We all know the term D.I.Y. and “Do It Yourselfers” are a growing community of people. The D.I.Y. approach is big business in the U.S., therefore there’s a real push in marketing to encourage people to get the job done themselves. With Lowe’s, Home Depot, Menards and many other Big Box stores focused on the person who gets the job done themselves, and an entire television network dedicated to the D.I.Y. approach, it seems almost second nature to choose to do it yourself when you have a project that needs taking care of. While this is usually a terrific way to save time and money, it isn’t always, and we want to lower the risk for you in deciding when to take on the work yourself, and when to hire a professional.

When it comes to pest control, there seem to be an infinite number of people who have suggestions, advice and tips on handling the problem yourself. We want to share why D.I.Y. pest control can be extremely harmful.  One particular form of pest control where I have observed nearly everyone having opinions and advice on how to help yourself is with mice. I have experienced it myself…you have mice in your house and you just want them gone! They are a menace, and along with freaking out your entire family, they can also cause illness as mentioned in our previous post. While on the surface, it seems as though these are the only issues when mice come into your home; however, it goes so much deeper than that. Mice can destroy your home, wreak havoc on your electrical system, and cause a tremendous mess in your walls, attics and septic systems and if they die inside your home, it’s worse than you can imagine! Because of these things, doing the job yourself to rid of mice can be a terrible decision, leading to destruction and ultimately a much larger problem then you ever had to begin with.

Largely, people who attempt to rid their home of mice do not simply just find and remove the mice. Let’s face it, they’re kind of gross, and not many of us want to deal with them. It seems easiest just to bait them by setting out some poison that will kill off our problem and let life return to normal. The real problem with that is that baiting a mouse in your home can be the worst possible way to “take care” of the issue. When a mouse ingests poison, it gets sick, and omits a distress signal, letting other mice know not to eat the poison. This is completely counter-productive to what you are attempting to do. Essentially, you are pre-warning whatever mice are in your home not to fall for your tricks. The poisoned mouse will then find a water source in your home and die near it. When a mouse dies inside of your home, it causes a smell that is unbearable. Even worse than just one mouse dying is when a mother mouse brings poison back to her babies to feed them all. Multiple dead mice can cause a smell that will make you want to just leave your house behind all together.   Baiting mice is not only a poor choice in how to rid your home of these rodents, but can cause issues you never even expected, making everything worse then when you began. When you need to rid of mice that have entered your home, hiring a professional that can easily find and remove them is your best and most safe option.

There however are some tips you can utilize to help prevent the entrance of mice into your home for those of you who really want to get a job done yourself, before it becomes detrimental to your investment. Blocking holes or entrances to your home with caulking or pest block is a great way to exercise preventative maintenance. (Pest block is an excellent solution for mice, but will not work on squirrels and chipmunks, which are more aggressive and will find their way through that.)  Some common places to look for available entranceways for mice into your home are around your entrance and garage doors. Old weather stripping that is dry or cracking is easily penetrable by mice. Replacing weather stripping and ensuring there are no openings around it is a great way to prevent the issue. Look for any holes around your home that are the width of a pinky finger. That is the only space a mouse needs to crawl into your home. These holes should be sufficiently sealed. Another point of entry for mice is where any power or water comes out of your home. Spigots, air conditioning units, and furnace/dryer vents can be an access way into your home. Sump pump hoses are another way that mice will try to enter your home, often causing them to drown inside, and causing an awful smell and a massive expense when you need to have sump pump work done. Making sure all of these entryways are closed off and sealed is an important way to prevent having to deal with mice in your home.   While doing projects yourself is often a way to save on expense and get the job done right, when it comes to pest control, it’s best to protect your major investments and to call for professional help. Erdye’s has extensive experience to get the job done, and to get it done right the first time, without damage being done to your home and your health.

To contact us, simply click here: Contact Erdye’s.