To stop playing cat and mouse (pun intended), learn these easy hacks to make your mousetraps more successful.

What to Do When Your Mousetrap Isn’t Working

TikTok regulars @twinhomeexperts posted some helpful hacks to try whenever you find mousetraps not working. The solutions don’t require extra purchases and don’t take long. All you’ll need are traditional mousetraps and some everyday household items.

@twinhomeexperts When MICE traps don’t work, try these 3 mice trap hacks! #mice #micetrap #hackstiktok #twinhomeexperts #pestcontrolservice ♬ TOES – DuWayne Phinisey

While these hacks are among the best ways to trap mice, know that there are other options, too, including sticky mousetraps, though it’s important to note that the latter is far less humane than a spring-loaded trap. Before setting your traps with these hacks, the creators also state that you should use gloves before touching the trap to eliminate contamination via your scent. A mouse may not go near a trap or bait that smells like a human.

Put Your Bait Underneath the Pedal, Not on Top of It

When you put the mouse bait—whether that’s peanut butter or cheese—on top of the trigger pedal, a mouse may be able to grab the food and scurry away. That’s because the trap isn’t activated as quickly when you place the bait there. Instead, try putting your bait underneath the pedal. By doing so, the mouse must go underneath the pedal to retrieve the bait, thus keeping its neck there longer. This will activate the trap and solve the problem.

Make the Trap More Sensitive With an Everyday Tool

Before you set and place your trap, get a pair of needle-nosed pliers. Since the arm bar rests on top of the trap, flip it back and out of the way. Then locate the latch (which holds the arm bar) on the trap mechanism. Use your pliers to bend it in slightly to make your mousetrap more sensitive and activate quicker. A traditional mousetrap is spring-loaded, so by turning the prong in more, the spring mechanism will react faster when a mouse steps on the pedal.

Use Peanut Butter and Cotton to Keep the Mouse in the Trap Longer

The last hack is to keep a mouse lingering in the trap rather than running off with bait unscathed. The longer a mouse is in a trap, the more likely you’ll have a successful outcome. To achieve this, get a piece of cotton and apply peanut butter to it. Then place the cotton on top of the pedal, stuffing it in so a little bit of cotton is peeking out. Because the peanut-butter-covered cotton will get stuck in a mouse’s mouth, it will stay in the trap longer, and your chances of success will be higher.

Having a mouse-free home will give you peace of mind. Once you’ve cleared your home of pests, prevent them from coming in by checking your home for entry sites you can close off and eliminate your home of convenient food sources for mice and rats.

Don’t opt for mousetraps if you’re experiencing a rat invasion. Instead, choose from the best rat traps to help clear your home of them.

My friend bought a house recently. While packing up and moving out of her rental, she found tennis balls stuffed in the wall under a little-used cabinet. Curious, she mentioned it to her landlord, who said, “Yeah, those keep the rats out.”

She never slept there again.

Rats and mice carry diseases like hantavirus. Shane McCoy of Ehrlich Pest Control, a board-certified entomologist, says they contaminate up to one-third of the world’s food supply. But which one does the most damage?

Before we go there, let’s review what we’re dealing with.

What Is a Rat?

A rat is a small mammal in the order Rodentia, aka rodents. Rodents have constantly-growing teeth which they must wear down by gnawing — Rodentia means “to gnaw” in Latin. The appropriately-named genus Rattus houses the “true rats,” including the common Norway and roof rats.

Rats measure about 16 inches from nose to tail and weigh from 12 to 16 ounces. Depending on the species, they have brown, black, gray or white fur, along with long tails.

Rats generally nest in the ground, burrowing under rocks and vegetation near your home’s foundation, McCoy says. These burrows can be up to seven feet long. Indoor rats nest in walls, attics, equipment and furniture voids.

Around America, these are the most rat infested cities.

What Is a Mouse?

A mouse is also a rodent but a lot lighter, weighing one-half to one ounce. A typical house mouse is in the genus Mus. Like other rodents, mouse teeth require diligent gnawing.

