dead animal after extraction from electric mousetrap You can feed the cats or bury.
• Glue traps are a primitive device. A cool mass is applied to its surface, in contact with which it is fraught with absolute fixation for the mouse. The method is not acceptable for humanists. There is one more minus of using glue traps - the heart-rending squeak of a caught animal that can scare and wake all household members. Also on glue for mice a pet or a child may come.

On a note!

Mouse traps are sold in hardware or specialty stores. But if you want to build structures for catching rodents, you can do it yourself.

Mouse repellers

Ultrasonic repellers are the know-how actively advertised on the Web and on television. The principle of operation is the generation of ultrasonic waves by the device. A person does not hear or feel them, and for mice they create uncomfortable conditions. The animals begin to behave inappropriately. According to eyewitnesses, their behavior is comparable to alcohol intoxication, they are disoriented in space, fall into traps that used to be bypassed. Unable to withstand constant discomfort, tailed animals leave the apartment.

To expel the mouse using an ultrasonic device, according to manufacturers, it is possible after 2-3 weeks of uninterrupted operation of the device. In the sleeping area, the use of repellers is not recommended. The most popular models include: Pest Reject, Clean house, Electrocat.

Folk recipes

You can try to get rid of mice in the apartment using folk remedies:

• Prepare alcohol tincture of peppermint and process the rodent movement routes for it.
• The scent of rosemary scares off mice. Plant branches are laid out along the baseboards, in potential places where animals enter the apartment.
• Wood ash scattered on the floor is irritating to pests.
• Gypsum or putty is mixed in equal proportions with flour.Pour refreshments in containers, supplement lunch with water containers. Gypsum freezes in the body of the mouse, which causes irreversible changes and its death.

There are many ways to get rid of mice in the apartment: humane and bloodthirsty. If you failed to do this on your own, you can contact a specialized service. The destruction of rodents by specialists called deratization.