How to deal with rodents in the cellar: Prevention
If the problem has not yet affected you, it is better to take measures to prevent the appearance of rodents in the cellar or basement. It is necessary to block all their entrances and create unfavorable living conditions. To do this you should:
- cover the door to the cellar with metal sheets;
- glaze the windows;
- seal the pipe outlets;
- Cover the ventilation holes with fine mesh.
There are also repellent drugs. They are used for preventive purposes even at the stage of building a cellar or arranging a basement. For example, in the process of finishing work, you can add “Zimat” to paint or plaster. Then, in the next 3-5 years, rodents will not damage things and cables indoors.
How to keep potatoes underground from mice and rats
If you take timely measures, you can save most of the harvest. We need to act quickly and comprehensively:
- Using available means, quickly destroy or remove existing pests.
- Sort through the potatoes, discarding any damaged tubers. Wear protective gloves.
- Seal the cellar as much as possible.
- Organize further storage to prevent accidentally surviving or newly introduced animals from accessing the food.
Important!
Potato cores spoiled by pests should not be eaten. Such savings are fraught with serious health consequences. Even the most thorough processing does not guarantee that dangerous microorganisms carried by rodents are not preserved on vegetables.
How to remove mice from the cellar: Chemical methods
There are many folk methods that will help in the fight against rodents in the cellar. For example, in villages they may advise you how to get rid of rats in the cellar using ash. Rodents are afraid of it, since the substances contained in the ash corrode the mucous membranes and paws of rats and mice. They will leave the cellar or basement on their own if the floor is covered with a layer of ash. In addition, you can find out whether mice from the basement are entering the house by following tracks in your living and utility rooms.
More radical ways to get rid of rats are the use of special drugs, such as “Ratworm”, “STORM”, “Zookoumarin”. They are added to food and placed near rodent burrows.
On the forum Lotus writes:
“The oldest and most generally accepted method of fighting rodents is grain bait based on ZOOCOUMARIN. Usually, their preparation was carried out by the SES. Now ready-made baits have appeared: CLERAT - pink granules or STORM - small blue briquettes. These two products are the most effective I have used to control mice. Moreover, the effect of the drug on rodents begins gradually, they die 4-7 days after eating, which makes it impossible for particularly cunning individuals to suspect something is wrong.”
For example, 10 g of Zookoumarin powder is mixed with 1 cup of any non-liquid porridge and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil is added. The resulting mixture is formed into balls and placed where rats and mice can hide.
Ways to deal with mice in the cellar
You can fight mice in the cellar in winter and summer using various methods:
- mechanical methods;
- use of poisons;
- use of folk remedies;
- installation of ultrasonic repellers.
Mechanical methods of struggle
The most widely known method is to put a cat in the cellar, which loves to catch mice and is quite hungry. Even the smell of a cat can scare away rodents from this place. However, the method has some disadvantages: the cat cannot sit there for too long, and the owner will have to constantly check whether the cat has eaten mice in the cellar. You can’t put a cat there for the whole winter, and it’s unknown whether it will be able to catch all the rodents.
When letting a cat into the cellar, care should be taken to ensure that there are no poisonous baits or dead mice there. Otherwise, the death of the mousetrap will occur.
You can use other methods of control. Means of mechanical destruction of mice include:
- Cage mousetraps, which you can buy at the store or make yourself. Their main disadvantage is the small number of pests caught, but their advantage is their convenience for controlling mice in the winter and the ability to control the number of rodents killed.
- Glue traps are designed to stick to a mouse that is trying to reach the bait. This method is not always suitable for people who prefer not to watch the agony of mice.
- Homemade traps with bait: from a plastic bottle with a little vegetable oil poured in, placed at a slight angle. When the mouse climbs in there to smell the oil, it will fall into the bottle and will not be able to get out again due to its paws sliding through the oil.
How to catch a rat in the cellar: biological method
Our ancestors knew how to deal with rats in the cellar. They got rat-catching cats. In addition, fox terriers, hedgehogs and dogs of some other breeds are excellent rodent hunters.
At the same time, it is recommended to keep pets on a strict diet, since a well-fed animal is unlikely to make any effort to catch a mouse or rat.
Method number 4: natural predators
Everything is simple here. It is enough to get a cat, preferably a mongrel cat, that can catch mice. Usually they choose a pet that has or had excellent hunters in their family.
It is clear that if you have a cat and mouse trap, it is undesirable to use poison. Otherwise, it will be possible not only to get rid of harmful eared creatures for a while, but also to lose your beloved pet:
- he either accidentally eats the bait;
- or catch a poisoned mouse and through it receive a lethal dose of a poisonous substance.
In any case, during a chemical attack, it is better to close all domestic animals for a while and not allow them on the local safari.
How to remove mice from the cellar: mechanical methods
An effective way to combat small rodents in a basement or cellar are mousetraps. Small traps are more suitable for rats. Before using traps, you should wear rubber gloves and wash the devices to remove human odor.
Then they are lubricated with something sweet and food is placed inside, preferably fatty, such as lard or bread and butter.
Mousetraps and other spring traps are replaced every 5-10 days and checked daily. If they do not work within the first week, then consider the method ineffective and do not waste time.
You can try ultrasonic rodent repellers.