Mice often live outside buildings in grassy and wooded areas, feeding on seeds and insects. But even with a healthy outside diet, mice are attracted to the warmth and smells of our homes. They’ll enter under doors and through small openings.

Adult mice range from five to eight inches long, including the tail. House mice usually have big ears and light brown or gray fur.

Differences Between Rat vs. Mouse Behavior

Are mice just little rats? No, says McCoy. While size is a key difference, behavior is definitely specific to each species.

More curious than rats, mice enter traps more readily than naturally-wary or “neophobic” rats, McCoy says. Homeowners must to work around this fear of new things when setting rat traps, McCoy says.

Rats search for food 25 to 100 feet from their nest, while mice only make it 10 to 30 feet away. McCoy says that’s important for homeowners to know.

“You can almost guarantee mice are close to the kitchen or an area where food is stored — including dog food and bird seed — like pantries, garages and basements,” says McCoy.

Rats vs. Mice: Which Can Cause More Damage to a Home?

It depends.

Mice are smaller, so they squeeze easily behind walls and appliances where they gnaw baseboards, drywall, insulation and electrical wiring. They also dribble urine wherever they go, McCoy says.

Considering where mice wander unabated in a home — typically near the kitchen — that’s a lot of pee in a lot of places you don’t want it. Mouse urine smells nasty. It’s also dirty and damages wood and other building materials. Mouse poop isn’t a picnic, either, as exterminator horror stories attest.

Rats damage homes just like mice, by gnawing, nesting, peeing and pooping. But because they’re larger, an individual rat causes much more damage than a single mouse. Rats have bigger teeth and leave tooth marks about an eighth of an inch long on whatever they gnaw: wood, windows, doors, wiring and PVC pipes.

Though single rats cause more damage, mice are responsible for a large majority of rodent infestations, McCoy says. It’s just easier for them to get established.

Mice don’t need much room or food, and they don’t require a separate water source. McCoy says they get all their water from food, so they’re perfectly happy living in a wall void or under your stove, gnawing and breeding. Mice have up to 10 litters of five to six pups per year.

But rats are harder to get rid of due to their cautious nature, says McCoy. That means they hang around longer, and they’re equally prolific — six litters of eight to nine pups each per year. The longer it takes to catch them, the more damage they and their offspring cause.

Rats vs. Mice Prevention

“The two key features of rodent prevention are sanitation and exclusion,” McCoy says. It’s important to make your home unattractive and inaccessible to rodents. Mice can squeeze through a one-quarter inch opening in your home’s exterior. For rats, it’s one-half inch.

“Rats and mice need food, water and shelter,” McCoy says. “When these resources are limited, so is the growth of their populations.”

Reduce the chance of a rodent damaging your home by following these tips:

Sanitation

• Store dog food and bird seed in heavy-duty plastic or metal containers.
• Pick up pet dishes at night. Pick up dog waste every day.
• Don’t leave food out on kitchen counters.
• Use baffles and other rodent-deterring bird feeding techniques.
• Store firewood off the ground and away from the house.
• Maintain landscaping around home’s foundation. Don’t let debris and vegetation pile up.
• Use trash bags for all household trash, and keep bin lids tightly closed.

Exclusion

• Ensure crawlspace vent covers are tight-fitting and properly screened.
• Cap chimneys and confirm exterior vents have screens.
• Seal around wall penetrations like pipes, ducts and cables.
• Make sure garage doors close all the way.
• Maintain less than a 1/4-in. gap under and around doors. Install weatherstripping.

Mice vs. Rats Control

Once you’ve shored up your home’s defenses, control mice and rats with these tried-and-true methods.

• Snap traps are popular with homeowners because they work. Set traps where you see droppings, but be careful. Rat traps are big.
• Bait traps with peanut butter, beef jerky, fish or fruit, says McCoy. Rats avoid new things, so pre-bait those traps for a few days for better success.
• Always follow the label when using rat or mouse poison, says McCoy. Use tamper-proof bait stations, too. Exposure to kids and pets can be deadly.
• Approach “ultrasonic” mice and rat control with healthy skepticism. While some users report success, McCoy says these devices aren’t proven to be effective against rats and mice.

