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Homeowner guide

Fall Rodent-Proofing for South Dakota Homes

The most cost-effective pest control in South Dakota happens in September and October: sealing mice out before the cold pushes them in. Once zone 6A temperatures drop, every heated structure competes with the outdoors — and the mice pick the structure.

Where they get in

• Gaps around utility penetrations — gas, AC lines, dryer vents, hose bibs.
• Garage door corner seals and thresholds.
• Foundation cracks and unscreened weep gaps.
• Door sweeps with daylight showing — a mouse fits through a gap the width of a pencil.

What works

1. Walk the perimeter at knee height on a sunny fall day; mark every gap you can slide a pencil into.
2. Seal with the right materials — steel wool plus sealant, hardware cloth over vents, new door sweeps. Foam alone is chewable.
3. Remove attractants — bird seed and pet food in chew-proof containers, firewood off the foundation.
4. Monitor the garage and utility areas through October — early catches mean the exclusion worked and the stragglers are few.

Hearing scratching in walls or finding droppings in January means the fall window was missed — still fixable, but now it's exclusion plus removal. Either way, an inspection tells you what you're dealing with.

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