How to keep mice out of your home as the temperatures drop
With the leaves turning and the mercury beginning to dip, outdoor rodents are set to seek out warmer environments like your home.
According to the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors, keeping mice out of your home is about more than just avoiding an encounter with an unwelcome house guest. In fact, it’s an important step in protecting the health and safety of your household.
Ateeb Khan with the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors said the first step is prevention.
“Mice can squeeze through a hole the size of a dime,” Khan said. “So it’s important to seal off any and all openings to your home.”
Khan said setting up mouse traps along the walls at your home’s entry and exit points is a good preventative measure, as well.
If mice do enter your home and you find droppings, Khan said disposing of them and cleaning the area properly is incredibly important in the prevention of hantavirus – a severe, sometimes fatal respiratory illness caused by the exposure to urine or feces of an infected rodent.
“Those droppings are dark in colour and resemble the shape of rice grains,” Khan said.
The first thing to do when encountering these droppings is to ventilate the area, letting the space air out for about 30 minutes, Khan said.
When it’s time to clean the area, Khan said to put on rubber gloves, soak the droppings in a solution of one-part bleach and nine-parts water, and let it sit for five minutes.
From there, you should pick up the droppings with a paper towel, dispose of them in a plastic bag, and remove them from the home.
“What we’re going to avoid doing completely is vacuuming or sweeping because it creates an aerosolized droppings that we can inhale,” Khan said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada, G7 urge 'all parties' to de-escalate in growing Mideast conflict
Canada called for "all parties" to de-escalate rising tensions in the Mideast following an apparent Israeli drone attack against Iran overnight.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
'It was all my savings': Ontario woman loses $15K to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
Families to receive Canada Child Benefit payment on Friday
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
Taylor Swift drops 15 new songs on double album, 'The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology'
On Friday, the pop star released her 11th album and at 2 a.m. Eastern, she released "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology," featuring 15 additional songs.
Israel gave U.S. last-minute warning about drone attack on Iran, Italian foreign minister says at G7
The United States told the Group of Seven foreign ministers on Friday that it received 'last minute' information from Israel about a drone action in Iran, but didn't participate in the apparent attack, officials said.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
DEVELOPING G7 warns of new sanctions against Iran as world reacts to apparent Israeli drone attack
Group of Seven foreign ministers warned of new sanctions against Iran on Friday for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict.