How to keep mice out of your New Jersey garage?
The family garage is more than just a place to store your car. Whether it’s attached or unattached, it’s a storage unit, workspace, and a catch-all for everything. Unfortunately, your New Jersey garage is a potential hide-out for invading mice.
New home buyers in the Garden City pay a premium price for turn-key or move-in-ready homes. All they need to do is move in their furniture and immediately set up housekeeping. There are no worries about repairs or upgrades because everything is finished.
Many outdoor critters often search for a convenient place for safety, shelter, and possible food sources. Your garage is virtually move-in ready and provides everything on their checklist. Perhaps one of the most notorious garage invaders is mice.
How do Mice Get in Your Garage?
For the most part, mice and other rodents are content to live outdoors. They’re fine if they have shelter from the elements and nearby sources for food and water. However, they often seek warmer places to bunk when the cold winter arrives.
The most obvious places they invade are where humans live. Human habitats have every creature’s comfort they need and more. Once they find a tiny entry point, these revolting rodents are there for the stay.
Did you know that a mouse can push its body through a hole or crack no bigger around than a pencil eraser? They search for cracks and crevices in your garage foundation. These bitty burglars can squeeze under gaps in garage doors or windows.
You probably leave the doors and windows open if you’re working in your garage. It gives these pests plenty of time to sneak in and make themselves at home while you’re not looking. Sometimes, mice are stowaways in furniture, appliances, and other used things you buy and haul into the garage.
Source: https://extension.usu.edu/
Signs of a Mouse Infestation
While mice may invade your garage without you noticing at first, their presence will soon be evident. You must deal with the infestation as quickly as possible before they move on into your home. Here are some of their creepy calling cards to notice.
1. Waste
A single mouse can eat between four to five grams and drink three to five milliliters of water per day. So naturally, they will leave behind urine and feces. Their abundant foul waste products can’t go unnoticed if you have an infestation.
You’ll start seeing small, black fecal matter shaped like rice grains. These gross pellet piles are usually left in a pattern because the mice defecate on the run. You may also notice piles of feces in corners and crevices where the rodents hide.
Their waste also has a putrid smell that is noticeable over time. The most apparent stench of invading mice is their urine. Mice constantly empty their bladder as they scurry about the place. The almost-clear urine trails dry, leaving a toxic ammonia smell in the air.
2. Gnawing Marks and Holes
One of the distinct features of rodents is their prominent and razor-sharp incisors. They use them to crack nuts and seeds and gnaw into places to create nests. Plus, they must chew on things regularly to keep their incisors from growing too long.
If they’ve found a home in your garage, they’ll have plenty to keep their teeth busy. Look for small holes in your walls or ceilings. They can also gnaw through plastic bags and thin plastic storage containers.
Consequently, they’ll leave gnawed wood, plastic, or fabric shavings where they’ve been chewing. Their tiny teeth marks are easy to identify. This habit is hazardous because it can chew on electric wires and cause a fire.
3. Food Messes
Mice are quite industrious critters to be so small. Since they are nocturnal, they spend most of the night foraging for food. They will devour some of their loot and store some of it close to their nest. You may notice trails of crushed food wherever they’ve been noshing.
4. Strange Sounds
In the worst cases of mice infestation, you can hear them scratching and scurrying on the garage roof or between the walls. During their nightly runs, you’re likely to listen to them squeaking at each other.
How to Get Rid of Mice in Your Garage
The last thing you want is mice in your garage or any other part of your home. Here are a few things you can do to keep them at bay.
1. Clean Out Your Garage
Cleaning out the garage is a perennial chore that most people dread. It’s easy to pitch seldomly-used things in your garage, shut the door, and forget about them. Soon, you have so much clutter that it’s hard to move, let alone park the car.
Mice thrive in dark spaces with plenty of places to hide. Make your garage less appealing and completely declutter it. Divide your hoard into piles to keep, sell, donate, recycle, and pitch. Keep everything neatly organized so invading mice won’t have any hiding places.
2. Inspect for Holes and Cracks
Mice will use the smallest spaces to squeeze into your garage or home. Scrutinize your garage and seal any holes, cracks, or crevices around the foundation and windows. Repair or replace any screens that may be a welcome mat for a mouse.
3. Repair or Replace Your Garage Door
What could be a more accessible entrance than right through an open door? Inspect your garage door and see if it seals well when you close it. Replace any weather stripping that is cracked or frayed.
4. Use Natural Deterrents
Since mice have such highly tuned senses, natural deterrents can be effective. Pour some vodka into a small spray bottle and add several drops of pure peppermint oil. Spritz it around in your garage and enjoy a fragrance that repels mice.
They also hate the smell of vinegar, camphor, and mothballs. If you use these scents, use them outside of your garage. These scents may keep mice away, but they are also unpleasant to humans.
Another easy mouse deterrent is to adopt a cat. Felines are natural predators, and just the scent of one can send any mice away. Most well-fed cats will kill mice, but they won’t eat them.
5. Try Mouse Traps
What if some mice have already made a home in your New Jersey garage? You might consider installing traps to get rid of them quickly and humanely. The best ones let you discard the body without seeing or touching it.
Avoid cruel glue traps that lead to long, painful deaths. Poison is also inhumane and can pose a risk to humans, pets, and the environment. A professional exterminator can offer you the best solutions.
Final Thoughts
Dealing with mouse infestations in your garage can be a nightmare. Fortunately, exterminators in New Jersey can help you. Call today and let us get rid of the mice and get your garage back.
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