On one of the forums, user Klod writes:
“A friend has a chicken coop, and there is an ultrasonic rodent repeller in it and it works. There are no mice or rats. The chickens don't care. The device, however, was made in Brezhnev’s times (and has been working since then).”
It is better to take devices with the ability to change the frequency of the signal, since over time the rodents get used to it and cease to be afraid of the “squeaker”. The advantages of such products include safety for children and the humane nature of the method, thanks to which you do not have to deal with the corpses of rodents.
Strong odors and their effect on mice
In addition to sounds, pungent odors can drive rodents out of their usual habitat, so you can put them in a mouse cellar:
- peppermint oil;
- clove essential oil;
- kerosene;
- naphthalene;
- smoke bomb;
- nutmeg;
- singed wool;
- black root, which is popularly called rat racer due to its specific properties;
- camphor.
The use of most products that affect the scent sensors of mice is limited by the confined space of the cellar and the presence of products in it. If potatoes stored in the cellar are saturated with the smell of smoke, you can suffer greater losses than from damage by rodents.
Also, if it is impossible to properly ventilate the cellar, there is a danger of harm to human health due to inhalation of dangerous gases.
Shrew in the cellar: how to get rid of it
The shrew is another rodent that can destroy crops. Cats are effective destroyers of this animal. In addition, they can be removed by pouring 150-200 ml of a 2-3 percent ammonium nitrate solution into the burrows.
In any case, a clear design during the construction of the cellar and careful care for it will be an excellent prevention of the appearance of rodents. Entrust the construction of your cellar to professionals!
Cellars Volzhanin
Monolithic reinforced concrete cellars in Volzhanin are not susceptible to rodent infestations because they:
- Made from hydroconcrete grade M 450
- Have steel reinforcement of the body
- Are monolithic
- They have only 2 possibilities of access for rodents - through ventilation holes, which, in turn, are closed with mesh
Our cellars are ready for use and are not afraid of ground movement, snow melting and rodents.
Our managers will select the most suitable cellar configuration for you and calculate the turnkey installation.
Method number 5: scaring away
There are two methods to scare away mice:
- or using the achievements of modern science and technology, for example, an ultrasonic repeller;
- or through unpleasant odors.
We suggest you read: How to get rid of bedbugs in an apartment
The ultrasound device emits a buzzing sound that is unpleasant for the mouse ear and the baby leaves its home, but an uncomfortable place to live. The unit also has its disadvantages:
- he only chases away the little ones for a while - as soon as the unit stops working, the whole big-eared brethren comes back;
- there is an effect of getting used to the same sound, so the sound frequency needs to be changed (some devices have a similar option built-in);
- the device must operate for at least three weeks before rodents begin to escape from the cellar;
- In hypersensitive people, especially children, “musical trills” can cause headaches and anxiety.
Among the aromas that are unpleasant to the mouse's sense of smell, the best are:
- black root herbs, tansy, peppermint, wild rosemary;
- the smell of burnt rubber, mothballs, vinegar, burnt wool or fluff;
- some spices (cinnamon, coriander, cilantro).
After setting the mixture on fire, the mice run without looking back, while most of the fugitives die from suffocation and sulfur dioxide poisoning.
The product must be used carefully and in compliance with safety rules:
- carry out work with gloves;
- the room is processed only by two people: one does it, the other observes the process from outside, and if there are signs of poisoning, the “disinfector” provides first aid and calls a doctor;
- processing is carried out without children and pets nearby;
- do not set fire to a checker on a wooden floor, so as not to start a fire;
- One day after treatment, be sure to ventilate the basement.
Prevention of rodents
To prevent pests from infesting, it is necessary to carry out a set of measures. First of all, make the entrance to the room inaccessible. Carefully inspect the storage area and identify places where rodents can enter. This could be the floor, walls, ventilation hole (even covered from the outside).
If passages, cracks, holes, or burrows are found, they are filled with cement, or they can be tightly covered with stones. It is advisable to concrete the earthen floor or turn it over with broken glass, followed by backfilling with earth (the method is cheap and effective).
It is useful to cover the doors with sheets of metal on both sides. All lids must fit well and close tightly. Cover the ventilation pipe and all vents with a metal grill or mesh on the inside and outside.
Additional measures that create uncomfortable conditions for pests will not hurt:
- If they enter the cellar, they should not find access to food. It is advisable to place tubers in an airtight container. Can be stored in nets in a suspended state.
- Line the bottom and walls of the potato compartment with juniper or pine branches. They also cover the laid potatoes on top.
- Scatter regular ash on the floor. It sticks to the paws and fur, and from there gets on the mucous membranes of animals, adversely affecting them.
- It is better to green seed potatoes, then pests will not touch them.
There are many effective ways to protect potatoes from rodents. Having thought through and organized a system for preserving the crop well, you don’t have to worry that someone else will eat the potatoes and not you.
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Getting rid of rats in the basement or cellar is not so easy. Rodents enter through small cracks in walls, doors, and windows. They are attracted by darkness, warmth, the presence of food, and moisture. Basement rats build nests in multi-storey buildings, breed, and live there all year round. In private homes, pest invasion in the cellar is associated with the onset of cold weather. May start periodically.
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