Here's Why Mouse Traps Aren't Working In Your Frisco Home

Mice are considered to be the most common home-invading pests. When they get in, they spread illness and damage property. If you've determined that you're not going to allow these rodents to live with you, you're on the right track. A mouse may be a small animal, but it is no small threat. Unfortunately, it is also no small task to get mice out of your Frisco home. It isn't as easy as deploying a few traps. Have you noticed this? Have you put traps down and had little or no success capturing mice? Let's take a look at a few reasons why your traps are failing to address your mouse infestation.

You May Be Placing Your Traps Wrong

Mousetraps have gotten fancy. They come with all kinds of bells and whistles—and no shortage of promises from the manufacturers. But it doesn't matter how fancy your trap is if you don't deploy your traps correctly. You can lay traps in many places within your home and not catch a single mouse. Professionals are trained to locate areas of infestation and routes that mice are traveling by using their knowledge of the habits, habitats, and food sources mice prefer. Where you place your traps is far more important than what kind of traps you lay down. A professional can use spring-loaded board traps to catch every mouse in your home. 

You May Be Using The Wrong Bait

It is a common belief that cheese is a highly desirable food source for mice. This belief is likely derived from cartoon mice going after cheese. Let's go out on a limb and say that it is probably not a good idea to get your facts from cartoons. If you do, you could find yourself believing all kinds of things about cheese that are not true, like the fact that the moon is made of cheese. If you believe this, NASA probably won't hire you. Okay. With that being said, what then is an ideal bait for mice? Mice prefer seeds, rice, and nuts. You'll have better success if you put rice or peanut butter on your trap latch. A professional will select traps and baits that will not only work best to capture the mice in your home (or around your home) but also to prevent your child, dog, or cat from being harmed by the traps.

You May Have Touched The Traps

When you put traps down using your bare hands, you put your scent on the traps. If a mouse smells you on a trap, it may decide to have nothing to do with that trap. You'll have more success if you use gloves when applying traps. Professionals consider small details like this.

You May Be Underestimating Your Adversary

Mice are incredibly timid animals. If you place a trap down in an environment that a mouse has frequented, it will be very suspicious of that object. Some mice may decide to completely avoid a trap, no matter how enticing the bait might be. Professionals have education in rodent behavior. They take this, and many other behavioral traits, into consideration when using traps to capture and remove mice or rats from a structure, and when using tamper-resistant traps around the outside of a structure.

When Traps Fail

If you are considering tackling your mouse infestation on your own, it is important that you understand what happens when your traps fail. You might think that mice will continue to thump and scrape in your walls. You might think that mice will continue to leave droppings in locations that will be noticeable. But mice can live in your home without giving you any warning signs. If you catch a few mice, you may be tempted to think that you solved your problem, even as mice continue to present a threat to your health and property. This is the worst outcome. Mice present a serious threat to everyone in your home. They spread organisms to your stored foods, food-prep surfaces, and dishes. They spread ticks and other dangerous bugs. And, perhaps worst of all, they chew on wires. This can lead to a house fire. Don't trust the safety of those you love to DIY mouse control. Reach out to All-Safe Pest & Termite and make sure rodents are properly eliminated. We serve the Frisco area with industry-leading bug, termite, and rodent control.