get rid of

How to Get Rid of Mice

Signs of a Mouse Infestation

The first step to getting rid of an infestation of mice is to confirm that you have an infestation of mice. Some of the signs that you have an infestation include unexplained holes in walls, boxes, and food containers, round droppings up 1’4” long, rustling sounds in the walls or ceilings, and urine trails along the base of walls. Getting rid of mice is important because mice carry parasites which can transmit to humans.

Preparing Your Home

The first step to getting rid of mice is to get rid of their food source. Get rid of any unprotected food; if you suspect it has even been touched by mice, throw it away for your safety. Metal and glass containers work best to keep mice from getting to the food. Keep human and pet food elevated, or store pet food in metal trashcans. Make sure all your trashcans have tight fitting lids to keep mice from getting in. Check outside your home for food sources as well.

The second step is to clean up any clutter in which mice might live, this incudes kitchens, closets, garages, and basements. Clean the yard. High grass, weeds, and wood piles all provide cover for mice on the hunt for a new house.

The third step to block off all possible entry points to your house. Mice can squeeze through incredibly small spaces, so make sure you seal up any cracks with cement or another type of material that is gnaw-proof. Some spaces in your home are there for a reason and should not be sealed up. In cases like that, steel wool can be shoved into larger cracks and holes to keep mice out. Once you have gotten rid of all outside entry points, go inside your home and check for access points inside your basement or bottom floor and seal them up.

Lethal Traps

After have done all these things, the mice inside your home should not be able to get out and no new mice will be able to get in, allowing you to focus on eradicating the mouse population currently in your home. There are numerous types of lethal mouse traps including snap traps, glue boards, and zapper traps. Snap traps have been used for a long time because they are effective and cheap. The down side to snap trap are that they are messy and might not kill the mouse right away, leaving the unfortunate task to you. Glue traps are good because they are cheap can kill numerous pests at one time. Glue traps are not particularly humane and it may take a long time for the mouse to die or starvation or stress. These two traps should not be used around children and pets as they may cause harm to unintended victims.

Zapper traps are enclosed structures that deliver a lethal electric shock to the mouse. Zapper traps are more expensive and requires lots of batteries. There is also a homemade bucket trap which lures the mouse onto a small plank over a bucket filled with water, the plank then tips because of their weight, causing them to fall in the water and drown. The use of poison to kill mice is generally not a good idea because they may die in cracks and crevices you may not be able to find, meaning you will have rotting mouse corpses, creating bad smells and attracting other pests.

Non-Lethal Traps

Lethal traps are not for everyone, if you want to get rid of mice but don’t want to kill them, there are other options, including bowl traps and catch traps. Bowl traps are similar to the bucket trap; grease the side of a large metal bowl and place a treat in the bottom of the bowl. Make a ramp to let the mice in the bowl. Once in, the grease will trap them. Catch traps lure the mice into a container then snap shut behind them. Unfortunately, mice quickly learn to get the bait without triggering the trap. Always make sure that you release the mice a mile or more from your home so they cannot return to their nest, and never touch the mice to avoid the parasites they carry.

Types of Bait

There are many different types of bait that can be used if for traps including peanut butter, bread, and uncooked bacon. Be prepared to try a few different types of bait as some types of baits attract different mice. Use sticky bait or tie the bait to the trap with string or dental floss so the mice can’t wander off with the bait and stand a better chance of being caught.

Problems Catching Mice?

If your trap has been sprung and there is no mouse there, you can lightly dust the trap with flour to catch the footprints so you can see what type of animal you are dealing with. The mouse bait may be being carried off by cockroaches. It is also necessary to use the correct traps, using rat traps to catch mice rarely works.

Court of Last Resort

If these traps do not work, consider getting professional help from an exterminator.

How to Get Rid of Roaches

The cockroach or roach seems to be one of the most tenacious insects on this planet earth. They are found in just about every part of the world, from the palaces of kings to the huts in the desert of the most remote place. In places that there have been major fires, roaches have survived. With each type of new product to kill them, they have built up a resistance. They can live in the walls of the cleanest homes.

How to Kill Roaches

Numerous products that are on the market claim to kill them. Even when using the most powerful methods, a roach or two will still survive. Billions of dollars are spent trying to annihilate these powerful creatures. The famous roach trap has been for years. The only problem with the trap is that numerous ones must be placed throughout the home to be effective.

To understand how to kill them, it is advisable to find out some facts about them. Since they can go without eating for a month, but they cannot go without water for long periods of time. Make sure all faucets throughout the house do not leak once they are turned off. Since roaches need water to survive, they will gravitate toward available water sources.

One of the main water sources is the family commode. If the roaches cannot drink water, they will die. Place some type of cleaning product into the toilet water so that the roaches will not be able to drink the water. Water can also be used to kill the bugs. If a large container is filled about half way with water and placed near a base board in the home, the insects will crawl in but will not be able to climb out.

Boric acid is also used to eradicate the pesky pests. The non-toxic kind is the best to use. For years, the famous bug bomb and foggers have been used with minimal effect. People seem to think that the bug fogger has the potential to do a great job because of the chemicals traveling in the air. The fogger will be able to kill some roaches but thousands will survive.

There are at least over 3000 species so it is not one particular method that will work for all bugs when it comes to killing them. Once they invade the home, thousands of dollars will be spent trying to kill them without any long term success. It is important to keep the house clean at all times. Sweeping up food particles from the floors, cleaning the kitchen counters and making sure all trash cans have secure fitting lids will cut down the population.

