How to Keep Mice Out of Your Home This Winter

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The weather outside is getting colder and as it does, it drives people into the warmth of their home. It’s not only people that look to head inside at this time of year, however. Mice are also looking to escape the cold and find a warm place to wait out the winter months. Your home is the perfect place for them to do it. No one wants to open their doors to mice though. Luckily, there are ways you can protect your home and make sure mice stay outdoors where they belong.

Block Off Points of Entry

Of course, the best thing you can do to keep mice out of your home is to not let them enter in the first place. Mice can fit through any space that’s the width of a pen, so it really doesn’t take much. Inspect the outside of your home and seal off any cracks in the foundation or in the walls with wire mesh. If you find gaps around the areas where pipes enter your home, fill them with caulk and place mesh around them.

Keep All Areas Free of Food

Mice don’t only like warm spaces, they prefer warm spaces that have a plentiful food supply. Cutting off this food supply is a good way to deter mice from entering your home. Don’t leave food lying around and always keep counters, appliances, and fridges clear of crumbs and loose food at all times. Always keep food in containers that close tightly and clean up food that falls on the floor promptly. Also remember to keep pet food sealed, as well. This is something that many people overlook, but it’s just as attractive to mice as food meant for people. 

Store Firewood Off the Ground

Firewood and the winter season seem to go hand in hand. There is after all, nothing better than curling up by the fire in the colder months. However, mice love wood chips and lumber because it provides them with great hiding spots and a structure to support their bedding. Firewood should never be stored right up against the walls of your home, and it should always be elevated at least 18 inches from the ground.

Use a Brush Strip on All Doors

The gap between a door and the floor can be significant sometimes, particularly in older homes. There are brush strips, sometimes also called sweep strips, that have adhesive backs and can simply be placed on the bottom of the door. This blocks those gaps so mice can’t get inside. You’ll also get the additional bonus of lower utility bills, as these strips will also help keep more heat inside your home.

Clear the Clutter

Clutter also provides a place for mice to hide, so clearing it is a great way to get mice out of your home. Clutter often collects in areas of the home that aren’t frequently used, such as in the attic and basement. When this is the case and mice make these places their home, they can quickly multiply and soon, there is an infestation throughout the entire house. Don’t leave laundry on the floors, store boxes off the ground, and tidy up stacks of newspapers and other junk. Mice also love cardboard boxes that are stacked right next to each other, so use plastic containers when possible.

Maintain Landscaping

Remember that mice and other pests come from outside. Mice love climbing and will run quickly up trees, onto your roof, and into your siding or any other warm spot they can find. To prevent them from doing so, make sure that any branches or overhang from trees is trimmed so mice cannot jump from the branch onto your home. Before it gets too cold, it’s also important to trim the grass and remove excess vegetation. These are great places for mice to hide and removing them will make the area less attractive to rodents. 

Did Mice Get Into Your Home? Call Our Missouri Pest Control Service!

If you’ve seen mice in your home, there’s a good chance you are already dealing with an infestation and must take action quickly. At Amco Ranger, we are the St. Charles pest control service that knows how to get mice out of your home and can help you keep them out for a long time to come. Call us today at (636) 441-2847 to schedule an inspection and we’ll come out to your home and tell you how we can help.

Preparing Your Home for Winter Pests

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The weather is getting colder in Missouri. As you start unpacking winter jackets and boots after storing them all winter, you should also start thinking about how to winterize your home to protect it from pests. Mice are often the first winter pest homeowners think of, but raccoons, spiders, and cockroaches will all also look for warm places to stay once the weather gets colder. To make sure the spot they find isn’t your home, follow the below tips.

Inspect the Exterior of Your Home

Pests of course, move into your home from outside. Due to this, the first place you should focus on when preparing your home for winter pests is outside. Search the perimeter of your house looking for any holes, gaps, or cracks that make a great entryway for pests. If you do find a hole or gap, use a sealant or caulk that will prevent them from getting inside. The foundation of a home very commonly develops cracks, and holes are often found around pipes in the areas where they enter the home.

Prepare Your Chimney

Raccoons in Missouri are a problem. Not only do they pick through garbage and carry diseases, but they are also incredibly skilled at making their way into a home. They can rip away siding from a home, and they really love to enter homes through open chimneys. Other animals, such as squirrels, mice, and rats can also enter your home through the chimney. To prevent this from happening, place a cap on the top of your chimney, or cover it with a screen.

