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Non-Chemical Mouse Control and Mouse-Proofing in Metro Atlanta

There are many species of mice; but the ones we most encounter as pests in the Atlanta area, mus musculus, are commonly known as house mice because they've adapted to living in human homes. They're the same specie of mouse most commonly found in other buildings used by humans, such as factories, stores, restaurants, and so forth. Despite their timidity, they've adapted very well to living among people.

This adaptation, in fact, is one of the things that makes mice so dangerous from a public health perspective. Mice live much closer to humans than most other animals do. Their small size allows them to get into our pantries, the drawers where we store our cooking and eating utensils, our night stands and dressers, and other areas where they contaminate items that humans eat, drink, and touch with their urine, droppings, and fur.

This close contact with areas and surfaces that we use makes it much more likely that we'll be exposed to any germs, parasites, or diseases that the mice carry. Other disease-vectoring wildlife, such as rats, tend to keep a farther distance away from people; so even though rats carry many of the same diseases as mice do, mice carry those disease-causing organisms closer to where we live.

In fact, mice are known to be involved in the transmission of quite a few diseases. Some of the more serious ones include:

• Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus
• Leptospirosis
• Salmonellosis
• Dysentery
• Lyme disease
• Hantavirus
• Murine typhus
• Bubonic plague

The Wrong Way to Control House Mice

Mouse poison in an attic, left by one of our competitors

There's a right way and a wrong way to approach a mouse control job. Unfortunately, the wrong way is how most mouse exterminators do it. The wrong way to do a mouse control job is to toss, throw, and tuck mouse poison anyplace the exterminator thinks a mouse might happen to find it, like one of our competitors did in the picture shown here.

Using poisons for mouse control is not a good idea. Here are some of the reasons why:

• Even when rodenticides are necessary for mouse control (which is rarely the case), they're only part of the job. The more important part is sealing the mice out of the house.
• Mice are hoarders; and sometimes they carry the bait to other parts of the house, such as your pantry or the kitchen drawer where you store your silverware and cooking utensils.
• Mice also can track poison around the house on their fur, even when meal-type baits that are harder for them to hoard are used.
• Many rodenticides are secondarily toxic, meaning that a pet or wild animal who eats a poisoned mouse may also be poisoned. Non-chemical mouse control is more environmentally friendly and responsible.
• When mice die, they stink. Because their bodies are smaller, they don't stink as much as, say, a rat; but they don't smell like daisies, either. In addition, there's also the possibility that a larger animal like a squirrel or rat might eat the poison, die, and really stink up the place.

Long story short, rodenticides shouldn't be the core of a mouse control job. Rodent exclusion -- sealing up the house to make it "mouse-proof" is the right way to get rid of mice and achieve long-term mouse control. It's safer, more effective, and more permanent.

The Right Way to Control House Mice

Rid-A-Critter is one of the few pest control companies in Metro Atlanta that removes and controls mice using no poisons at all. We non-chemically trap and remove the mice that are already in the home, and seal up the house so new mice can't get in. This is called "mouse-proofing" or "mouse exclusion," and it means structurally sealing a home or building to keep mice out.

As you might imagine, non-chemical mouse control that relies solely on trapping and exclusion is painstaking work. Mice are very small animals and can slip through very small gaps, so we have to be extremely thorough to make a house or commercial building mouse-resistant. But it's well worth it. In the end, not only will you have solved your mouse problem, but larger rodents such as rats will also be sealed out of the home.

In addition, you won't have to worry about hazards such as mouse poison being carried through the house, or a pet cat or wild animal eating a poisoned mouse. Non-chemical mouse control is a better, more environmentally-responsible approach to the problem.

Rid-A-Critter provides safe, non-chemical mouse control to homes and businesses throughout Metro Atlanta. Please contact us for more information and an on-site inspection and consultation about how we can help you solve your mouse problem.

Metro Atlanta Mouse Control Gallery

Here are a few pictures of mouse-control jobs we've done in and around Metro Atlanta.

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The Atlanta, Georgia office of Rid-A-Critter provides long-lasting, non-chemical mouse control in all of Metro Atlanta including the City of Atlanta and the communities of Berkeley Lake, Buckhead, College Park, Conyers, Decatur, Douglasville, Duluth, Fayetteville, Hull, Johns Creek, Lilburn, Lithonia, Loganville, Mableton, Marietta, McDonough, Newnan, Norcross, Peachtree City, Powder Springs, Sandy Springs, Smyrna, Stone Mountain, and Vinings.

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