Thinking About Pest Control

With fall finding it’s way here I find myself thinking about those nasty little critters that invaded my house the last time it got cold. Since our infestation I’ve learned quite a bit about mice and pest management.

Apparently they only live about 4 months. But they begin breeding at 5 weeks of age (!) and their rapid reproduction makes pest control almost unmanageable.

Because the infestation seemed to come out of nowhere we hired an exterminating company. The first guy to come out went through my house from top to bottom, inside and out, figured out where the beasties were coming in and plugged those holes. Then he put traps through my storage room- where they seemed to hang out.

Because I have kids and a dog no poisons were put out; only traps. We rigged the traps with dog food (since that was what they were stealing and hiding throughout the basement {{shudder}}. I joked about using peanut butter and was told that, while that was good, the little disease carriers really liked canola oil!

Another little trick I learned is that cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil or ammonia will repel mice! The peppermint oil is really nice- it keeps the room smelling good, too!

So now the exterminators come every three months or so- just to make sure the problem doesn’t resurface. I think we only had a “small” family. We killed 8 or 9 and haven’t seen any in a few months.

Thank goodness. I’ve never felt so dirty in my life.