Rodent Control for Cabins, Sheds and Outbuildings

Buildings that sit closed are where rodent problems grow. A cabin in Cedar Crest, a hay barn in Moriarty, a well house in Edgewood or a garden shed in the South Valley gives deer mice and pack rats months of quiet. By the time someone opens the door, there are nests in the drawers and droppings on every shelf.

Health officials take this seriously. The New Mexico Department of Health tells people to ventilate cabins, sheds, garages and stored vehicles before going in, to soak nests and droppings with bleach solution and never to sweep them.

Outbuilding work usually covers:

• Ventilating before anyone starts work
• Trapping deer mice and pack rats with snap traps
• Soak-and-wipe cleanup of droppings, urine and nests
• Moving stored items outside to a sunny spot and discarding soiled cardboard
• Sealing doors, floor edges, vents and siding gaps
• Advice on storing feed, seed and bedding in metal containers

The CDC's steps for sheds, cabins and barns start with opening all the doors and windows and leaving for 30 minutes. Then gloves go on, and droppings and nests get soaked with disinfectant before they're touched. Dirt floors get sprayed. Stored boxes go out into the sun and air. Contaminated cardboard goes in the trash.

Trapping and sealing follow. Shed doors rarely fit tight, so they often need a sweep or a strip of metal along the bottom. Gaps where the floor meets the walls get closed with hardware cloth or sheet metal. Vents get screens. For a cabin, the provider checks the crawl space, the chimney chase and any gaps around the deck ledger.

Up here, rodents live all around you in the piñon and juniper. The City of Albuquerque says most plague cases in Bernalillo County come from the East Mountains, and NMSU says hantavirus risk tends to rise after wet years. Cabins also sit empty for long stretches, which gives a mouse family time to settle. And many outbuildings were built without any thought for rodents: plywood floors on blocks, gaps under the siding, doors that don't latch.

Livestock and chickens add feed. See rodents in chicken coops and deer mice in garages and sheds.

A few habits keep a closed building cleaner:

• Store bedding, cushions and clothes in sealed plastic bins
• Keep feed and seed in metal cans with tight lids
• Set snap traps before you leave for the season
• Air the building out before you go in after time away
• Keep woodpiles and hay away from the cabin walls

Do it in this order:

• Open every door and window and leave for at least 30 minutes
• Check for droppings before touching anything
• Put on gloves and a HEPA or N-100 mask if the space is tight
• Soak droppings and nests with bleach solution for 5 minutes, then wipe
• Bag bedding, cushions or cardboard with nests
• Check traps you left and reset them

Take all food out, including sealed packages. Store bedding, towels and cushions in sealed bins. Close floor drains and check door sweeps. Set snap traps along walls in the kitchen and bedrooms. If you'll be gone a long time, a monitoring plan can check traps and look for new gaps while you're away.

A shed that holds anything you'll want later is worth sealing even if you barely use it. The buildings nobody opens are where nests grow biggest, and the cleanup gets harder every season.

Many providers can work while you're out of town if access is arranged ahead of time. Ask for photos of what they found and what they sealed.

• Deer Mice in Garages and Sheds: Cleanup and Keeping Them Out
• Keeping Rodents Out of Chicken Coops and Feed
• Plague, Fleas and Pets Around Albuquerque

Related services: Deer Mouse Control / Droppings and Nest Cleanup / Prevention and Monitoring

Calls come from Northeast Heights, Sandia Foothills and North Albuquerque Acres, High Desert, Sandia Heights, Nob Hill, University Area, Southeast Heights, International District, Uptown, Four Hills, Mesa del Sol, South Valley, Westgate and the Southwest Mesa, Cedar Crest, Edgewood, Moriarty, Belen.