Professional Roach Treatment

Most people will give up the fight and hire a professional exterminator to do the job for them. This may be the best way to go. Since the roach has survived for thousands of years, it is not expected to go away any time soon. It is okay to use home remedies for a small problem. Let the professional handle the larger ones.

Different Ways to Get Rid of Termites

Getting rid of termites can take a lot of time and effort but ignoring the problem will just lead to more extensive damage to your home. There are many things you can try to do before having to call a professional. Below is a simple list of termite control techniques you can do on your own.

Liquid Treatments

Liquid termite treatments can be sprayed around your home to kill any existing termites as well as kill termites that come into contact with the ones that were sprayed. Termite baits are great for slowly killing off a colony of termites that may be infesting your home. There are also liquids that mix in with water and kill off termites in and around your home.

Some termite control treatments you can do on your own, while more agressive chemicals require a licensed professional.

Termite Baits

Baits actually leave small amounts of pesticides so that the termites who come in contact with it actually bring it back to their colony and kill off other termites.

Borate termite treatments are more like a coat of paint that is put around the wood in your home usually done while the house is being built.

Termite Stakes

Termite bait stakes are also a great way to both detect and rid your home of termites. You simply stick the stake into the ground around your home and there is an indicator that tells you if termites are in fact surrounding your home. The bait kills any termites that are detected.

Where to Find Termite Control Supplies

All of these products are available online as well as in select retail locations and they are considerably cheaper than having to call a professional in to control your termite issue.

Termite Fumigation

Fumigation is what is done when you call a professional but it is not always able to kill termites there are some species of the that it does not work on.

Steps to Prevent Termite Problems

Some tips to keep them away or keep them from coming include covering any places where stuco, drywall or paint may be chipped, cracked or peeling. All a termite needs is a very small point of entry, it really doesn’t take much. Cover cracks near vents, windows, and roof siding.

Keep your gutters and crawl spaces free of dirt and debris because termites use this as food which in search of new places to eat. If you have to store mulch, firewood, or even wood chips be sure to always store them away from your home to avoid creating a moisture filled environment in which termites will continue to live and just reproduce.

Be sure to watch out for wet wood. Wet wood is easy for termites to chew through. Termites favor easy food sources and constantly wet wood is just an invitation for them to infest that area.

Know When to Call a Professional Exterminator

If you have tried all the do-it-yourself pest control methods and you still have termite problems than it is best to try to have a professional solve your problem.

How to Get Rid of Ants

Ants are little pests, extremely little pests, which is one of the reasons it is so hard to get ride of them. They can invade your home through the smallest of cracks and quickly organize themselves into colonies that always seem to find ways to steal your food, no matter how well you protect them. Ants can find their way into jars, Tupperware, cereal boxes, etc. and compromise your food which, in addition to being entirely maddening, is very costly. Ants in your house can also interrupt your peace of mind. It seems as though they can appear out of solid walls, running trails that lead into your electrical fixtures or baseboards, adding to their colony.

Below are some ways that can show how to get rid of ants, for good!

Clean Up

The first thing one can try to do is simply clean up the house. This might seem obvious, but if the house is clean, then there is no food for the ants to feast on. This might be more difficult than one thinks. Ants will pick up on the smallest sent, the smallest morsel of food. It is good to properly seal all of your containers, wipe down your counter tops and clean your dishes so that they do not stack up and remain long enough for the ants to take notice. It is also good to keep your floors swept and mopped.

Seal the Cracks

Another option is to properly seal any seams you have in your house. It helps to caulk your window seams and door jams. This will prevent ants from finding any open conduits to travel through. An additional benefit to using caulk is that it can also help reign in energy costs by providing better temperature control.

There are certain substances you can put at suspected entryways that deter ants from passing. Talc powder or salt can be used for this method. There is also a substance called diatomaceous earth that will dehydrate the ants to death, although, this substance can be harmful to household pets, so use with caution. In addition, cornmeal can be a tool to kill ants. If ants eat the cornmeal and then consume water, the cornmeal expands and kills the ant.

Baits and Poisons

One could simply poison the ants as well. A lot of poisons can be concocted with items in your own home, such as maple syrup combined with borax. A small amount of research on the Internet can reveal a number of homemade ant killers. Of course, there are also certain substances that can be purchased from certain retail stores, but be sure to read the directions carefully.

Professional Treatment

Last but not least, there is always the option of fogging these pesky ants. A quick call to the exterminator is a sure way to get rid of ants. The only drawback to this method is the cost, but sometimes it is the only suitable option. Ants that continue to appear in your house, even after all previous attempts to get rid of them, may require more direct action.

How to Get Rid of Lice

A Nit Lice Egg attached to a Hair Getting rid of lice requires determination, equipment, and concerted effort. You probably will need some help, at least for the hair lice. Find some sympathetic soul who has the time to do a thorough job in helping you.

First get rid of the nits. If you soak the scalp with dish detergent it will loosen the cement that holds the nits to the hair.

Then with a metal nit brush, obtainable at the pharmacy, carefully go over all the hair next to the scalp, thoroughly removing all the nits. Expect that you do not see them all and cover all the scalp. If the hair is thick, repeat the whole procedure.

Nit Comb Then, use a preparation that will kill all of the living lice left behind in the nit cleaning process. Clean up all the places where you have put your head and hair such as pillows and other bedding, hats and scarves and regular clothing. Thoroughly launder all such items. Use the louse-killing preparation in all of these places. It is hard to be too thorough.

A week later, repeat the entire procedure. This may do the job, but don’t be too sure. Keep careful watch for tell-tell signs that you didn’t get all the lice. If they show up again, repeat the two week treatment.