by Derrick |
Last Updated: February 14, 2022 If you have mice or other rodents in the house, getting rid of them is probably your top priority. However, it takes roughly 1 to 3 months to completely remove rodents from your home. During this period, you’ll want to prevent mice from accessing your table and cooking areas to prevent illness.
Here are some tips on how to stop mice from climbing table legs:
- Wrap table legs with finished sheet metal.
- Create an inverted cone around the table leg.
- Set mouse traps near the base of the table legs.
- Allow your cat or dog to hunt indoors.
- Protect the table legs with glass.
Mice are curious animals and talented climbers, which makes them a difficult pest to control once they’ve gotten into the house. Keep reading to learn more about how to prevent mice from climbing up the legs of your table.
Mice Can Climb Almost Any Surface
Common house mice are surprisingly acrobatic climbers. According to the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, using their claws and tails as grip, support, and balance tools when needed, mice can climb up even some of the smoothest surfaces.
Here’s a list of surfaces that mice can climb, and so, aren’t effective for protecting table legs:
- Wood – Most wood is relatively soft, even hardwoods. This makes it easy for mice to dig their claws into the surface of the wood and climb up.
- Leather – Leather, while smooth to the touch, is soft and easily penetrated by claws.
- Weathered sheet metal – Some metals can be effective at preventing mice from climbing a table leg; however, if the metal is weathered or corrugated, the porous surface would make it simple for mice to climb.
- PVC pipes – Although it would be convenient to encase table legs in a smooth PVC line, the surface of the pipes are still too soft to prevent mice from climbing. Also, according to Rodent Guide, mice can use their tails to assist climbing by wrapping them around the pipe.
Now that we know that mice can unfortunately climb almost any surface, let’s go over how we can stop them from climbing table legs.
1. Wrap Table Legs With Finished Sheet Metal
Sheet metal can serve to protect your table legs from climbing rodents such as rats and mice. If you’re using sheet metal to keep mice off the table, be sure to use smooth finished metals. The porous surface of some metals, such as aluminum siding and aesthetically distressed metals, provide mice with adequate footholds for climbing.
The majority of metals, however, are too smooth for mice to climb, according to Cement Answers. Sheet metal is useful for protecting table legs due to its easily malleable qualities. Bending the sheet metal around the table leg may take a little DIY handiwork, but your efforts will be rewarded by a mouse-free table.
2. Create an Inverted Cone Around the Table Leg
One of the most effective ways to prevent mice from climbing table legs is to create an inverted cone around the leg, according to sources from Homeowners Hub. This can be done easily in a few simple steps using an emptied 2-liter (67.63-oz) plastic bottle, a pair of scissors or a knife, and duct tape.
- Cut a portion of the bottle so that the bottleneck forms an open funnel.
- Make a vertical cut from the edge of the funnel to the edge of the bottleneck, enabling the cone’s size to be adjusted.
- Fix the cone high on the table leg with duct tape so that the wide end of the funnel is pointing down and the bottleneck is pointing up.
Mice can jump remarkably high for their size. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, they’re capable of making a 13-inch (33.02-cm) vertical leap. This means that the inverted cone must be fixed high enough on the table leg that the mouse cannot jump over it from the ground or surrounding surfaces.
3. Set Mouse Traps Near the Base of the Table Legs
Traditional mouse traps, non-lethal bait traps, and DIY bucket traps can all be effective forms of controlling a rodent infestation. These traps work by luring mice, which are naturally curious and explorative creatures with food or scent. Placing these traps at the base of the table legs may influence mice to explore the trap rather than the table.
4. Allow Your Cat or Dog To Hunt Indoors
If you have a house pet that’s a natural hunter, such as most cats and hounds, as well as many of the smaller terrier-type dogs, they can be used to clear the area around the table of mice and rats. Keep in mind, however, that this can cause household problems, as your kitchen or dining room may turn into a hunting ground.
Pets have been used as natural pest control for centuries, and many dog breeds were raised for this exact type of work. Housecats, likewise, have been kept as living mousetraps and can help protect your table from being scaled by mice.
5. Protect the Table Legs With Glass
Glass is one of the few surfaces that’s simply too smooth for mice to climb. However, glass is fragile, so glass table legs are uncommon. Some unique table designs feature glass table legs that would be effective at keeping mice off the table surface. However, the easily breakable legs make this an unrealistic option for most functional tables, especially if you have children or pets.
If you can find a way to protect the legs of your table with a glass surface, it’ll make climbing nearly impossible for mice. A frameless mirror or glass pane could be propped against the table legs and fastened to the back to prevent access to the table legs. However, it’s likely that the glass will be scuffed or damaged by claws as mice attempt and fail to climb the surface.
Final Thoughts
Mice are strong climbers, which makes it difficult to keep them off your tabletop. If there are mice in your house or building, you can protect your table legs from climbing mice by wrapping the table legs with sheet metal or a sufficiently smooth surface.
Other methods of pest control, such as hunting pets and mousetraps, can help to eliminate the problem as well. If none of these methods are feasible, contact a professional pest control service.
Sources
- Cement Answers: Can mice climb up metal?
- University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Publications: Rodent-Proof Construction — Structural
- House Mouse Prevention and Control
- Home Owners Hub: Stopping mice climbing
- Rodent Guide: What Can Mice Climb
- WikiHow: How to Bend Sheet Metal
- Big Commerce: Zin Home – Glass Legs Dining Table (Image)
