Best Way To Get Rid Of Mice
I think it would be safe to assume that everyone has experienced a mouse in their house at some point, right? It is a little creepy, but like most people, you probably shrugged it off, thinking it was no big deal. Maybe the cat brought it in, perhaps you left a door open, or maybe the poor thing is just lost. All of those could be possibilities, but what is more likely is that you have a rodent problem, and you should not ignore it.
Now, some of the things I am about to say might leave you shaking your head and thinking, “yeah right,” but these are all scenarios that have played out for customers of ours in the Portland Metro area. So, here we go:
Contamination
First of all, if you see one mouse (or mice droppings), there are probably many more nearby. Think about it this way, a mouse is looking for a safe place to have babies, and they find that safe place underneath your house. A female mouse can have up to 72 babies a year, and once they get settled, they get started. The babies (called pups or “pinkies”) grow up and can start having babies within just six weeks. As the population begins to grow through reproduction, a scent starts to build up that will attract other mice to make your house their home. The whole time that this is happening, you may never see a single mouse, but your crawl space is getting more and more contaminated as each day passes. If it gets bad enough, it might become necessary to have a crawl space restoration (which can be costly).
Disease
This is rare. I have never encountered a customer who has contracted a disease from a rodent. There have been reports of this happening in the Portland area. According to the Center For Disease Control, there are approximately 35 diseases that can be transmitted by rodents. Although this is unlikely to happen, it is still a concern. Rodents are nasty little things, aren’t they?
Fleas
Believe it or not, it is not just your pets that can bring in fleas. Rodents have fleas, too, and can bring them into your home via the crawlspace. If you have your pets treated for fleas, but still have them in your house, this might be worth considering.
Fire and Flood
You might find this one a little far fetched, but it happens. A coworker of mine once had a significant house fire due to bad wiring. They have speculated that this could have been due to mice chewing on wires in their attic. Rodent chewing is a problem because their teeth never stop growing, and they have to chew to file them down. The problem is that you never know what they are going to be chewing on. This can be a case of wrong place at the wrong time and, in the worst-case scenario, can result in a fire. As far as flooding, I can think of about a dozen times where a rodent chewed through the thin water pipe that runs to your dishwasher. The next time the dishwasher is turned on, water goes everywhere!
There is a very self-serving point that I am trying to make here. If you have rodents in your home, it is better to take care of them quickly and not let them get out of hand, and we can help you with that. Please click on our rodent treatment coupon if you would like us to help you make your home rodent-free!