Mice are often drawn in by food sources like birdseed, pet food, trash, and compost. They also need shelter and find that in woodpiles, dense ground cover, tall grass, brush piles, sheds, and clutter on the ground.
Mice don’t pick yards at random. They settle in where the habitat is favorable to them. They need to be able to easily eat and hide. Most backyards give mice plenty of opportunities to do this. However, if you know what to look for, you can remove some of the things that attract them.
Birdseed is a bigger problem than most people ever expect. Feeders scatter seed on the ground every day and mice can feed there at night. Pet food bowls are similarly appreciated by rodents when left out. If you have fruit trees that drop fruit, you’ll want to make sure to pick that up. Likewise, trash cans and compost need tight lids.
Rodents also need access to shelter. Woodpiles stacked on the ground are close to ideal, dry and full of gaps. So are dense ground cover like pachysandra and ivy, tall grass along a fence line, brush piles, stone walls, sheds sitting flat on soil, and any tarp, board, or stack of pots left on the ground.
When you take away their sources of food and shelter, you already do a lot to make your home less attractive to rodents. Beyond doing this, if there is anything else you may want to do, it is to reduce sources of water like left-out pet bowls, birdbaths, clogged gutters, and low spots that hold it.
Doing this kind of maintenance outdoors matters a lot if you want to keep rodents out of your home. After all, a yard population is a house population waiting for the first cold snap.
If mice have made themselves at home in your yard, Mosquito Squad of North Shore can help. Mosquito Squad finds where mice are nesting and getting in, clears them with traps and bait stations, and seals the entry points. Annual inspections will help you protect your home as conditions change.
