Mice are a constant frustration for home and business owners, especially at this time of year. Mice, like people, want to stay warm, and the closest thing they’ve got to a winter vacation to Orlando is a nice cozy nest made out of the insulation in your walls. Any structure that is easy for mice to access and contains a steady source of food and heat is susceptible, which means apartment buildings and condos are at risk as well. So if you own or manage a building with tenants, how do you handle a mouse infestation? If you’re a tenant, how do you go about getting your mouse control problem taken care of?
Multi-unit buildings have to be addressed as a whole. Mice will populate an entire structure, and treating simply one apartment in a building will not solve the problem. For tenants, it may be a challenge to convince your landlord that every unit has to be treated in order to take care of the infestation definitively. And for landlords, it can be very difficult to get each tenant to agree to undergo a mouse control treatment program. The solution in both cases is education and communication. The more landlords and tenants understand about the kind of damage mice cause, the diseases they spread, and just how quickly an infestation can escalate, the more cooperative they will be in finding a resolution.
Rebecca Fyffe, ABC Wildlife’s President, owner, and all-round fearless leader, has written a very thorough and comprehensive article about dealing with mouse infestations in multi-unit buildings. This article, in partnership with the Illinois Chapter of the Community Associations Institute, is a wonderful resource for information on rodent biology and behavior, how to communicate with tenants, and which abatement and exclusion methods work the best. If you’re dealing with a mouse control problem, I highly recommend that you read it and share it with your landlord, building manager, or tenants.
ABC Wildlife is more than simply animal and pest control. For the safety of the public, animals, and insects, we believe in equipping people with as much information as possible. For this reason, we are always happy and willing to give presentations at condo and community association meetings. If you would like to schedule us for your meeting, or if you simply have a wildlife management question, please give us a call at (847) 870-7175. Our representatives are full of useful information and eager to impart their wisdom. We’ll be waiting to hear from you!
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Karen Jesse is a wildlife writer and educator licensed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Illinois Department of Public Health in urban wildlife management and structural pest control. She enjoys hiking, telling people how cool skunks are, and opera.
Rebecca Fyffe is a journalist and urban wildlife manager. Her firm, ABC Humane Wildlife & Pest Control Inc., in Arlington Heights, Ill., humanely manages urban wildlife and insects in the interest of human health and safety from an environmental sustainability perspective with a love of nature and a deep respect for all living things.
