7 Effective Ways to Get Rid of Mice Without Killing Them

If you can spot one mouse in your house, you can rest assured there are more.

Mice usually break into your house for food and comfortable shelter for the winters. While mice may not seem harmful on the surface, they can give birth to plenty of health problems, such as, Plague, Lyme disease, Colorado Tick Fever and many more. Plus, they do an excellent job of eating away your wires.

Over the course of this piece, I’ll discuss how to get rid of mice without killing them.

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7 Simple Yet Effective Ways To Eliminate Mice Without Killing Them

1. Prevent Mice From Entering Your Home

While “Prevention is better than cure” may sound like a cliché nowadays, that doesn’t make it any less true.

I don’t see a single reason to kill a creature when you have the option of preventing it from invading your place.

First of all, you need to trace down all of their potential entrances.
Check out all the holes, creeks and vents that allow them to break in. Remember, even a dime-size hole can let in tiny critters.
After that, cement all the holes using steel wool wrapped in calk so it stays in place. Regardless of the size of the hole, you need to fix them and fill them with cement or metal if possible by using metal sheeting.

2. Use Natural Mouse Repellents

natural mice repellents

If used correct, peppermint oil does an excellent job of chasing mice away, with having to hurt them.

Mice can’t stand its smell, thereby leave.

Dip a cotton ball in peppermint oil and then place it in the entrances of the mice.

While not as effective as peppermint oil, cloves also work to repel mice. Just add some dried cloves in cheesecloth sachets and place them in the entrances.

With all that said, nothing beats housecats when it comes to repelling mice.

The smell of a cat signals mice trouble. So they become cautious and almost always stay away. Cat litter also does a good job of keeping the mice at bay because it signals the mice about the presence of the predator. So they don’t cross that path anymore.

Ammonia does an amazing job of getting rid of mice. Because they smell like the urine of cats, mice keep away from places where ammonia-soaked rags are kept.

Keep Your House Clean And Dry

Keeping your home clean and dry is crucial to prevent mice from breaking into your house.

Don’t keep your food open because that only attracts more mice. Similarly, open trash cans are a treat for mice. You should also take extra measures to clean your home and yard. The crawl spaces, basements and attics must be dry and have nice ventilation.

It’s ideal to store firewood 20 feet awa from your house. Shrubbery also should be trimmed on a regular basis. Get rid of all the moisture sources, clogged drains, leaked pipes for instance. These are perfect breeding spots for pests.

So it’s crucial every grocery bag and box that comes in our house is checked thoroughly.

Ultrasonic Mice Repeller

These devices emit high-frequency sounds waves that mice can’t stand. Ultimately, stopping mice from invading into your home. You have to plug in the repeller in a room where mice infestation in an issue. Keep the space clear because objects will only dilute the waves emanated by the device. Plug it in somewhere close to the entrance or exit way of the mice, it won’t make a difference otherwise.

I suggest you use multiple ultrasonic mice repellers to combat mouse infestation in your entire house.

What’s more, experts don’t suggest using this method alone to eliminate mice.

If you’re planning to pick one of these devices up, here are my suggestions:

These repellants have a good reputation in preventing mice. But I highly suggest you use repellants alongside other remedies I’ve mentioned here for making the most out of it.

Check my complete guide on the best ultrasonic pest repellers on the market.

Organic Deterrent Sprays

Organic deterrent sprays keep mice at bay, while not harming your pets as well.

They’re made of organic chemicals designed to treat mice without poison. Plus, such sprays remove the risk off cats because there’s no chance of them catching any disease because of feasting on mice.
You need to spray these a perimeter surrounding the needed space. Here are some organic deterrent sprays I prefer alongside their reviews:

Mighty Mint – 16oz Peppermint Oil Mice Repellent Spray– You can use this to repel mice in your home, as well as in your car (and even in RV boat). It emits the odor of Peppermint Oil and it’s safe for your children and pets.
I loved that it’s made with natural ingredients. The best part – you don’t have to go through the hassle of cleaning mouse traps.
All Natural Rodent Repellent Spray – You can use this spray as a single step solution – indoor and outdoor. They are incredibly effective on rodents and mice and come with safety standards. What’s more, they don’t pose any chemical hazards. Apart from the quality, I liked the quantity they’re providing for the price.
It’s made with licensed exterminators and is pretty potent. Created with 100% natural elements. It also comes with a fresh smell so you don’t get irritated.

If you’re a DIY fan, you can make your personal deterrent by combining 1 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of ammonia. Put it in a spray bottle and shake it nicely. Then spray it on areas where mice usually stay. The majority of users have voted for it over store-bought mice repellants for its non-toxic build.

Humane Traps

Humane traps is another way to go about getting rid of mice without killing them.

There are plenty of simple ways to create your DIY mouse trap. Simply take a heavy and large glass jar, add some cheese spread or peanut butter at the bottom of the jar because mice love it. Turn it upside down; give a coin to prop it up. As the mouse climbs the jar to get the food, it’ll get trapped.

You can do the same with a shoebox. Plastic bottles, pencil or plastic buckets work as well. The best place to put these traps would be at where you suspect mice to frequent. You can release the trapped mice outdoors, but I must consider your State laws! However, DIY traps might not be as effective as you assume. If you don’t want to create the traps, make sure check out our ultimate guide on the best traps for mice out there.

The Best Mouse Traps: Complete Guide

There’s another kind of humane traps that catch and release mice you can get for minimal costs. While it does trap the mouse, it doesn’t kill it, so you can set it free in a natural environment later on. While thay may seem harmless on the surface, but releasing living mice back to the outdoors often increases mouse problems.

Aluminum Foil

Aluminimium foil is effective to keep mice away.

Just cover any surface where you see mouse excretes using an aluminium foil. For instance, the kitchen desk or the countertops. Cover them at night, and fold them in the morning.

While the foils are reusable, I suggest you change them time to time because mice might track their own steps on it. For some reason, mice don’t step or walk over aluminium foils. Perhaps, they don’t like the feel or taste of it. However, it offers you the best result when you combine it with the other methods I stated above.

To Wrap It Up

For those of you who find mice too cute to be killed, I’ve discussed a few natural ways to prevent them (without the help of an exterminator).

Here’s a recap on how you can get rid of these small critters:

Cementing every creek and hole
Using natural repellants like peppermint, cloves, and ammonia
Keeping your home and sorroundings clean & dry
Using ultrasonic repellers that can keep mice at bay without pets
Using organic deterrent sprays in garage, gardens and walls
Using humane traps that won’t harm the mice, but aid your purpose
Using aluminium foil at places where mice usually hang around

With all that said, none of these tactics are foolproof. You can get the best results just by using a combination of the methods I mentioned above.