Best Catch and Release Rat Traps (Non-Lethal)

Made of galvanized steel and simple to set up, the Havahart (get it!) One-Door Animal Trap with smooth internal edges won’t injure trapped rats. They’ll be humanely caught and confined them until they can be returned safely to the wild, hopefully far from your home.

The trap is also available in a two-door version, for twice the trapping potential.

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“Mice are on a relentless search for food, warmth and shelter,” says Dr. Nancy Troyano, a certified entomologist and director of operations, education and training for Ehrlich Pest Control.

“Especially in the fall and winter, mice are trying to find a way inside. Mice and other rodents will scale walls, climb ladders, walk across wires and swim through sewers to get inside your home.”

Once inside, they can chew wires, spread disease and reproduce quickly. Here are some tips from Troyano and other experts for keeping mice on the outside.

Identify Entry Points

Mice can wriggle through gaps the size of a dime, so start by checking for openings that need to be sealed. Mice are likely to enter from:

• Holes where gas, water, electrical and data lines enter the house;
• Cracks between the wall, floorboards and baseboards;
• Cracks in the foundation;
• Openings around windows and doors;
• Improperly sealed sink and bathtub drains;
• House corners, specifically in gaps between j-channels and siding;
• Basements or crawl spaces;
• Dryer vents;
• Damaged roofing and soffits.

Screen and Caulk

On larger gaps, dryer vents and soffits, use galvanized mesh wire or screen to block entry points. Use caulk as necessary to seal the edges of the screen. Caulk is also effective in blocking most small entry points.

Steel Wool and Foam

On harder-to-seal spaces, go with a tightly packed coarse-grade steel wire wool, which mice are unlikely to chew through. Expanding foam can also seal up entry holes. It works best when you first pack the hole with steel wool.

Expanding foam will also help keep out unwanted insects, spiders and cold air. But it isn’t smell-proof, so mice can still be lured inside by enticing scents. For best results, buy a mouse or pest-deterrent product such as DAP Mouse Shield foam or Great Stuff Pestblock.

Doors and Windows

Install door sweeps on the bottom of doors, especially in older cabins where there’s more likely to be a gap. Also check the weather seals along the garage door bottom to make sure they’re still intact.

Mice can chew through some types of screens as well. “Use steel screens or other heavy-duty materials for window screening,” says Ricky Young of Youngs Pest Control. Galvanized metal screens are widely considered the most effective.

Close the Flue

If you have a fireplace, clear the flue of debris and then close it tightly for the season.

To tell if it’s fully closed, look up the chimney from inside for signs of light, or reach up and touch the damper. Check for a draft. If you don’t feel one, carefully light a rolled-up newspaper and put it inside the top of the fireplace. If the flue is still open, it will pull the smoke and flames upward.

Leave Everything Tidy

Inside, deep clean the kitchen and pantry, including the cabinets, before taking off for the season. Vacuum or sweep all the floors and remove all garbage. The fewer crumbs, the less enticing it is for mice to move indoors.

Outside, trim tree branches back from the house and avoid letting plants grow up the sides of your cabin. “Overgrown vegetation close to walls will offer shelter to mice and potential nesting sites,” says Troyano.

Also, keep bird feeders far from the house. When you leave for the season, take them down, clean and store them. Leave the grass short to reduce shelter and seeds for food. Move woodpiles away from the cabin. Keep bushes and other landscaping a few feet from the foundation; this also minimizes wildfire risk.

Store Food in Containers

If they can smell it, they’ll try to come in and eat it. Minimize smells by putting all food in plastic, metal or glass containers with tight-fitting lids. Mice are particularly fond of dry goods like pasta and crackers. Store food higher on shelves, or in the refrigerator or stove.

“Or better yet, leave [the kitchen] empty during the winter,” says Young.

Use Repellents

Certain scents help keep mice at bay. Put mothballs underneath the porch or hang them in mesh bags or stockings around the cabin.

A nontoxic alternative, peppermint oil, also irritates a mouse’s nasal passages. Spray a modest mixture of peppermint essential oil and water on possible entry points. Clove oil can be substituted for peppermint.

