Get Rid of Rodents Naturally
Forty percent of all mammals are classified as rodents, but the rodents that most commonly become a nuisance in homes, garages, and yards are mice, rats, squirrels, and chipmunks. To get rid of rodents naturally when they're indoors, seal off access to your home to prevent more from coming in, then set humane traps and spread natural repellents like peppermint oil where the pests travel. To get rid of rodents naturally when they're outdoors, minimize sources of shelter and food, then spray predator urine or other repellents around your garden to discourage the pests from visiting. The process may take time and perseverance, but can be much safer and more humane than using chemical poisons.
Contents
Steps
Get Rid of Rodents Indoors
- Seal up all holes and cracks in your home where rodents may be gaining access. Mice can get through even the smallest of holes, so blocking them out completely may not be possible. However, making it more difficult to get in may be enough to discourage rodents.
- Check around your foundation, windows and door frames for small holes, cracks or improper seals.
- Use caulk, putty or weather stripping to fill any access areas you find.
- Remove any rodents that are already in your home.
- Use snap-style traps designed to kill the rodents quickly.
- Catch the rodents in live traps, such as Have-A-Heart traps, then drive them at least a mile from your home before releasing them.
- Make your home less attractive to rodents to discourage them from setting up home in the future.
- Soak rags in ammonia and put mothballs in open containers and leave them in the corners of the basement, attic or other areas of your home where rodents are a problem.
- Rub peppermint oil on beams and other areas where rodents travel. You can also scatter fresh or dried mint leaves, as both the oil and leaves repel rodents.
- Get a cat. Even if your cat is not a great mouser, the smell of the cat's presence in the home deters rodents.
- Purchase fox, coyote or bobcat urine at a garden center or hunting and sporting goods store. Alternately, you can get some used cat litter from someone who does own a cat. Put the urine-soaked cat litter out in the basement or attic, or soak cotton balls in the urine and place them around the area.
- Spread Camphor balls in the attic or places frequented by rodents.The smell is intolerable for the mice and they will stop visiting the place.
Get Rid of Rodents Outdoors
- Create an environment that does not encourage rodents to make a home in your yard.
- Stack firewood at least {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} off of the ground and keep it several feet away from your house.
- Plants bushes, shrubs and large plants at least {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} away from all buildings.
- Place bird feeders on poles where the seed is not accessible to rodents.
- Keep all garbage inside trashcans with securely closing lids.
- Keep rodents out of gardens and away from plants.
- Plant mint around your garden to create a barrier that rodents won't cross.
- Spray urine from a predator on trees, bushes or the ground on the perimeter of your garden or yard. Reapply the scent each time it rains.
- Mix together naphthalene flakes, gypsum and chili pepper, and scatter the mixture around the garden to keep squirrels out.
