Mice are a common pest all over the world, but some regions may be favourable for them than the others. Having mice in your backyard is a health hazard as they carry diseases that they can transfer to you or your pets. Mice can also leave a huge mess if they find a way into your house. It is advisable to get rid of mice as soon as you spot them in your backyard because they will find their way inside your home whenever the weather outside is unfriendly. Below are some tips on how you can get rid of mice in your backyard.
1. Clean up Your Yard
Any clutter in your backyard such as fallen leaves and wood piles are a perfect hiding place for mice, meaning you can get rid of the mice if you eliminate clean up your backyard. If you frequently use wood, try to move the materials far away from the house to keep the mice away.
Another important aspect of cleaning your backyard is to keep the lawns mowed and well-trimmed. Mice avoid open and clean spaces as they cannot properly hide from predators when in such areas.
2. Move the Compost Further
Compost is a good source of manure required for gardening, but it is a perfect breeding ground for mice. You can keep the mice away from your yard of you move the compost container to the furthest point of your yard and seal it.
The compost should also be at an open space where there are no bushes for the mice to nest. If your compost container is close to the ground, try to upgrade to a taller and sealable tumbler that will deny them access. Compost is a most likely source of food for the mice and eliminating it will keep them out of your backyard.
3. Use Traps
Mousetraps can be a good option if they can kill multiple mice without the need for replacement. Typical mouse trap that catches one mouse at a time and needs replacement may not serve you right, given that you spend only a few hours in your back yard.
However, some mouse traps can humanely capture and kill several mice. You can set-up several of these mouse traps around your yard, especially where there are mouse paths. You can purchase these traps at your local hardware store or make them as a DIY project.
4. Use Repellents
Another effective way to get rid of mice is through the use of natural repellents, electric repellents. There are natural factory-made repellents that you can buy at a store, or you can plant plants such as sage, rosemary and lavender in your backyard garden.
You can also fill plastic bottles with ammonia and place them around your yard to scare away the mice. The smell of ammonia tricks the mice into thinking that there is a predator in the yard. An electric repellent (ultrasonic devices) is an electrical device that emits electric sounds that are unpleasant to mice.
5. Get Rid of Rubbish from your Garden
After the garden trimming exercise, ensure that you have disposed all the yard waste away from your garden and home. Keeping the waste around provide materials that mice need to make their nest. The leaves and shrub trimmings take longer to decompose, meaning they can provide a hiding place for mice for a long time as long as they lie on the garden.
If there is no other place to dispose of the trimmings, you can pile them together at a designated area away from the yard. The trick here is to keep the yard area open to make the mice feel vulnerable when around the place.
6. Hire a Pest Control Service
Pest control NJ companies will use their expertise to ensure that your yard is free of mice within a short time. The experts have the best equipment and skills that help them to quickly spot possible mice hiding areas and eliminate the mice using different strategies.
A massive mice infestation may require special measures and procedures that you may not achieve without professional help. They will also provide free advice on how to ensure that a mice invasion doesn’t happen again.
Salman is a prolific environmental writer, and has authored more than 500 articles in reputed journals, magazines and websites. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness on renewable energy, waste management, sustainability and conservation all over the world.
Salman can be reached on salman@cleantechloops.com
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