Discovering mice in your garage can be alarming. Not only do they chew through electrical wires, walls, and insulation, but they can also harbor potentially dangerous bacteria in their urine and droppings. While an exterminator can help remove mice from your garage, you can take the following steps to prevent them from returning. 

What Attracts Mice?

As the seasons change, mice seek out shelter from the elements, in addition to safety from predators. They're attracted to dark places where they can climb, hide, and nest in corners. Garages, especially those that are cluttered or contain accessible food sources, are ideal locations for a family of mice to breed.

The average house mouse can have five to 10 litters of babies each year, rapidly increasing their population. Mice look for food sources, including pet food, emergency food supplies, dried goods, and crumbs that might have fallen on the floor.

Items like grains, straw, and seeds for your garden might not look like a food source, but mice will eat and use these items as nesting materials.

How to Prevent Mice

To mouse-proof your garage, seek out the main points of entry, including cracks and holes in the exterior of your house, as well as gaps beneath your garage door.

Mice can also enter through pet doors. If this is a problem, consider raising the door higher or closing it off altogether.

Use caulk or steel wool to close off areas where utilities and pipes enter or exit your garage, such as your furnace, water heater, or washer and dryer. Clear out clutter to remove nesting sites. Move items stored in cardboard boxes into sealed plastic tubs. 

Store all food sources, including bags of pet food, grains, alfalfa, and dried meal, in sealed containers to cut off their food supply. Seeds and dried fertilizers should also be stored in airtight containers. Have an exterminator lay traps to deal with any mice that enter the garage.

If you have a mouse problem in your garage, contact the professional exterminators at Bugout Termite & Pest Control Inc. in Glen Burnie, MD. Since 1988, this family-owned business has provided a variety of effective pest control solutions to remove and prevent pests in homes throughout the Baltimore metro area. Call (410) 760-6065 to schedule an appointment, or visit them online to learn more about their services.