The Dangers of Mice: 5 Facts to Know

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Glue TrapsJust as “snowbirds” head from the chill of northern Wisconsin to the summerlike environs of Arizona and Florida at this time of year, so too do mice and other rodents seek out a warmer place to ride out the upcoming cold winter months. Unfortunately, those mice won’t be making the trip to Arizona or Florida –your basement, attic, crawlspace or garage is more likely where they’ll be looking to find shelter and food for the winter ahead.

Here are five things to keep in mind as this prime time for mouse infestations approaches:

Infestations happen everywhere

October is a prime time for mice to begin moving indoors, and more than 21 million homes in the United States will unwillingly play host to mice this winter, according to PestWorld. Erdye’s Pest Control sets almost 10,000 Victor mouse traps for customers throughout Northeastern Wisconsin and the UP every fall to help combat this migration.

Infestations happen quickly

“Mouse” can become “mice” in a hurry! A typical female mouse can give birth to a dozen babies every three weeks, which can quickly add up to big trouble in your basement or attic. So don’t think that the one little mouse you spotted won’t be much of a concern – chances are he’s not alone. Continue reading The Dangers of Mice: 5 Facts to Know →

d-Con: The Dangerous Mouse Control Option

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d-Con Mouse & Rat Bait

They are the telltale signs no homeowner wants to stumble upon: scratching noises behind walls, chewed and frayed box corners, and scattered droppings. They all add up to one thing – mice in your home or business.

It’s a situation that most folks want to take care of as quickly and conveniently as possible. When there’s a mice in the house, everyone wants to get rid of the mice. There are plenty of products and solutions out there to get the job done, but not every solution is a good one. The popular poison d-Con, for example, is one you should avoid using inside your home.

Continue reading d-Con: The Dangerous Mouse Control Option →

Glue Traps: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

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Glue TrapsLike most residents of northern Wisconsin, the area’s mice are beginning to think about finding a warm, dry place to spend the upcoming winter. And this isn’t just an issue in this part of the country – according to research from PestWorld, more than 21 million homes throughout the United States will get a wintertime visit from mice or other rodents, typically during the period of October through February.

Not surprisingly, this is a club that most homeowners don’t care to join. Aside from the general “ick” factor of having mice in your living space, these uninvited seasonal guests tend to burrow and therefore damage their surroundings, and the feces they leave behind can be dangerous to humans and pets.

But what can you do once they’ve already moved in? There are a number of different ways to catch mice, but glue traps – also known as sticky traps – are one method that we do not recommend.

Glue traps or sticky traps aren’t terribly complicated devices – as the name implies, this is pretty much just a strip of sticky material designed to trap the mouse as it runs across the surface (the glue usually has some sort of attractive food flavoring). Glue traps may work well for detecting where insects are coming from, but we don’t like them for trapping mice. Continue reading Glue Traps: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly →

Mouse Control: How to trap MICE in your home!

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Scratch scratch … can be heard here and there … Evidence of mice can be found everywhere!

As the season turns to Fall, you should be on the look- out for this mouse migration. If you have a mouse infestation, you’ll begin seeing signs of them in places you would expect, pantries, bread drawers; cereal or grain boxes or bags with gnawed corners.

The droppings (feces) look like small, black pellets, about 1/4 inch long and pointed at one or both ends. While we understand the mice are looking for a warm and dry place to spend the winter, it shouldn’t be at the expense of you and your family. This next blog talks about how to trap mice once they’ve entered your home. In this video, we’ll be looking at a few different types of traps.

Mouse Traps for Mouse Control

There are four basic types of traps that you can use to catch mice in your home: Snap Traps, Multiple Catch Traps, Glue Traps, and Electronic Traps. Mechanical traps (snap traps) are the fastest and most reliable solution to controlling rats and mice. They’re made of wood or plastic. One down side to the plastic traps is they have plastic parts – and plastic isn’t strong enough to see repeated use. There are also live traps available to those that prefer the most humane solution. Primarily made of plastic, these traps capture mice and allow you to easily let them back into the outdoors once caught.

Continue reading Mouse Control: How to trap MICE in your home! →

How to Stop Mice From Entering Your Home

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Does the mouse super highway run into your house or business?

Fall is coming and that means mice will be moving indoors soon. They will be searching for shelter, food and warmth. Now that we’ve had a cold snap, mice will begin “packing their bags” and planning for the months ahead. That means that mouse control should be starting to creep into home owners minds. In this video blog, Josh Erdman, owner of Erdye’s Pest Control shows the mouse super highway that exists in most central air conditioned homes and businesses.

In the video, Josh shows us how they handle mouse control by explaining that most mice get into houses by climbing up air conditioning hoses that run into the building. This is the number one way mice get into your house. So of course, the best way to stop mice from entering your home is to seal up those areas.

Continue reading How to Stop Mice From Entering Your Home →