“Some people also try hanging dried herbs such as peppermint and eucalyptus near entry points to keep mice out,” says Young. “If it doesn’t help, at least your cabin will smell nice.”

Use Preventative Measures During the Summer

Mice don’t just enter during the winter. So while you’re hanging out at your cabin, get in the mouse prevention habit:

• Regularly clean up crumbs and food scraps from countertops and floors.
• Don’t leave pet food on the ground overnight.
• Keep doors closed, especially the garage door.
• Consider adopting a new cat friend or mouse-chasing terrier.
• Set a humane trap or two to see if mice are around. Check traps regularly so mice don’t die of dehydration or starvation. If you do catch a mouse, release it as far from the cabin as possible — 100 yards is fine, a mile even better.

Additional Good Ideas

Make friends with the neighbors

If you have neighbors who live near your cabin year-round, ask if they’ll check in on it from time to time and alert you if they see signs of mice. That way, if a mouse gets in, you’ll know you need to take action before there’s a full-on infestation.

Set up a camera

If you don’t have neighbors, install a few security or wildlife cameras to alert you when there’s movement. Note: Not just any trail-cam will work. Because mice are so fast and small, you’ll need higher-quality video or burst-photo capability. And place the camera where mice are likely to pass.

Set traps

Some people set up mouse traps while they’re away to catch rodents that elude the other safeguards. Young and Troyano recommend heavy-duty traditional spring traps, which are the most humane. If you find your mouse traps aren’t working, there are ways to enhance a standard trap. Avoid sticky traps, which can cause mice to chew off their feet, or die slowly and inhumanely.

There are also poison traps that make mice seek water, drawing them outdoors before they die. But remember: Introducing such poisons into the food chain can jeopardize healthy ecosystems.

Coffee Grounds

What Are Rodents?

If you hear scuttling in the attic or scurrying in the basement, you likely have one of the most common uninvited houseguests in America: rodents. According to Jim Fredericks, Ph.D., chief entomologist for the National Pest Management Association, “Every winter, 21 million homes are invaded by mice and rats, posing a major health and property threat to homeowners.”

Rodents — that vast class of mammals characterized by prominent front incisors, perfectly evolved for gnawing to get at food and shelter — are a particularly destructive pest.

“Known for their ability to squeeze through tight spaces,” says Fredericks, “these pests are capable of transmitting over 35 diseases to humans, triggering asthma and allergy symptoms, and causing serious structural damage due to their propensity to chew through electrical wiring, plastic and drywall. Because of rodents’ ability to reproduce quickly, infestations can rapidly get out of hand, making proper prevention crucial.”

Act quickly once you spot signs of infestation. A DIY solution is fine for mice, but you’ll need a professional pest control expert for larger and more aggressive rodents. First, though, determine what type of rodent you’re dealing with. Here’s a list of the most common and how to identify them.

What Is a Rodent?

Scurrying and chomping since the Cretaceous period (circa 65 million years ago), rodents are a group of small, non-flying mammals with large, sharp front teeth. For many people, rodents are cute and cuddly creatures, while others think of them only as nuisance animals.

Naturally, the best way to deal with rodents is to keep them from getting inside — but you’re here because they’re already in your house. Here are five ways to get rid of the rodents in your house.

Where to Find Rats in the Home

Rats can be found anywhere in a home. Basements, attics, kitchens, garages. Anywhere you go, rats go too. Typically they congregate in areas where food sources can be found. Areas where they can hide and gain shelter are also likely to attract rats.

Best Ways to Get Rid of Rats

It’s no surprise, nobody wants rats in or around their homes. Fortunately, there are a few things that can be done to dissuade the whiskery pests from infiltrating your living space.

Set traps

Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson made a profound statement more than a century ago, generally rephrased as “build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” Rodents have been a nuisance for thousands of years, but with the Industrial Revolution, inventors did come up with new rat traps — some better than others.

