Do mothballs or ammonia help repel rodents?

Many people find that mothballs can repel a lot of pests. If your house is infested with rodents, you might wonder if mothballs are effective. To be direct, the answer is no.

You might be wondering why. The answer is, it would take around 4 – 6 months of placing mothballs around your house before you can get actual results. Most of the time, the mice will be able to get used to the smell of ammonia. They might temporarily leave their shelter for a short time. They will just simply create a new home in another part of your house. Your house is where their food and shelter is. Mothballs can't make them leave it. They might die of hypothermia or from predators if they even stay outside for a day. Rodents can multiply quickly. They might be in the nesting stage. If that's the case, there will be a low chance that they will leave your house just because of a bad smell.

Many people used to buy mothballs from stores. They believed that rodents will leave if the environment is not suitable for them to live. The strong smell of mothballs is believed to have an unpleasant effect on mice. However, rodents will still prefer the food inside your house rather than leave. They can just ignore the mothballs. Humans can get used to the smell of anything unpleasant over a period of time. That is the same case for rodents. A study shows that mice will just step around a mothball when they encounter one.



Bad Effect of Mothballs or Ammonia

In order to make the mothball effective, you might have to place a bag of it in every corner of your house. That will not do as you might be the one who will go out of your house if too many mothballs are around. Aside from the fact that ammonia is not safe for the environment, many people can develop allergies because of the smell. Ammonia is carcinogenic in nature. Continued exposure can be dangerous. Mothballs can be harmful when your pets or small children find them. Toddlers tend to put everything in their mouths.

Alternative to Mothballs

There are a lot of safer ways in order for you to get rid of rodents inside your house. You can use a mousetrap, glue traps, a rat cage and a lot more. Prevention is also the best way if you don’t want pests inside your house. Make sure to clean your house properly. Do not leave any scraps of food around. You can keep a pet cat or a pet dog. Make sure to fix any holes or gaps in walls, roofs, and windows. Don’t pile the garbage around. If you are already infested, and all the other methods still can’t make the rodents leave, call a pest control agency near you. They will be able to find safer ways in order to permanently get rid of pests inside your house.


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