In pest control, if I have mice or other furry pests, how should I get rid of them? There are plenty of ways to rid your home of rodents. We will discuss the most popular ways and their advantages and disadvantages.
Is a mouse trap the best way to deal with mice in your house?
Best mouse traps
Before we get started, there are two vital steps a homeowner should always take before they try to catch any pests; close all cracks and plug all holes being used by the pests to block their access to your house; and take away all sources of food and water from the pests inside your house. When they can’t find anything to eat or drink, they will try to leave or be more attracted to the baits you leave out for your traps.
Put out mouse or rat bait so they will eat it and die. This is pretty quick and effective if you can put the bait where they find it, of course keeping it out of reach of children and pets.
There are two big problems with this approach; the rodent can die in a place where you can’t reach it, and they smell awful for quite a while as they decompose, and if one of your pets finds the dead or dying rodent and eats it, they can become sick from ingesting the poison in the rodent.
Use a glue board trap with bait on it to attract the rodent. When they go for the bait, they get caught on the glue and die of fright or starvation. Two big problems with this method; the rodent usually defecates and urinates while it is dying, which creates a health hazard because the urine and feces often carries the hantavirus which can cause serious respiratory problems if the dust is inhaled.
Another drawback to this type of trap is that the rodent can sometimes cause considerable damage to surrounding materials (furniture or wood) while they are trying to get free from the glue board. This is obviously not a very humane way to kill a pest.
Use a mechanical trap with bait on it to kill the rodent instantly, or throw them into a sealed box where they can safely be removed far from your house. This is the best and safest way to get rid of rodents, provided you check the traps often (daily) to dispose of the dead rodents.
This is important because the dead rodent will start to decompose and stink, and other rodents you are trying to catch will stay away from the dead rodent, reducing your chance to catch more.
The biggest disadvantages is the homeowner needs to remove the dead rodents. The mechanical traps can be thrown away whenever a rodent is caught, or released into the garbage so the trap can be used again.
Mechanical traps are best
Since the main objective is to reduce the chemicals and poisons in your home, we highly favor mechanical traps. There is no poison involved, either from the bait or the rodent, and the traps are reusable if cleaned and rebaited.
If money is no object, you can now buy live catch mouse traps that will allow you to release the rodent unharmed.
If you want a quick kill without the mechanical metal or plastic killing the rodent, they now make electronic traps.