Wesley Wheeler, an exterminator with Bug Lord Pest Control, tells us that he “prefer[s] traditional snap traps as they’re the cheapest, and usually a pretty humane way to kill a rodent.” Indeed, a traditional, spring-loaded mousetrap will generally kill mice instantly. Compare that with a glue trap, which traps the rodent by sticking them to the trap while alive, causing them to perish more slowly — a rather inhumane method of pest eradication.

Wheeler says “once you have [rodents]…keep trapping until they’re gone.” Move the traps around periodically, changing out the bait. It’s not just cheese. You’ll quickly see that rodents will eat many different foods (they love peanut butter), so keep trying different baits in your traps until the rodents have disappeared.

Avoid poisons

This warning goes double if you have small children or pets in the house, as rat poison is incredibly dangerous to humans and other animals. While it can be effective in killing rodents, it doesn’t do it quickly. Zachary Smith, of Smith’s Pest Management near San Francisco, recommends “using traps indoors rather than poison so that the animal bodies can be removed before they decompose and emit an awful smell.”

You really want to avoid cutting out baseboards or drywall to recover the rotting corpse of a poisoned rat.

Seal off entrances

Rodents are always in search of food and warmth. So as temperatures drop, they’ll be looking for any way in.

If you’ve gone to the effort of trapping and removing the pests that are already in your home, you’re wasting your time if your house still has ways for new ones to come in. Mice have skulls roughly the size of a dime, so they can fit through tiny gaps. Look all over your house, from the roof to the foundation, and seal off any gaps you find.

Seal up food

Is last night’s pizza box, with a cold slice of pepperoni and extra cheese, still on your counter the next morning? While a slice of cold pizza is a fantastic breakfast, so too is it an invitation for rodents. They’re always hungry.

Seal up your food in the fridge, the pantry or in sealable containers. Rodents haven’t figured out how to open a fridge yet. If they can’t smell food, they’re more likely to move on to other homes in the neighborhood.

Get a cat

Besides being a model for cute Instagram photos, a cat can help ward off rodents. Many rodents, though not all, will stay away from a house where they can smell a cat. And some cats are natural “mousers,” hunting and killing mice when they find them.

Cats aren’t a guaranteed solution, however. Rats, being larger and craftier in their hiding spots, tend to evade cats. Not all cats are great mousers, either. Many house cats lose the hunting instinct when we feed and shelter them.

Note we aren’t suggesting starving your cat to make them a better hunter, but I know from experience in my house of cats. We have three, and only the youngest has proven a worthy mouser. Thankfully, she left each of her kills in the middle of the kitchen floor, rather than hiding them in inaccessible places — or worse, presenting them to us at the door to our bedroom.

If lovable old Mickey came from Disney World to live at your house, you and your kids would be delighted. But when Mickey’s real-life cousins move into your kitchen cabinets, well, that’s another story.

Same for the squirrel that thinks your attic is a great place to raise a family, or the raccoon that turns your chimney into a condo. They’re not so cute when they’re on your turf.

Mice, squirrels, raccoons and bats are the most common fur-covered pests that invade our homes (often when the weather starts turning cool). They really don’t mean any harm. They’re just looking for food, water and shelter. We’ll tell you how to keep your home from becoming a varmint’s dream house.

Don’t have a cat? Watch this video to learn the next best things for getting rid of mice in your home.

How to Use Peppermint to Keep Mice Away

Although natural remedies aren’t always the answer when getting rid of pests (like using cucumbers to get rid of cockroaches, along with many other methods that don’t kill cockroaches), peppermint offers a successful natural remedy that works when trying to repel mice. This has to do with the nature of mice, which rely mostly on their sense of smell instead of their vision. Mice have incredibly weak vision but a strong, keen sense of smell. Which makes sense as to why mice typically go for a large chunk of stinky cheese, right?

Peppermint obviously has a strong scent, one that mice dislike. According to Victor Pest, peppermint contains very potent menthol compounds that irritate their nasal cavities. A whiff of peppermint certainly does keep them away. So do these best mouse repellents, by the way.

