Seal entry points with caulk, weather stripping, steel wool or wire screen. Repel mice naturally with a spray mix of apple cider and water, fabric softener sheets or homemade hot pepper spray. Pest control professionals use several humane methods for rodent control, including live traps.
Mothballs - Contain naphthalene and may deter mice when used in strong enough doses. Ammonia - Mimics the odor of predators' urine and can act as a repellent. Peppermint Oil, Cayenne Pepper, or Cloves - Have strong scents that may repel mice.
#1 Baking Soda
Rodents can't expel carbon dioxide as humans can, so when the bicarbonate in the baking soda reacts with the acids in the rodent's stomach and produces carbon dioxide, the gas builds up inside the digestive system. Eventually, it will cause a blockage or rupture and kill the mouse.
Ultrasonic devices with a sound frequency of 10,000 Hz are most effective at keeping mice away.
Baking soda
Baking soda is a common household product that is poisonous to mice. Simply sprinkle the product in areas where the intruder likes to go. You could mix the baking soda in with mouse bait: cereal, dried fruit, peanut butter, etc.
Some strong scents people often use as a natural mouse repellent include lavender, peppermint oil, other natural essential oils, and vinegar solutions.
So, we know that vinegar helps repulse other pests, but does vinegar repel mice? Because of its pungent smell, it can help deter mice from infesting and spreading their droppings to certain areas of your home. This scent is often too intense for a rodent's sensitive nose, like peppermint and other essential oils.
One study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that coffee grounds were more effective at repelling rodents than commercially available products. Coffee's bitter compounds are responsible for its repelling effects. These compounds make the coffee unpalatable to rats and mice.
The theory is that the mice will inadvertently eat the snack thinking that it is a treat. Once they consume enough toothpaste with fluorine and ethylene glycol, they will eventually die.
Rats, mice and other insect don't like the smell of peppermint, lemon, and cinnamon. Make tea with these rodent irritants and place the used teabags in places like the back of your pantry, under the kitchen sink or behind the refrigerator to repel these unwanted pests.
Take time to look both low and high, looking at areas in the home such as kitchen cabinets, baseboards, air vents, and near appliances. Also, check outside the home, looking for gaps in the foundation, around the garage, and near pipes, gas lines, or electrical wiring.
Mice won't disappear by themselves
Unless you change your habits to deprive mice of their food, wipe out the existing population and proof your property to stop them coming back, you'll always be sharing your home with disease-spreading, food-stealing mice.
It's awfully tempting to just ignore the minimal signs you've noticed so far. It's not so far from spring, after all, and you may have heard that mice will leave on their own once it warms up. The truth is, they won't. Mice are an extremely dangerous pest, and getting rid of them should be an absolute priority.
As for the lights inside your house, it is not an effective mice deterrent. This is because they can easily look for dark areas to hide inside houses until such time as all lights are turned off. While the lights are on, they can hide inside walls, crawl spaces, attics, and ceilings.
When rodents eat baking soda (bicarbonate of soda), it reacts with their stomach acid to foam up and release carbon dioxide gas, which has nowhere to go because they cant burp!
Both rats and mice are good climbers and can climb vertical walls and "shimmy" up between walls and drain pipes. Rats are also excellent swimmers and have been known to enter premises through the water traps of the toilet bowl when infestations occur in the main sewerage system.
Mice are nocturnal creatures, so they are most active between dusk and dawn. They don't usually like bright lights, but a mouse may sometimes be seen during the day, especially if its nest has been disturbed or it is seeking food. Seeing them in the day also can indicate a large infestation in a home.
A study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that the essential oil of eucalyptus was effective at repelling mice, both in the short and long term. Eucalyptus oil has a strong smell, which contributes to its ability to repel mice.
Mice hate the pungent smell of lavender, which is why most people consider them as repellents. However, homemade repellents are ineffective against mice. You will need super-concentrated forms and must re-apply them concurrently to make them work – which is expensive.