Your shed is supposed to be a place to store things like lawn care equipment and gardening supplies. So when the mice move in and decide the shed is their home, it's understandable that you're frustrated. You can't exactly serve them with an eviction notice, but thankfully, there are some steps you can follow to get rid of them.

Remove their nests

You may have to move some things to find them, but there are very likely to be nests in your shed if this is where the mice are spending their time. When you do find the nests, remove them. (Wear long sleeves, gloves, and a mask as you do, since you don't want to be exposed to any mouse droppings in and around the nests.) Sometimes mice will rebuild nests right where they were, but usually, they will move on and build in a new location because they perceive the destruction of their nests as a threat.

Find out how they're getting in

Look over the shed for any holes and cracks. Sometimes older sheds will develop cracks between the boards and gaps between the ground and the base. This is likely how the mice found their way in, all it takes is one hole. Once you locate the hole or multiple holes, you will need to patch them up. You could just nail a board over the hole. If it's a smaller hole, buy a can of spray foam insulation at the hardware store and spray some of it in there. It will expand to fill the hole, and mice, as a rule, do not chew through it.

Set a few traps

Even after you seal the holes and clear away the mouse nests, there may be a mouse or two still inside the shed. And now they are trapped inside. The best way to get rid of these last few mice is to set a couple of traps. The classic, spring-style traps work well. However, if you do not want to kill the mice, you can instead buy a live trap. Just make sure, after you do catch the mice, that you wear gloves and protect yourself from bites as you release them. 

You only have to follow the three steps above to evict mice from a shed. If you are still seeing mice after following these steps, you may need to make more drastic repairs such as replacing a worn roof or rebuilding a wall. Rodent control is definitely not a task for the weary.

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