Grow Peppermint Plants for Mice

Now, you can use two ways to incorporate the smell of peppermint into your home. The first is growing peppermint plants and leaving them around the house. The smell deters them from entering or roaming around in the first place. As a bonus, you can harvest this peppermint from time to time to season your favorite dishes!

Spray Peppermint Oil for Mice

If you don’t fancy a home full of peppermint plants, then you might prefer using peppermint oil instead. Spray the essential oil in different areas of your home that mice can access. If you’re trying to catch the mice, strategically spray the peppermint oil in places that don’t have a mousetrap. In theory, this should lead them to wherever you have placed it. If peppermint doesn’t work, then try out these tips to get rid of rats.

If you have pets or small children, be careful using the essential oil. Many essential oils can be toxic to them. Keep the bottle out of their reach at all times and do your best to limit their access to the areas that you’ve sprayed the oil.

How to Catch a Mouse: Buy and Set Lots of Mouse Traps

Best Overall Mouse Repellent

Mighty Mint Peppermint Oil Rodent Repellent Spray

This rodent repellent spray from Mighty Mint comes in an easy-to-use 16-ounce spray bottle, and uses pure peppermint oil to deter mice and rats without harming your pets or children. Its 4% peppermint oil concentration makes this product stronger than similar peppermint sprays, allowing it to be more effective and last longer. Plus, the minty smell won’t leave a chemical-like odor in the air.

Pros:

• Extra concentrated strength makes for a long-lasting, effective mouse repellent7
• Safe to use around kids and pets
• Plant-based formula and locally sourced

Cons:

• Not recommended for those sensitive to smells

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We’re Followers

Mice are always on the hunt for non-threatening spaces that radiate warmth. Like humans, we seek out food, water, and shelter. So when we squeeze under the garage door of a suburban home during the first cold snap, we will usually lay down a trail of urine filled with pheromones that are like perfume to other mice. “The more they lay down, the stronger the scent becomes,” says urban rodentologist Robert Corrigan, author of Rodent Control: A Practical Guide for Pest Management Professionals. “Sooner or later, the mice of the area say, ‘the house on Jones Street is being used by my community, I should try it too.’”

Keep Mice Out of Your House

Mice may be cute rodents, but they’re a nuisance and sometimes a danger to your home. Once mice infiltrate your home, they’ll gnaw away at insulation, wiring, food, and even office supplies and books. Additionally, they can bring in diseases and other pests.

Pest control is important and there are various methods out there, from poison and baited mouse traps to natural and non-lethal options. But you might need an option that’s safe for kids, pets or other wildlife. Plus, sometimes mouse traps aren’t working effectively. Your best bet is to stop mice before they get inside your home, and a bait station is a great choice.

What Is a Bait Station and How Does It Work?

A bait station is a box or tube filled with enticing edibles that kill rodents. Ideally, it’s big enough for multiple mice or rats. When properly used, they can stop mice from becoming a problem.

Bait stations can be as simple as a cigar box with holes cut into it and rodenticide put in. If you’ve got the time, you can make a more elaborate one with liquid and solid bait.

Once you’ve set up your bait station, you’ll need to check it regularly, refilling the bait as needed. Start with daily checks. As the signs of feeding decline, you can scale back the frequency. Fresh bait is key; mice and rats won’t feed on stale or spoiled food.

Placement is also important. Put it somewhere difficult for your kids or pets to access. And always keep the excess bait sealed and out of reach.

Where to Place Mouse Bait Stations

If you don’t want to build your own, a six-pack of JT Eaton 902 Top Loader Bait Stations costs about $97 at DoMyOwnPestControl.com. Place bait stations outside near the foundation and load the vertical tube with several poison bait blocks on a rod.

If children or pets are a concern, zip-tie the bait stations to a roof rafter or the top of a fence so the mice travel those routes. The key is placing these stations where the rodents already are. They’re unlikely to use them otherwise.

Once the stations show signs of declining use, you’ll know they’re working. Keep checking them every once in a while to gauge your progress. As long as the stations are maintained and you don’t leave loose food around, your mouse problem should be solved!

