Protecting your home with pest control in Knoxville is important if you want to maintain a safe and healthy environment for your family. When it comes to keeping mice at bay, you should be supplementing your professional pest control in Knoxville with some practical solutions you can handle yourself. Let’s take a look at typical mouse behavior and what you can do to keep them away from your home.

What is Typical Mouse Behavior?

One of the most important things you need to understand about mouse behavior is that mice are opportunists when it comes to food! Mice are also highly skilled climbers and have the ability to squeeze through even tiny gaps! Like most pests, mice are driven by a need for food, shelter, and water, making the average human home a perfect habitat! When you understand how mice generally behave, it becomes much easier to discourage them from living in your home!

How to Spot a Mouse Infestation

When it comes to eliminating an infestation of mice, the sooner you arrange for pest control in Knoxville, the better. Mice are the fastest reproducing mammal around, with female mice able to have approximately ten litters of 6 babies every year. They can get pregnant immediately after giving birth, and gestation is just three weeks, so if left unchecked, you could have as many as 200 mice in the space of a month! That means you need to know how to spot the early warning signs that you have a mouse problem so that it can be eliminated before the population gets out of control! Some of the signs you can look for include the following:

• Evidence of droppings, which will be small and dark colored
• Mice like to chew to keep their teeth from growing too long so look for signs of chewing on furniture, wiring, or walls
• Hearing scurrying or strange scratching sounds, particualrly in the ceiling and walls

If you notice these signs, you should immediately arrange pest control in Knoxville. Do not wait until you physically see a mouse, as, by that time, there may already be a significant mouse population in your home.

Tips For Avoiding an Infestation of Mice

One of the most important things you can do to avoid a mice infestation is to keep your home clean and clutter-free. Mice are most often attracted to homes where they can find a reliable source of food. You must keep food, including pet food, stored securely in sealed containers. It is also important to clean up food spills and crumbs promptly and to take trash out daily. These simple steps will reduce the risk of mice being attracted to your home, especially when coupled with professional pest control in Knoxville.

Seal Up Potential Entry Points

Mice are capable of getting through incredibly small gaps because they have very flexible bodies with collapsible rib cages, allowing them to flatten themselves to squeeze through small cracks and holes. Take some time to go around your home and seal up any potential entry points that you find - even those that seem impossibly small! You can pack holes with steel wool and seal cracks and small gaps using caulk.

Do Cats Really Catch Mice?

Having a cat or even a dog in your home can actually be a significant deterrent against mice, as their presence will discourage the smaller mammals from setting up home. However, some pets may be uninterested in chasing off mice, so a cat should never be seen as a complete replacement for proper pest control in Knoxville—just an added layer of protection.

Are Mice Really Dangerous?

For some people, a tiny little mouse can seem cute, and it might lead them to question whether or not allowing it to seek shelter in your home is really such a big deal. However, you should never be swayed by a cute critter! As we have previously mentioned, mice reproduce incredibly quickly, so it will never be ‘just one little mouse’! Their chewing can also cause a great deal of damage to your home, especially if they start getting into the wiring! These points are reason enough to call on pest control in Knoxville to get rid of the mice, but the true danger of a mouse infestation is actually the risk to your health. Mice, unfortunately, carry many different bacteria and viruses that can negatively impact your health.

• Hantavirus: Humans can catch hantavirus following exposure to mouse urine, droppings, or used nesting materials. This can cause potentially life-threatening respiratory illnesses.
• Salmonella: Mice often carry the Salmonella bacteria, and they may contaminate your food and surfaces, resulting in an increased risk of food poisoning.
• Leptospirosis: This bacterial disease can be contracted through contact with water or soil contaminated with the urine of infected mice.
• Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus (LCMV): This virus can cause neurological diseases and is particularly dangerous for pregnant women, potentially leading to birth defects.
• Allergic Reactions: Mouse droppings and urine can trigger allergic reactions and exacerbate asthma symptoms, especially in children.
• Parasites: Mice often carry parasites like fleas, ticks, and mites, which can transmit other diseases to humans and pets.
• Bacterial Contamination: Mice can spread various bacteria through their fur and feet, contaminating surfaces and food.

In conclusion, discouraging mice from entering your home is crucial to maintain a safe and healthy environment. By understanding mouse behavior, spotting early signs of infestation, maintaining cleanliness, sealing entry points, and using professional pest control in Knoxville, you can effectively protect your home and family from the dangers posed by these pests.

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Otis Termite & Pest Control is a full-service pest control company with a focus on outstanding service. We have been serving the East Tennessee area for over 56 years and our reputation is built on prompt and effective service. We’re good at what we do and we’re fast. We do the job right the first time – and that’s an actual guarantee! 

Call 865.690.1662 or visit www.otispestcontrol.net.