If you've been baiting mouse traps and cleaning up their droppings, you're not alone. Local pest control companies say this hot, dry summer has mice looking to get in your home in search of water and relief from the heat.
The invasion of mice into people's homes usually happens later in the year -- not in the middle of July.
"It's about a 26 per cent increase in the call-ins for mice at this point," said Adrian Tyman, the service supervisor of Abell Pest Control's Ottawa branch. "It's usually not so busy for them in the summer months."
Preventing mice from invading your home -- or preventing their return -- involves sealing any gaps the size of a dime or larger, Tyman says. These can be gaps around doors or conduits coming into your home, but not just in areas below eye-level. Tyman suggests looking up around the edge of your roofline, to make sure you find all of the gaps into your home where mice can enter.
"They'll even climb brick and stone; they can climb right into a soffit," said Tyman. "If there's a gap in your soffit, it's often overlooked."
Tyman says mice don't like the texture of metal, so he suggests stuffing cracks with steel wool, or covering gaps with copper mesh. He also reccommends sealing around things like air conditioning conduits with silicone caulking.