When it comes to household pests, rats seem scarier to deal with than mice, right? They are larger than the usual mouse and tend to live in dirtier places. Compared to the rat (or other household pests that are hard to get rid of), mice seem pretty tame. But don’t let their smallness fool you—mice can be quite dangerous lurking around your house.

First, let’s talk lifespan. According to a study published by the UK government, a mouse only lives up to 9 to 12 months. In that lifespan, the mouse does get quite busy. After six weeks of living, a mouse is sexually active and ready to start producing young mice. In that short time span, a typical mouse will have 5-6 young mice up to 8 different times per year. So that means if this small mouse is living in your home, she’s producing up to 40 to 48 little mice in 12 months time. Now consider the fact that these mice will also become sexually active, producing mice of their own. That, my friends, is a lot of mice.

Not only will you be dealing with hundreds of mice scurrying within your walls, but you’ll be dealing with a lot of mouse activity. Unlike rats, mice can climb well. This means finding mice on the top shelf of your pantry isn’t actually uncommon. Plus, their droppings are scattered (unlike a rat, who tends to just go in one place), so if a mouse got in your food you should probably throw it away immediately. Who knows what’s in there!

Lastly, mice can carry a myriad of diseases. According to the Center for Disease Control, mice can be found with Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, Leptospirosis, and Salmonellosis. If you’re dealing with house mice, the most common disease is Lymphocytic Chorio-meningitis (LCM). Humans can easily contract LCM by breathing in the dust where a rodent urinated or dropped feces.

So if you’re having a mouse problem, you better face it ASAP. Here’s how to get rid of mice easily.

Speaking of household pests, have you come across those crazy looking house centipedes? Before you squish that little bug to bits, you may want to reconsider it. Here’s why you should never kill a house centipede.

Keep Raccoons Out

Locate pest entrances

Inspect the area below your siding

Inspect the underside of your siding using a mirror. If you find a gap, mark the location with masking tape so you can seal it later.

Seal off doors and windows

Seal entrances with weatherstripping

Seal doors, windows and basement sashes with adhesive- backed weatherstripping. Clean the surface first so the weatherstrip will adhere well.

Secure your dryer vent

Check the condition of the damper

Examine dryer vents to ensure the damper isn’t stuck open or broken off completely. Also check that the seal between the vent and the wall is tight.

Caulk gaps between trim and siding

Use acrylic latex caulk to fill gaps

Fill gaps between trim and siding with acrylic latex caulk. Keep a wet cloth handy to clean up any stray caulk. Smooth the bead with a wet finger.

Clean and seal off soffit gaps

Fill soffit openings with expanding foam

Pull nests from the soffit gaps and then fill these openings with expanding foam. After the foam hardens, cut off the excess with a utility knife.

Stuff insect entrances with copper mesh

Use copper scrubbing pads to fill gaps

Stuff in a generous amount of copper mesh with a screwdriver, leaving about half an inch of space for expanding foam sealant. Seal gaps with foam.

Fill remaining gaps with foam and trim flush

Trim the foam flush using a utility knife after allowing the foam to harden overnight. To trim off a thicker section of foam, use an old steak knife.

Snap-type mousetraps are effective

Set mousetraps correctly

Snap-type mousetraps, when well placed, can be an effective way to rid your house of mice. Common mistakes are poor placement of traps and using too few of them. Place snap traps along walls in areas where you’ve seen the telltale brown pellets. The best technique is to set two traps, parallel to the wall, with the triggers facing out. While mice can jump over one trap, they can’t jump two. Favorite baits of professional exterminators are chocolate syrup and peanut butter.

Deprive bugs of moisture

Keep mulch and soil away from foundations

Rake moisture-wicking soil and mulch away from the window frames and low wood. Turn your mulch periodically to help keep dampness down, and keep bushes trimmed back as well.

Spider solution

Dehumidify and clean up cobwebs

You can virtually eliminate spiders in your basement by using a dehumidifier to maintain a 40 percent humidity level and vigilantly sweeping down cobwebs whenever they appear. Keep the basement window sills brushed clean too. In a matter of weeks, the spider population will die down significantly.

