How to Get Rid of Field Mice in Yard

If you've got a problem with rodents, it's important to know what kind you're dealing with. For instance, there are differences between mice and rats, and even within the mice population. Field mice are one of these types you might encounter. They are named as such because you often find them hanging out outside, whether it's the yard, a field, or the woods. But they definitely don't stay outdoors. Field mice like to find their way inside your home where they don't just wreak havoc on your property – they can possibly destroy your health, as well. Learn the basics of field mice, how you can get rid of them, and how to keep them from coming back.

Table of Contents

• Eliminate Them Out of Your House for Good
• Home Remedies to Eliminate Field Mice
• What About When They're Outside?
  • Get them out of your garden
  • They're in your backyard
  • Keep field mice off of your property
  • Don't just chase them away from your yard – kill them
• Controlling Field Mice
  • The #1 way to get rid of field mice

Eliminate Them Out of Your House for Good

If a field mouse got its name from living outside, why do they love the indoors of your home so much? Well, your house is warm, dry, and full of food – why wouldn't they want to live there? If you've got a field mouse, you'll be able to identify it by its large eyes, and large protruding ears. It will also have a light underbelly and darker back that can be anywhere from brown, to reddish, to gray.

They can get in your house through very small spaces, and once there, will cause a whole host of problems, ruining any of the following:

• Insulation,
• Electrical wiring,
• Furniture,
• Food containers,
• Storage boxes,
• Clothing.

Not only can they ruin property, mice sometimes carry a potentially fatal respiratory disease known as Hantavirus. Also, their fleas and ticks can carry illnesses like Lyme's disease. Do mice carry fleas? Read this to know. Needless to say, you'll want these rodents gone, and fast.

Some ways you can get rid of mice in your house include:

• Professional exterminators,
• Poisons,
• Traps,
• Natural methods.

It's up to you which one you go with when it comes to getting the mice away from your home, and all are effective options.

Home Remedies to Eliminate Field Mice

Maybe you don't want to go out to the store and buy pest control, or maybe you just don't want to use anything with chemicals. Either way, there are things you can do to beat your mouse infestation using only natural methods.

1. Peppermint oil: Even though humans enjoy the smell of mint, mice absolutely hate it. And since it's a strong odor, it will carry across distances. Take some peppermint oil (or wintergreen, or spearmint), and pour it onto cotton balls. Leave them around your home in places like your pantry, kitchen, along baseboards, and any place you might find mice activity. For more information click here.
   
2. Cat litter: If you have a cat, or know someone with one, you could use their litter to keep mice away. Since cats are their natural predators, mice will smell cat urine or feces among the litter and run the other direction.
3. Cocoa powder and plaster of Paris: Plaster of Paris is a cement-like powder that dries into a hard solid when mixed with water. Mix half plaster, half cocoa powder, and set it out in small piles. Since mice love sugar, they'll be attracted to the cocoa and feast on the substance. Then once they drink water, the plaster will expand and harden in their stomach, and kill them.
4. Cement: Similar to the use of Plaster of Paris, cement powder can be used to get rid of mice. Mix the powder in with sugar, cocoa powder, hot chocolate mix, or peanut butter, and set out in small servings. Once the mouse eats some, they'll want a drink, which will harden the cement and kill them.
5. Instant potatoes: Potatoes that come in flakes or powdered form can be used as mice control. When a field mouse ingests the potatoes and then drinks water, they'll expand dramatically inside their stomach, tearing their stomach and intestines.

Pest control for mice doesn't have to involve harsh or damaging chemicals. Ingredients from your home can work just as well as store-bought ones. To learn more about home remedies to get rid of mice, go here.

What About When They're Outside?

You won't just find mice inside your walls. They are often investing your yard, as well. But why should you care?

Field mice can carry dangerous diseases in their excrement.

Well, mice like seeds and berries, so they'll ruin your garden, if you have one. They'll get into patio furniture and tear apart any padding to use for a nest. Also, their droppings that will be scattered across your property might carry dangerous diseases.

Something else most people don't think about is their outside vehicles, including cars, RVs, and boats. When it's cold outside, mice sometimes nest on a vehicle's engine where they can chew up the electrical wiring and even an air or oil filter. Many cars, RVs, and boats have sustained damage from mice who've found a home in them. Learn more about how to get rid of mice in your car in this article.

