MICE CONTROL SERVICE
Mice are by far the most commonly reported pest for any urban area – ask any local authority or property manager.
The first thing to understand about mice is that these creatures live in buildings – just like you! They are what is known as a ‘commensal rodent’..
Mice are born, live, breed and die all within the wall cavities, floor voids and roof voids of buildings usually without ever going outside. The mice emerge from these cavities at night to forage for the food we eat (or our pets eat).
Mice that live outside are called field mice. They nibble corn and get eaten by Barn Owls in rural areas. These mice are a totally different species to house mice and not something urban dwellers need worry about.
Man has battled with house mice since Roman times and as a result House mice are now evasive when it comes to traps as well as being resistant to many of the poisons currently used in mouse bait. This makes House mice virtually impossible to control if you persist with conventional approaches.
Ultimately whilst the holes are present allowing them the mice to emerge from the building cavities and into our living areas, then they will always have access to our foods and your House mouse problem will persist.
The problem is that food availability gives the mice breeding capability. Their formidable breeding potential of up to 10 mouse litters per year with each litter comprising up to 14 young means the mice will simply out-breed any baiting or trapping programme provided they have access to a food supply that supports it.
Mouse proofing, which is the blocking or sealing of these emergence mouse holes, is by far the most effective mouse control strategy as it physically stops the mice entering the areas you live within as well as shutting the mice off from their food supply.
The beauty of an urban scenario is that buildings always have shared building fabrics – for example blocks of flats, terraced rows etc. – so the resident house mice simply move elsewhere (displace is the technical term) rather than try and regain access once a property has been sealed.
Successful mouse proofing is extremely difficult, you need to ensure the following….
Right Materials
Expanding foam is useless and wire wool has its limitations against mice. You need to engage proper mouse-proof materials such as Xcluder, HDPE, mesh and fibre-reinforced cements to successfully keep mice on the right side of any mouse-proofing for any length of time.
Right Holes
Those holes that lead to cavity areas are the ones to focus on for effective mouse control. This includes stud walls, floor voids, wall voids and ceiling/roof voids. We therefore train our staff to have a good understanding of building construction so they know where these cavity areas exist.
Right Size Holes
We work to a 4mm gap. Generally speaking a 6 week old mouse is able to push through a 6mm gap if the substrate has a bit of give in it and so working to a tolerance of 4mm allows sufficient overlap.
Right Tools & Equipment
Many of these holes will be under and behind kitchen units. You will therefore need to be able to remove appliances and have equipment to both inspect, access and seal the areas right up to the underside of the work surfaces.
Right Approach
When you consider all of the above is required for effective mouse control, there is a lot of ground to cover when mouse-proofing even a 1 bed flat. Success is mostly only achieved when all current and potential mouse entry points are located and correctly sealed. To minimise human error and oversight, our approach to mice control is process driven and consistently achieved via a 72 point check sheet.
Right Experience
The more mice proofing you do, the better you become at controlling mice infestations. You have to have an understanding of mice behaviour and what they are capable of (which can be learnt) but it’s the mouse control experience which really leads to good results. Builders aren’t pest controllers and therefore lack this. You’ll find they overlook mouse entry points and/or inadequately seal them because it’s not their expertise. Our operatives mice proof all day, every day and are trained pest controllers as well, which leads to a much, much higher mouse control success rate.
