Got Mice? It Could Be Your Chinking
Any home can develop a mouse problem. It doesn't mean you don't keep a clean house. It does, however, mean that you probably need to reinforce the chinking in your log home.
Spotting Signs That Mice Are in Your Home
Mice are smart and fast, so you may not see them in your home even after they've moved in. You can, however, spot signs that they're living with you. Some of the most noticeable signs include mouse droppings, gnawed food containers, and tracks. If you see any of these in your home, then you know you have a mouse. In fact, you probably have several mice since the creatures tend to live in groups.
Preventing Mice From Entering Your Home
Once you find signs of mice in your home, you need to find their access point. These are small animals, so they can squeeze through small openings. It's crucial to check your chinking. Old, degraded chinking is a common entryway for rodents. Even the smallest hole in your chinking could feel like a grand tunnel to a mouse.
Filling in degraded chinking is the only way to prevent more mice from getting into your house. Filling in the area is relatively easy. You just need some basic tools and reliable chinking to remove any access points.
Search your walls carefully for problems. They often occur at joints where walls meet, but holes could happen anywhere. Try applying Weatherall UV Guard to all of your log walls to cover access points that you may have missed. The combination of chinking and UV Guard should stop mice from coming into your home.
Removing Mice From Your Home
Once you have finished your log home maintenance, you can remove the mice. It's important to perform the maintenance first. If you still have any access points for the mice, they will move back in with you. Before you even bother getting the rodents out of the home, you need to apply chinking to any vulnerable areas. If you don't, then the problem will not stop.
Removing mice is usually easy. Place a humane trap where you have seen their droppings or other signs of activity. A small amount of peanut butter placed at the trap's rear will usually attract them within less than a day.
Once you have the mouse trapped, take it to a location about 100 yards from your home. Taking it too far away could lead to the mouse's death since it won't know where to find food and water. You don't necessarily want the creature to die; you just don't want it in your home!
Don't assume that catching one mouse means you've solved the problem. You probably have others living in your house, too, so continuing using the trap until you haven't caught a mouse within a couple of days. As long as your chinking works well, the mice shouldn't return.
In most cases, you can eliminate a small rodent problem within a week. If you have more mice than that, you may need to call a professional for help. Remember that success depends on your chinking. Without secure chinking, the mice will return.
Image via Flickr by Andrew