Keep pet food out of reach

Use metal or plastic containers to store food

Store pet food in a lidded metal trashcan, as mice cannot climb the slick, vertical sides of the can. Sealed plastic containers are also a good option.

Keep items off the floor

Hunt for mouse droppings periodically

Store items off the floor on wire rack shelving to prevent moisture from collecting underneath. Look for mouse droppings and other evidence of infestation with a flashlight and mirror.

Eliminate sink cabinet clutter

Self-adhesive tiles clean up easily

Tidy up under the kitchen sink. Store items in a caddy so you can easily clear out the cabinet for cleaning and inspection. Self-adhesive tiles provide an easy-to-clean surface.

Photo 1: Pull the old vent

Remove the old vent by unscrewing the four corners, pulling out the vent a few inches and loosening the hose clamps around the old ducting. Vacuum out old lint (and clean out nests) from the ducting.

Photo 2: Attach the elbow to the house

Connect the old dryer ducting to a 4-in. metal duct collar and insert it into the bottom of the new elbow. Install the elbow base by laying a bead of latex caulk around the flange perimeter, then hold the elbow level and attach it to the house with four 1-in. galvanized sheet metal screws. Wipe off the excess caulk.

Photo 3: Add the top

Slide the vent body onto the elbow and screw it to the house with two 1-in. galvanized sheet metal screws. Drop the floating vent closer (or cup) into the vent body and pop on the weather lid. Every three months, remove the lid and vacuum any lint from the floating cup, the elbow and the outer ducting.

A dryer vent with a loose or broken flapper invites drafts and mice into your house. And when clogged with lint, vents not only trap moist air but also become a fire hazard. Replace that old dryer vent with this sturdier unit that:

• Allows easier outside access for vacuuming lint.
• Provides a better seal to keep out vermin.
• Saves energy by allowing waste dryer heat to radiate back into the house once the dryer’s cycle is complete.

The dryer vent installs in 20 minutes (Photos 1 – 3). It’s available at home centers, hardware stores, and internet sites.

Required Tools for this Project

Have the necessary tools for this DIY project lined up before you start—you’ll save time and frustration. [project-tools]

Required Materials for this Project

Avoid last-minute shopping trips by having all your materials ready ahead of time. Here’s a list. [project-materials]

Chances are you’ve got some steel wool in your cabinet of cleaning supplies. But did you know that the versatile scrubbing tool can also be used for pest control? When used correctly, steel wool can prevent rodents and other small pests from infiltrating your home through its nooks and crannies. Here’s how.

Why Use Steel Wool for Pests?

Steel wool is a great way to block the small holes pests use to enter your home.

First off, steel wool is tough but flexible; it can be pushed into all shapes and sizes of cracks and crevices. Pests like rats and mice hate chewing through steel wool, since the sharp edges hurt them the more they try to chew.

Steel wool is also non-toxic, unlike many pest control solutions, so you can place it around your house without worrying about one of your pets or children getting into it.

How to Keep Out Pests

First, identify the places pests might entering your home. Here are some area you should check for potential pest entry points:

• Around floor vents and dryer vents;.
• Along the walls inside your attic;
• In your basement and laundry room floor drains;
• Along the walls in your basement or crawl space;
• Around the corners inside closets;
• Around any fireplaces/chimneys;
• Between the floor and wall juncture;
• Around doors;
• Around the pipes under your sinks and washing machine;
• Inside, under and behind kitchen cabinets, refrigerators and stoves;
• Around the pipes leading to hot water heaters and furnaces.

Keep an eye out for telltale signs like rodent droppings, which can lead you to pest entry points. Once you find those points, plug them with as much steel wool as it takes to create a solid, impenetrable blockage. For good measure, apply some caulk to the exposed steel wool to seal it in place for good.

Best Steel Wool for Pest Control

If you do go with steel wool as a pest preventative, choose the right kind: medium grade. Lower grade steel wool is too soft and won’t provide enough of a challenge to deter pests, while higher grade is less malleable and harder to stuff into tight entry points. Medium grade offers just the right mix of flexible and rigid, providing a sturdy blockade.