Keeping Mice Out of Your Home and Storage Areas

Small rodents such as mice always seem to become unwelcome guests in our home or outbuildings. The problem is worst during the winter, when the furry little critters come indoors to escape the cold and find food. We usually recognize them in the house by the obnoxious little black “calling cards” they leave everywhere, but often we don’t realize they’ve moved into our barn and sheds until spring as we check things over and get ready to use the tractor and lawnmowers.

Human attitudes toward mice range from live and let live, to kill by any means possible. We take the middle road. Although we’re animal lovers, we don’t want our property to become a breeding ground for out of control populations of rodents. Mice carry diseases such as hantavirus, and they’re incredibly destructive as they chew up wiring and build their nests in our machinery.

Our preferred method for rodent control is poison. We prefer the solid blocks over the loose, grainy type because the grains get scattered around where they could harm other animals. We think poison blocks are an efficient and reasonably humane approach to keeping mice away.