When Rodents Raid Your Refrigerator: How to Prevent Mice from Accessing Your Refrigerator
Mice are so tiny that keeping them out of places they shouldn't be can prove taxing. However, when you reach into your refrigerator for a midnight snack the last thing you want to see is a mouse perched right next to the food you were about to grab. How on earth could a mouse get inside a refrigerator?
Well, given their size, a maximum of 20 cm in length and 30 grams in weight, they can comfortably squeeze through a hole the size of a pen cap. If your refrigerator door is always sealed tightly shut and is relatively new, you first need to identify their entry point.
Identify Their Entry Point
To actually stop the mice getting into your refrigerator, you will need to locate their point of entry. There are only two possible ways that a mouse could have entered your refrigerator. It could have gnawed its way into your refrigerator. However, although this is possible, it is unlikely. Nevertheless, examine the inside of your refrigerator just in case.
It is more likely that the mouse entered your refrigerator through the condensation drain hole. This is usually a small hole located in the back of your refrigerator through which condensation flows into the drip pan beneath the unit. This is the most likely entry point. Just in case, check your fridge door seals and make sure that there is nothing partially blocking the door when it closes, such as a curtain.
Seal the Hole
This isn't as simple as merely plugging the hole with a cloth. You have to bear in mind that your refrigerator still needs an outlet for the condensation, otherwise it will build up inside the fridge. Seal the hole with steel wool. This accomplishes two things. First, the small gaps in the wool will allow the condensation to drain from your refrigerator.
Secondly, the wool should be tough enough to keep your rodent friend from getting back inside your refrigerator. Once your fridge is sealed, you then need to get rid of the mouse.
Place Traps Around Skirting Boards
Do not use poison under the refrigerator, otherwise, you could be left with the rotting corpse of a dead mouse trapped somewhere inside your refrigerator. Instead, place traps with mice bait or peanut butter around the skirting boards and edges of the kitchen. When mice are on the move, they tend to stick to skirting boards and walls. Very rarely do they run over open floors.
Deprived of its food source, the mouse should go in search of a new source of food and hopefully fall prey to your waiting traps.