A garage provides a place to park your car and store items you may not use that often—but it’s typically not a place you spend a lot of time. This makes it the perfect place for rodents to hide, nest, and infest.
Garages are oftentimes full of clutter, which means there are many places for mice and other pests to hide. It’s common to have items such as workbenches, tools, summer toys, holiday decorations, bicycles, and boxes stored in this area. Rodents use these items to climb, jump, and walk across until they find a great hiding place. Even a neat and organized garage gives mice plenty of places to find shelter. The stored cardboard boxes and insides of walls are two of their favorite places to build a nest.
Mice survive and thrive by living near people. Just like us, they need food and shelter to survive, so sharing our homes—usually without our knowledge or permission—is an easy choice for rodents. Your garage stays relatively warm and dry in the winter, providing shelter from extreme weather. It also offers protection from predators that threaten rodents like hawks, owls, stray cats, and dogs.
If you store food items in your garage, like dog food, mice will be even happier. These critters have a highly developed sense of smell so they will be able to pick up on these scents—making your garage even more attractive.
Whether you have already encountered an infestation or you want to prevent one from happening in the future, there are several ways to ‘mouse-proof’ your garage that can help.
How to Keep Mice Out of Your Garage
The easiest way to get rid of mice in garages and make sure they don’t come back is to follow these three steps:
1. Clean up clutter in your garage
Clear the clutter that lets mice hide and nest in your garage. Mice love chewing on cardboard; get rid of cardboard boxes in exchange for hard-sided plastic containers with tight-fitting lids. If you store extra pantry food, large bags of pet food, bird seed, or grass seed in the garage, make sure it’s stored in an airtight, chew-proof container as well. These are all food sources that rodents will love.
2. Clean the exterior space around your garage
Trim back bushes, trees, and other vegetation surrounding the exterior of the garage. Mice can use this vegetation to climb, jump, and get closer to potential entry points. If you store your garbage cans near your garage, or in it, make sure the cans have tight-fitting lids. Mice are attracted to trash, and wide-open garbage cans can encourage them to explore nearby structures
3. Seal up entry points that mice can enter through
Inspect your garage for possible openings that rodents may be able to fit through. Pay extra attention to the areas like doors, dryer vents, and utility lines. Make sure the garage door has an intact seal or door sweep along its bottom. Add weatherstripping to other doors in the space. If you see small cracks, fill them with silicone caulk. Try patching small holes and gaps with steel wool; use hardware cloth for larger openings.
4. Use a plant-based rodent repellent
Remember the highly developed sense of smell mentioned earlier? Fresh Cab® rodent repellent uses a combination of balsam fir oil and other essential oils to overwhelm little mouse noses and drive them away. If a mouse cannot rely on its nose to find food or avoid predators, it will avoid the area and go somewhere else. Just place Fresh Cab pouches around your garage and even hang them using a handy pouch pod to ensure you get rid of mice and prevent them from returning to the space. This bio-pesticide rodent repellent is registered by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) for use indoors and in enclosed areas. It’s also safe around pets and children when used as directed.
Rodent Control Methods to Avoid
Some homeowners quickly turn to the use of exterminators, poisons, traps, or all the above to solve their mouse problem. However, these come with their own set of problems.
Exterminators
Exterminators aren’t always necessary or the best option for removing mice. The chemicals exterminators use can pose health risks to humans and pets, and the process can be costly and disruptive.
They also often address the symptoms rather than the root cause, leading to recurring infestations. Instead, naturally preventative measures, such as sealing entry points and maintaining cleanliness, can effectively and safely keep mice at bay without the need for professional extermination services.
Glue Traps
Glue traps catch mice and hold them until you remove them, requiring you to either kill the caught rodent or transfer it far away from your home. These traps cause the critter to suffer, as they do not kill but keep it stuck until it starves to death, which can be hard to witness due to the mouse’s squeals and cries.
Glue traps can also catch unintended creatures. For example, there are stories of sticky traps getting stuck on a dog’s ear with a live, squealing mouse still attached, highlighting the potential for unintended and distressing consequences.
Snap Traps
Snap traps can be dangerous for children and pets, who are naturally curious and like to investigate new things. Kids can get hurt by live traps snapping on their fingers or toes if accidentally stepped on, and pets may try to lick the trap, especially if it is baited with something tasty like peanut butter.
As with glue traps, disposing of mice caught in snap traps is not a fun task and can be hazardous in itself. Removing dead mice from spring traps requires caution, as these pests carry diseases and parasites, making it essential to avoid all contact when handling them.
How Do They Get Into the Garage?
An average house mouse is pretty small, only about 5-8 inches long, including its tail. This means these pests can enter through the tiniest of openings; they only need to fit their little head through, and the rest of their body will squeeze in, too. Cracks, gaps, and holes that are only ¼ of an inch wide—about the size of a pencil eraser—are wide open doors for rodents.
You may think, “The garage door is closed, so I should be safe.” However, most garage doors have small gaps under them that do not seal tightly. If there are drains, pipes, electrical, or utility lines passing through your garage, those areas may also have openings big enough for a mouse to pass through. Dryer vents create opportunities for them to get in as well, so inspect those carefully.
Signs of Mice Infestations
Recognizing the signs of a mouse infestation early is crucial for solving any pest problem. Look for the following signs around your garage space:
- Nests or nesting materials made from shredded paper or fabric
- Mouse droppings, which resemble small, dark pellets
- Chewed boxes, wires, or food containers
- Gnaw marks on furniture or walls
- Unusual noises, such as scratching or squeaking, especially at night
- Grease marks or tracks along walls and baseboards of the garage
EarthKind’s Fresh Cab® repels rodents from treated areas and is a DIY-friendly alternative to dangerous mouse traps, harmful chemicals, and expensive pest control bills. Just place a few pouches in your garage area, and the rodents will take off and stay away. Find Fresh Cab online or at a retailer near you.
