Mouse Control in the Athens, Georgia Area

Athens-Clarke County Regional Office of Rid-A-Critter

Mouse gnawing damage to a dresser drawer

The Athens office of Rid-A-Critter is proud to offer long-lasting mouse extermination and exclusion services to homeowners and businesses in and around Athens-Clarke County, Georgia. Our mouse-control program relies heavily on non-chemical mouse control using trapping and exclusion, not poisoning mice using rodenticides. In fact, in most cases, we can eliminate your mouse problem and make your home mouse-proof using no poisons at all.

The mouse that most often infest homes in Georgia and most of the United States is called, fittingly enough, the house mouse, mus musculus. These mice are one of three rodent species (the other two are roof rats and Norway rats) that have adapted to living in human homes, in close proximity to people, and even eating our food. The three species are collectively known as commensal rodents for that reason.

This close association between mice and people is one of the reasons why mice are a far greater health risk than most people realize. Mice don't keep much distance between themselves and us. They even feel free to steal food from our cupboards and walk over our dishes, silverware, and food preparation services -- pooping, peeing, and leaving behind disease-causing germs along the way.

Specifically, mice are known to be involved in the transmission of several very serious diseases including:

Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus

Leptospirosis

Salmonellosis

Dysentery

Lyme disease

Hantavirus

Murine typhus

Bubonic plague

And as if that weren't bad enough, mice also have parasites like fleas, ticks, and mites that carry their own diseases, some of which can be transmitted to humans and pets.

The long and short of it is that mice may be small, but they can cause big health problems. In fact, their small size actually makes them more dangerous than rats because they can live undetected in much closer proximity to people.

The Wrong Way to Control Mice

Mouse poison in an attic, left by one of our competitors

For many years, the standard way to control mice has been with mouse poisons, or rodenticides. Unfortunately, that's how most mouse exterminators continue to do it, often using materials very much like the ones that you can buy at most hardware or home goods stores. In fact, some over-the-counter rodenticides are identical to the ones that professional exterminators use except for the size of the package.

The reason most exterminators use poisons to control mice is because it's easy and cheap. The problem is that it's not very effective. In fact, if you choose to have your home treated for mice using poisons, you'll most likely be paying your exterminator for a long, long time. Even though the poisons will kill the mice in your home, they'll do nothing to stop "new" mice from getting in; and because the mice eventually will eat up all the poison, you'll be paying your exterminator to come back and replace it — again, and again, and again.

Here are some other reasons why relying on poisons for mouse control is not a good idea:

When rodenticides are used for mouse control, they do nothing to keep new mice from getting in.
Mice are hoarders by nature, and they often carry poison to places where it can present a hazard (such as your food cabinets).
Mice can also track poisons around the house on their fur.
Many mouse poisons can harm pets or wildlife. Even animals that eat the poisoned mice may become ill or die. We call this secondary poisoning.
When mice die inside your home, they stink. And when a lot of mice die in your home, they stink a lot.
If a larger animal like a rat or squirrel eats the rodenticide and dies in your home, you'll have some major odor problems.
Rodenticides that get wet often start to rot, which causes its own set of problems ranging from odor, to attracting insects, to providing a breeding place for molds and fungi.

What it really comes down to is that you shouldn't depend on rodenticides alone for mouse control. Sometimes they're needed in small amounts, for a very short period of time; but even when that's the case, poisons should be considered an adjunct to trapping and exclusion, not a substitute for it.

The Right Way to Control House Mice

At the Athens Regional Office of Rid-A-Critter, we specialize in long-lasting mouse control that doesn't depend on poisons. We do this by trapping the mice that are already in your home, and making it mouse-proof so new mice can't get in. Usually, no poisons are needed at all; and when they are, we use only very small amounts, for a very short time, after which they can be removed.

What this means for you is that you get a more permanent solution to your mouse problem, without any of the drawbacks of relying on mouse poisons. What it means for us is that we'll miss you when we leave because you won't need to pay us to come back every month for the rest of time to refill your mouse bait stations.

Some exterminating companies will tell you that you can't seal mice out of a house. That's nonsense. It can be done. It's just not easy. It's difficult, painstaking work. Mice are very small and can squeeze through very tiny holes. But tiny holes can be sealed, too. It's just a lot of work to find them all. But that's okay. We're not afraid of work.

Another advantage of mouse-proofing your house is that larger animals like rats, raccoons, opossums, and so forth will also be locked out. If the small critters can't get in, then neither can the bigger ones.

When you add it all up, it becomes clear: Our exclusion-based method of mouse control is just a better, more responsible, more permanent solution to a mouse problem. It just makes more sense.

Rid-A-Critter provides environmentally-friendly mouse control to homes and businesses throughout the Athens, Georgia area. Please contact us for more information. We look forward to your call.

Mouse Control Gallery

Here are a few pictures of mouse-control jobs we've done in and around Athens, Georgia.