Mice in house?

Mouse extermination in three easy - time proven steps.  1: Initial inspection and mouse control set-up (trapping, baiting, etc);  2: Exclusion, also known as 'build-out', or mouse proofing; 3: Final inspection and removal of dead mice and mice extermination materials.

Mouse extermination is not as simple as setting a few traps or throwing out some bait. Mice are persistent, they learn over time, and there is never just one mouse.

The most important step to get rid of the problem of mice in house - is a super thorough inspection of your home for access points. You can do this yourself - but years of experience in finding the holes is irreplaceable.

Our technicians are highly trained on mouse behavior, control, and exclusion. MOST HOMES DO NOT NEED A MONTHLY SERVICE to get rid of MICE.  Even dedicated do-it-yourselfers should strongly consider having a professional mouse exterminator inspect the home for access areas.

Mouse extermination begins with a thorough inspection of your home, including the exterior, the sub area under your home- if you have one, and any other potential activity areas or voids in your home:  including attics, garages, etc. You can have separate populations in many areas of a home.

We write up a report and detailing the access points that mice are using or could potentially use to get inside your home.  We also look for conducive conditions that make your home attractive to mice. We look for mouse footprints, body grease marks, and signs of tail dragging.

The goal of mice extermination is to eliminate the mice you have currently and to keep other mice from being able to move back in.

In the process of our inspection we put out traps, possibly several different types, arranged for the best possible effect, and if the activity warrants it, rodent control bait.  Bait if used, is only used in tamper resistant bait stations designed to keep children and pets out.  We get rid of mice - not children or pets.

The report we made during our initial mice extermination inspection on our first visit detailed what needs to be done to mouse proof your home.  It is vitally important this work gets done and gets done promptly. 

Mice are highly attracted to areas where other mice have been. Without mouse proofing - you are destined to put up with mice in house as a long term problem. Please check the link noted on the upper left for more info on exclusion.

If we are doing the exclusion, and we strongly urge you to have us, the rodents exclusion experts, do the work, we like to do it in about two weeks - at the first follow up service.  Most homes will only need a total of one to three follow-ups.

This gives the professional mice extermination materials a chance to eliminate some mice before we seal up your home,  But you absolutely do not want to wait much longer. If you wait too long - other mice will move in. 

We may give a discount on this follow up service, depending on how much exclusion work we do.

Exclusion is so vital that we may not be able to achieve total mice extermination for your home without it - do not skip Step Two!!

We always need to schedule one final visit after the exclusion in case any mice that were 'trap shy', 'food specific', or just plain too smart - got sealed up inside the sub area under your home or in your attic areas when we closed off all of their entry / exit areas, and are subsequently caught on our traps.  Mice have a very high metabolism, a few days of not being able to get to food can help draw even resistant mice into traps.

If you do catch mice in this last inspection, schedule another one two weeks out - just to make sure.  If you are still catching mice after an additional two weeks - they are still getting in. Another inspection for access areas and to check on the exclusion is needed.

The Washington State Dept. Of Agriculture requires us to remove all control materials from your home unless we have some arrangement with you to come back and monitor them at least once every six months.

That's it.  If we followed all three steps completely, including the exclusion, 99% of all homes will now be rid of mice.

Yes, we would be happy to monitor your home for you.  Homes can change, vents do get broken, trees do grow back. Service people from other trades do sometimes take off sub area doors and let in rodents.  Yes we can install exterior rodent control stations to lower the local rodent activity around your home, if you like.

We are just your mouse exterminator, we also offer affordable regular quarterly service programs designed to control spiders, wasps, crawling insects, and rodents.  We would be happy to start that program and give you a big discount at the same time.

Mice in the wild are always looking for safe places to nest where predators, cats, birds, and other animals have a harder time catching them. 

Our houses not only offer them safety but warmth and often sources of food as well.

All it takes is a hole the size of a dime or a gap of a quarter of an inch for a mouse to move in.

Everywhere mice nest, they spread contamination.  They urinate and defecate all over the insulation and other materials in sub areas and attics.  Replacing these materials is VERY expensive. 

The most important control aspect is keeping the mice out. The fact that mice have been in your sub area should not affect your health - as long as you eliminate the mice and seal your home against future infestation.

However, if you have mice, crawling through or disturbing mouse urine or feces can be fatal.  The chances are small but they could contain the hanta virus.  Especially since the majority of homes in our area do have field or deer mice.  We wear gloves, cover-alls, and respirators whenever we work in a mouse infested attic or crawlspace and you should too. Diluted bleach water will kill the virus as will other products.  Please visit the CDC:  http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hanta/hps/noframes/FAQ.htm

If the odor is strong and you want the area cleaned we will be happy to work with you by providing quotes or resources to get these areas cleaned. It is not included with any other service and would be an additional charge.

Be wary of companies that push crawlspace cleanup.  We have seen homeowners pay several different companies to perform these services without getting quality exclusion done first. It is usually a lot of money to have done once - much less two or three times.