Having pesky lodgers such as mice and rodents in the home is not a pleasant situation.
These pests not only carry with them diseases and bacteria, but they also multiply very quickly and can damage property.
Many may have heard of certain natural methods that can be used to get rid of mice, however, Jordan Foster of Fantastic Pest Control, claims that the majority of them are “myths and misconceptions”.
He said: “Homemade remedies, in most cases, are old wives’ tales that are ineffective against these shrewd and agile creatures.
“Although it may sound like the perfect, humane, safe and beautifully smelling decision, natural mice control rarely works. Mice are really smart creatures and they learn from their environment all the time.”
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Natural mice control methods to avoid
1. Mothballs
A “myth related to mouse repellents” is that mothballs repel mice. These are usually made up of naphthalene, which is a strong chemical that can cause harm to humans and pets if ingested.
They need to be spread around the home in very large quantities, but the trouble is that like all chemicals when exposed to oxygen in the air “their smells will fade”.
Jordan said: “This will certainly help you with keeping insects and moths away, but the downside is that such mothballs are hardly good at keeping mice out of your home. Mothballs, in general, are just ignored by the mice.”
2. Peppermint oil
Some believe in using a natural mouse repellent to get rid of mice in one’s home, and one such mouse repellent is peppermint oil for mice. The reason for this suggestion is that peppermint has a rather strong smell, which is said to affect mice’s olfactory senses.
However, the expert shared two reasons why mice peppermint oil “won’t work”. The first reason is that the smell of peppermint is “not long-lasting” and it tends to “fade quite fast”. While it smells “amazing”, the expert said that “it’s completely useless”.
He explained: “While your home will smell great when you spray peppermint oil in your rooms, it’s not a great natural mice repellent. Therefore, peppermint oil and mice go together like chalk and cheese, and this solution is not an effective one.
“A second reason is related to physics. Smells, like gases, tend to rise, whereas mice tend to stay hidden low at ground level. Therefore, the chances of peppermint and mice being a workable solution are quite slim.”
3. Ultrasonic mice repeller
There are many solutions on the market these days for addressing a mice infestation and one of these is the use of an electric mice repellent. These devices emit high-frequency sounds that can only be heard by mice and not humans or pets.
While some argue that using these devices is one way of solving a household’s mouse problems, these mice deterrents “do not actually work”.
Jordan explained: “A sonic mice repellent is actually something that might have rather short-lived results. This is because the ultrasonic pest repeller side effects are such that the mice will quickly hear the sound, which to them sounds like a jackhammer drilling away at a piece of concrete, and will veer off in a different direction.
“Also, these devices generally need to be connected to an electrical outlet which means that they will only be effective in certain areas of your home, and you may not necessarily be able to target the specific mice nest you have hidden somewhere in your walls, floors, roof, attic or elsewhere.”
4. Cats
A further suggested natural mice deterrent is a pet cat. The expert pointed out that there are several problems with this solution. The first of which is that not all cats are hunters. They might see a mouse and simply look at it as a plaything rather than food. This is especially the case if your cat is used to being fed on a regular basis.
In addition to this, cats are hardly capable of reaching nesting areas, which is where the ultimate problem lies. Plus, as mentioned above, mice carry diseases with them, which means that if a cat were to devour a mouse, it might be “exposed to some serious illnesses”.
Instead, Jordan claimed that “the best prevention tip” for getting rid of mice is to seal up the home and if there are mice already in the house, use human traps.
The expert said: “They are pretty easy to set and maybe, the only drawback is that you will catch only one mouse at a time.”