Clean Your Gutters

While still working on the outside of your home, it’s also important to clean your gutters. The moisture in clogged gutters provides a great breeding ground for many pests, such as ants and mosquitoes, while the leaves and other debris offer a warm hiding spot for larger pests such as mice and squirrels. Cleaning the gutters will deter pests from setting up camp on your property, and help keep them out of your home.

Remove All Moisture

Just like humans, pests need moisture, too. Pools of water, even a very small one, can attract pests because it gives them the sustenance they need. To prevent moisture from coming indoors, which can attract other pests such as cockroaches, insulate your plumbing with heat tape to your pipes don’t freeze. This can also prevent significant damage to your home.

Put All Food Away

Like water, pests also need food, just as humans do. To prevent them from hanging around your home, put all food away. Make sure that any food inside the home is in a sealed container and is stored properly. Always keep counters clear of all food and sweep regularly to pick up crumbs that inevitably fall to the ground. Outside, keep all garbage and recycling items in animal-proof containers or in a garage where pests cannot get to them.

Store Firewood Away from Your Home

There is a proper way to store firewood, and it involves more than simply stacking it up outside of your door. It’s important to cover it with a tarp so that the water doesn’t collect and attract more pests to your property. Also, it must be stored at least 20 feet away from the home. Pests love to hide in these stacks because they offer some warmth and a solid structure for their nest. While you may not be able to completely prevent critters from getting into your wood pile, you can make it harder for those same pests to make their way into your home.

Remove Clutter

Many pests such as mice, stink bugs, spiders, and more, love hiding out in clutter. Things like piles of old newspapers, stacks of cardboard boxes, and junk in general make great hiding spots and many pests will also use these materials to build their nests. Removing them is a great preventative measure to control pests and to keep them out of your home. When clearing clutter, remember to clear it both inside and outside of your home. 

Contact a Missouri Pest Control Service

Many people wait to call a St. Louis pest control service until they’ve seen pests in their home. However, at Amco Ranger, we not only help remove pests from your house, but can also help prevent them from entering in the first place. When you need to protect your home, call us at (636) 441-2847 to schedule your free inspection.

Avoid Getting Bit By A Brown Recluse Spider

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It’s the time of year when people pull their cold-weather clothes, blankets, hunting gear, and holiday decorations out of storage. When you do this, be extremely watchful for brown recluse spiders. Their venomous bite can make a person quite sick and cause necrosis (skin cell death) at the bite location. A good indication you’re dealing with a brown recluse is the violin-shaped marking on its head.

 

Most bites occur when the brown recluse becomes pressed up against the skin, like rolling onto one in your bed or putting on a sweater, boots, or gloves that haven’t been worn in months. Pest control of brown recluse spiders is very important.

 

Precaution

In an infested home, you can reduce the chance of being bitten by shaking out shoes and clothing before putting them on, keeping bed sheets from touching the floor, and hanging clothes in closets rather than leaving them on the floor. You might also wear protective gloves when cleaning cluttered areas to guard against being bitten.

 

Elimination

Eliminating brown recluse spiders from your home may be difficult, but it is possible using an integrated approach that emphasizes eliminating the spider’s habitat. There are several protective actions you can take to control brown recluse spiders:

 

  • Begin by removing clutter, especially in low-traffic areas such as basements, attics, closets, and storage areas.
  • Frequent cleaning, using a vacuum wand to reach between boxes and other tight spaces, will help eliminate spiders, egg sacs, and potential food sources before spiders emerge and reproduce.
  • Store seasonal clothing and shoes in tightly sealed plastic storage containers and avoid placing them close together or against walls.
  • Knock down all the spider webs you encounter, focusing on the outside of your home.
  • Seal both interior and exterior cracks and crevices to prevent spiders and their insect prey from moving into your house.
  • Sticky traps or glue boards can be used to capture brown recluse spiders. Place traps around the house in areas where spiders are likely to travel: under furniture, along walls, in attics, basements, and closets.

 

We can help
No matter how intimidating or pervasive your pest problem, you can trust that Amco Ranger knows exactly how to handle it and make sure the pests don’t return. We are a local, family-owned business, and we’re ready to help you. Give us a call today if you need help getting rid of brown recluse spiders in your home or business in Lake St. Louis, Wentzville, O’Fallon, Cottleville, St. Peters, St. Charles, St. Louis, and surrounding communities.