Mouse entryways as they are called in the exterminator “biz” are holes that mice use to enter a property that already exists or holes they make to enter a property. This can be an open door, a weep vent in a brick wall (which is a gap between the brick with no matter to allow the insulation in the wall to breathe), open or easily damaged wall vent covers, plumbing vents and, of course, the most common entryway for both mice and rats: foundation gaps. Mice and rats will spend many hours chewing on these structures like wall vents and creating holes in already breaking foundations in old houses to get inside the house. They can hide very easily while doing this, especially if there are gardens close to the house’s walls or tall grass where mice and rats can hide while they plan their attack. While rats do not live in houses permanently, they often enter for food and then vacate to their burrows and rarely make a nest in the house itself, mice, on the other hand, will not only live in the house permanently but never leave. This can be a serious issue as mice can go from inseminated to birth in four weeks and can produce up to 14 babies in one litter. To make that even more terrifying those babies take one week to have fur and two more to be fully grown adults who will start their nests and begin breeding themselves. This is why it is so important to inspect your home, keep the door closed and keep garbage containers tightly closed and stored somewhere that isn’t outside like in a garage and to inspect the outside for possible areas a mouse can get into. Foundation gaps are easy to fix. You can do it yourself with a bucket of quick dry, ready-made concrete or if it’s bad and the foundation is crumbling hire someone to repair it fully.
Either way, the foundation needs to be sealed if you don’t want rodents entering your home. Weep vents can also be sealed with steel, waterproof inserts that are vented so the walls can still breathe but mice cannot get in. Wall vent covers need to be metal, not plastic and you can also seal them over with waterproof steel cage covers for the wall vents that are best made out of galvanized steel. This will prevent mice from getting into the house in the first place. This is because once they are in for good. No spam trap or capture trap will get rid of them, nothing but a professional commercial treatment will do anything to limit their population. So if you do have mice call a pest control company now, if you don’t but you are worried you will start with the exterior of the house. That is how the infestation begins and how it can end.
