Why Are Mice So Bad This Year?

I get this question a lot when I’m in customer’s homes getting rid of the subject of this very topic. I know where I live in Willow Grove, there is a lot of construction going on. They are building on Davisville road and working over off of Division, and right on Moreland Road they are building there in the shopping center. Whenever you start work in a building or when you tear down existing structure you are disturbing mice. They are either scared out of their nests or evicted via demolition.

The other factor this year is the fact that we had such a warm fall and early winter. Up until the end of November we were having days with really warm weather, and this contributed to the success of mice, and bugs for that matter, to reproduce easily.

The other question I get a lot is why are mice so hard to deal with. The fact of the matter is mice can be clever and smart. Thier goal is to find shelter, food and water, and to eat with the end goal of staying alive to reproduce. To this end mice will explore their environments and memorize the room, they will find food and then hoard it for later in case food becomes scarce. Mice will make homes and sometimes those homes are in walls, stoves, and even your furniture. I’ve had many cases where I’ve flipped a sofa cushion and found a pile of pet food or bird seed, finding their stash!

I guess the real reason mice are so difficult to deal with is because when folks try to deal with mice themselves, they try to catch them where they see them, which is a good technique, but mice are usually only visiting when you see them. You need to get to the nitty gritty when eliminating mice. The ledges in the crawl spaces or in the basements is where they tend to travel, and this is where it is best to set your traps and baits. People are not always ready to go venturing into a crawl space, so they call me. Grove Pest has been busy this year with mice, and for all the reasons mentioned above. If we can help, please reach out to us and we’d be happy to help.