A significant part of why rodents enter our homes is that our kitchens offer them unlimited access to the delicious grains and cereals they love as well as other food scraps. In order to make your home less appealing to rodents, you need to limit their access to easily accessible food in your kitchen. Here are a few steps you can take to discourage mice and rats from using your kitchen as a 24/7 buffet.
Clean Your Kitchen
Your kitchen needs to be spotless to discourage mice and rats from getting their feast straight from your floor or sink. First, wash all of your dishes properly and put them away. Rats will gladly come and nibble on the leftover Chinese food that you were going to wash out tomorrow, and mice have no objections to cleaning your cereal bowl for you. Don’t give them the chance to feast on your leftovers; clean dishes as soon as possible.
Once your sink is clean, look at the rest of your kitchen. Those spills on your stove or counter top are easy lickings for a little mouse. The cereal or rice or pasta you dropped that one time are in a perfectly rat-sized corner under your cabinets. If they can get to it, they will come. Clean off your stove and countertop thoroughly, then go after your floors. Use a vacuum attachment for tight spaces and don’t forget to roll out your fridge — you’ll be surprised by how many crumbs are hiding under there. Mop up stains or sweep up spills on the rest of the floor.
Change Your Storage
Our tiny invaders love how we keep cereals, oatmeal, pasta, rice and flour in cardboard boxes and paper bags. It’s easy for them to gnaw through to the delicious food inside! And the bread we leave out in its plastic wrapping? Yum! Plastic just adds seasoning. Let’s not forget your pets’ food as well: by leaving out food for Buddy and Princess, you’re leaving out food for any other animal who wants to eat it too.
You need to stop leaving readily accessible food effectively lying out for critters to eat. Put dry storage items like cereals and grains into either metal or glass containers with screw-on lids. Rodents can gnaw through metal, but it’s a time intensive and difficult process, so they are less likely to go after things in such containers in comparison to cardboard. Alternatively, store such items in the freezer. For bread, either get a secure breadbox that would be difficult for a rodent to get into or start putting it in the refrigerator. With pets, offer scheduled feedings and pick up both leftover and dropped food after they’re done. Store pet food in a metal trash can with a lid or a smaller container like you would use for grains and cereal.
If They Still Come In To Your House
Despite our best efforts to stay clean, rodents may still enter our houses for warmth and shelter. If this happens, it is best to call a professional exterminator to get rid of the problem. Professional exterminators are able to remove the entire rat or mouse population with ease, and they can often find the source of your problem and may be able to offer you tips on how to keep your furry friends out. They can even inspect your home and plug any entryways they find to ensure that you don’t have to worry about rodents entering your home in the future.