8 reasons we think mouse control problems get worse at Christmas

• It’s not true that mice move into homes in winter to stay warm

• We see more mice because our behaviour changes during Christmas

• Leaving out party food can give mice a festive feast

• Expert warns against 24 hour mouse control services that don’t work

Christmas is the time to be jolly, and to be worried about mice in the house. There is a widespread belief that mouse control problems get worse in winter because the mice come in from the cold.

That idea, that mice move in to shelter in our homes when it gets colder, is a myth. The reason? The rodent that lives in our home is House Mouse. It has evolved to live with us humans. So, the mice are always with us.

That is where Christmas comes in. The festive season is a time when we change our behaviour significantly, and it is this that makes us think that we have mice in the mouse for the first time.

Superproof often gets more calls during and soon after Christmas. There are different reasons for this, but none are to do with mice coming in from the cold.

8 Reasons mice problems can rise at Christmas

What, then, are some of the reasons we believe mouse control problems get worse at Christmas? Here are eight of them to be getting on with:

1. We’re at home for longer. Most people have time off over Christmas. Because of that we start to notice mice, or that signs of mice, in the house, when before we did not. It is as simple as that.

2. We stay up later. Late night TV, parties, allowing children to stay up later. The later we stay up, the more we encroach on the time when nocturnal mice become active. A dark flash out of the corner of the eye after one too many weak shandies and you suddenly nice something that was always there: we’ve got mice!

3. We do more cleaning and clearing. At Christmas we spend as much time preparing to enjoy ourselves as enjoying ourselves. That is why we start to notice the signs of mice for the first time.

4. We buy more food. How many of us buy so much food at Christmas that we haven’t got places to store it, so we leave it in various corners of rooms? That is heaven sent for mice. It is like presenting them with a Christmas smorgasbord. Then we leave food out. We pile leftovers in dishes on kitchen counters. Nuts and crisps stay in bowls on the coffee table. For mice, Christmas can be a feast for mice as well as us humans.

5. We drop more crumbs. Christmas is a time to be lazy. Once the festive cleaning has been done, most of us drop our standards for a few days. That leaves mice knee deep (mice knees?) in portion sized delights – bits of mince pies, nuts, flakes of chocolate. Yum!

6. We entertain inquisitive visitors. We might not notice the mice, but the mother-in-law probably will. We get used to our own mess. But visitors look at your home with a fresh pair of eyes.

7. Maybe they have experienced mouse control problems themselves, and can point out what you never noticed.

8. We’ve done more DIY. The month before Christmas is often a time to do DIY. Freshen up the kitchen, plumb in a new (bigger) fridge, install a new cooker. All this can create more holes in the fabric of your home, through which mice can roam. More entry points to your living spaces means more sightings of mice.

 

During Christmas, SUPERPROOF customers often notice mice for the first time, not because they have just arrived, but because our behaviour changes, which brings us into contact we them.

The food bonanza mice can enjoy at Christmas can be a problem in the weeks that follow. Their breeding cycle is measured in days, so by mid-January there could be a mini mouse population explosion.

The Expert Opinion

SUPERPROOF says: “We would advise people not to contact a pest control company offering a 24-hour emergency mouse removal service. All they will do is put down some mouse poison or mouse traps, which will make no difference to the underlying problem.

“It would be better to be a little patient and put in place a mice removal strategy that works. Observe good house-keeping rules: clean floors and surfaces thoroughly, and store food in robust containers.

“Then call us to book a comprehensive programme of mouse proofing very soon after Christmas. Then you can remove the mice and stop mice getting into your living space again, so your home will become mice-free.”