Traps inside your house have been used for decades. But what about your yard? Learn all about outdoor mouse traps here.

Get them out of your garden

If you've got a garden and want to keep mice out of it, consider using plants.

Here's some things you could plant that mice hate:

• Peppermint,
• Lavender,
• Onions,
• Spearmint,
• Wintergreen,
• Oregano.

4 Fragrant Plants to Repel Mice

A cat prowling your yard can also help to drive mice away, but watch out! Sometimes cats like to kill mice and leave them at your doorstep.

Don't just repel mice, get rid of them completely. Learn how to kill mice by clicking here.

They're in your backyard

Mice in your yard are hiding, but where? A field mouse will live where there is brush and soil appropriate for burrowing, as that is where they'll make their home and nest. Logs and tree stumps can make a good place to hide, as well. Something else that's important to know is that mice outside tend to live by themselves more often, unlike indoor mice who live in groups. This means that there may be many hiding places you'll have to tackle at once.

To get rid of them in your backyard, there are several different methods, just like inside your home. You can always call a professional mouse exterminator, or you can go about it yourself and use traps or poisons made for outside use. There's even natural methods you could try, like plants, cement powder, or essential oils.

Keep field mice off of your property

To keep mice from coming in your yard altogether, consider using plants as repellent, and planting them strategically. Make a border around your property that mice won't want to cross. You can also create a mixture of peppermint oil and water, and spray it around your property line.

Having mice in your yard is bad enough, but in your house is even worse. Learn how to keep mice out of your house here.

Don't just chase them away from your yard – kill them

Sometimes it's nice to be humane and simply trap mice and release them. But it can also be time consuming, and doesn't always work. Also, it means you'll have to be in close contact with live mice, which can be hazardous, considering the diseases they can carry. When you don't want to deal with a live mouse, it's time to kill them off.

• Basic mousetrap: These spring-loaded traps are the most common ones you'll find. A wood board has a powerful spring hinge in the middle that is connected to a pressure trigger. If the smallest amount of pressure hits it (a mouse touching it), it will set off and send a metal bar smashing to the other side, breaking the neck or skull of the unsuspecting field mouse. Put bait like peanut butter on the trap before you load it, then carefully set out all around your yard.

  Be careful when dealing with mice. They can carry Hantavirus, a potentially deadly respiratory disease, along with Rat Bite fever, and Bubonic plague. Their fleas and ticks can also give you a disease like Lyme's disease, and their feces can give you bacterial infections and food poisoning. Handle mice and their droppings as biohazardous waste.

• Intruder mousetrap: These traps are similar to the classic ones, except that the mouse gets stuck inside its box-like structure, meaning that you don't have to risk touching the dead animal.
• Bait stations: These are boxes that have poison inside of them. The mouse will be attracted to the bait, go inside and ingest it, then die soon after. What is actually the best mouse trap? Read here.
  

Where are your mice coming from? You've got your doors sealed, your windows shut, so it seems like there shouldn't be a problem. So how do mice get in house? Find our here.

Controlling Field Mice

To control mice from getting into your home, there are different things you can do:

• Entry points: If the mice can't get into your house, they can't become a problem. See if you can find evidence of mouse activity like droppings, scratches, or the sound of their squeaks. Once you're confident of where they are getting in, move on to the next step.
• Blocking: Put steel wool inside any cracks or gaps that you find, as mice can't chew through it. There are also special caulks you can use that mice don't chew through, and other materials you can get to. Read more here.
• Repellent: Using smells like different types of mint, cat litter, and other fragrances can keep mice from wanting to get near your property. Use repellent around the outside and inside of your house. Further details can be found here.

The #1 way to get rid of field mice

To kill field mice, the best way is probably using traps. The great thing about your standard spring-loaded trap is that they are cheap, meaning that you can get lots of them and increases the kill rate. Other traps you can buy include glue traps, which are sheets of ultra-sticky glue that mice's feet will stick to. Unable to get free, they'll die on the trap.

So if you've got a problem with a field mice infestation, don't take too long to decide on a course of action. With the right methods, you won't have to deal with the pests for very long at all and can go back to your clean, safe, home again.

You can find further details of Mice Control here.

How to Get Rid of Field Mice in Yard

Source: https://pestkill.org/mice/field/

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