Mice are naturally attracted to kitchens. The reasons why this happens should be obvious to anyone. Your kitchen provides mice with an easily available source of food. Kitchens are also filled with nooks and crannies where mice can hide away. This includes cluttered kitchen cupboards and the spaces behind large appliances. But what can be done about mice in your kitchen?
How to get rid of mice in your kitchen
If there are mice in your kitchen you should immediately do the following. Most of these tips are revolve around preventing mice from getting food. When your kitchen is no longer a source of food for mice, they will often leave on their own accord.
1. Deep clean
Start by deep cleaning your kitchen. Go through every inch of the room and clean everything. Clean behind and beneath appliances. Get rid of the clutter in your cupboards. Clean the walls, floors, ceilings, counters, and the tops of cupboards and appliances. Scrub your drains and sinks. Every inch of your kitchen should be sparkling clean. Once this is done your kitchen needs to be kept clean.
Institute a policy where you will keep this room in the best shape possible. All floors and counters should be cleaned before you go to bed at night. Also make sure to wash any dirty dishes which are in the sink. At least once a week
2. Organise food
All food which is in your kitchen must be securely locked away. Food must be kept in either your fridge or cupboards. No food should be left out, not even fruit or bread. Also food which is in cupboards must be kept in glass bottles or plastic containers which seal tightly. There should be no exceptions to this whatsoever. Remember, mice have sharp teeth and can chew through almost anything. By leaving food in its original packaging, you are essentially continuing to feed them.
You should also install locks on your cupboard doors. Just because the cupboards are closed, doesn’t mean that mice cannot get inside. By installing locks you can create a tight seal which mice cannot squeeze through.
3. Deal with bins
Another source of food for mice is your bins, advises Mark from Pest Exterminators Essex. All rubbish must be kept in robustbins, says Mark, and do not make the common mistake of leaving rubbish in bin bags sitting next to your bins. It needs to be inside the bins. If the rubbish bin has no more space then it’s needs to be emptied.You bin should also have a lid which seals tightly. You may also want to place something heavy on the lid at night. This prevents mice from slipping under the lid of your bin.
4. Place traps
One final thing you can do is humanely set traps for the mice. There are a wide variety of options when it comes to mouse traps. You don’t want to use traditional mouse trap which can be bought from most hardware stores. There are more ethical and sophisticated traps. These live traps catch mice by placing bait inside and can be left on the floor of your kitchen. They are known to be quite effective for people with mice problems.
