How to deal with an increase in mice and rats in your home this winter

For us humans, winter weather means hunkering down at home with the heater on, away from cold temperatures and wet weather. Rodents are much the same, except they seek out our warm and dry homes to shelter in.

That’s why you’re likely to see more mice and rats in and around your home during winter than other times of year.

“It’s not that they are necessarily more frequent, but we notice them at a lower population than we would, for example, ants, spiders, termites and cockroaches – because they all come into our houses as well – but we really notice when it’s rodents,” Matthew Jones, national service innovation and development manager at Rentokil, told nine.com.au.

Mice, in particular, have been making headlines in recent months due to plague levels in Western and South Australia. Even if you don’t live in an affected area you’re likely to see more than you did during summer, purely because of weather conditions.

Jones explained that mouse numbers have fluctuated in Australia since they arrived with the First Fleet in 1788. They increase when rain makes crops plentiful and decrease when droughts reduce crops and the potential food rodents can eat. But when they come into our homes, they’re seeking shelter from predators before they look for food.

Regardless of the rodent activity levels where you live, preventing rodents in the home comes down to ensuring the building you live in is set up to keep them out.

This involves “blocking all the holes, keeping the doors closed, and having a really good look when you bring things in and out of the building to make sure you’re not inadvertently carrying [rodents] inside a box or something like that. That’s the main line of defence.”

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A common and affordable method for blocking holes is using steel wool, but Jones said it doesn’t work by itself.

”The steel wool doesn’t stop them from chewing through – their teeth are quite tough – but it is resistant to them chewing it. However, you actually need to lock it in the hole because they are quite persistent at pulling it out if it’s in their way. You need to use some sort of glue or liquid nails to lock it in there so they can’t pull it out,” he said.

“For larger areas, strips of aluminium, skirtings, making sure they are all tight fittings, and draught excluders on external doors to seal the gap across the bottom are all quite effective at keeping them out.”

When we see rats and mice inside, we often buy bait and traps to stop them, but if you’ve been shopping in the pest control section of your hardware store and supermarket you will have noticed a change on the shelves.

That’s because some types of rodenticides – those known as second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides – are restricted from sale after a review by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority because of their impact on other animals, such as native species.

“It means that, especially in a residential setting, some of those options available in the past now require a qualified person to get those types of treatments done moving forward,” Jones said.

“They still work really well against rodents, but we don’t want other animals to be consuming them.”

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However, you can still purchase first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, which are baits that require the rodent to feed on it multiple times before it dies, and physical traps.

“The classic mousetrap invented 150 years ago is still effective at controlling those populations,” Jones said.

“Those are the two tools available to a domestic consumer, and they are enough to manage casual intruders. One or two mice that get in will be controlled by those devices. If it becomes too much, you really need to get a specialist to come and look at it.”