The scurrying of little feet isn’t always a positive thing, especially if it’s in your shed.

Spring often brings unwanted rodents, especially after a mild winter.

Orkin Canada Technical Director Sean Rollo says mice tend to be more active at this time of year

“Populations are likely to be a little higher this year. This is a time especially for outdoor mice when spring is in the air and everyone is trying to get out and find a mate. They’re also looking for new resources that they might not have been able to find previously if it was covered in snow and ice so we’ll  definitely start to see a little bit more activity outside at this time of year,” Rollo says.

Mice can produce around 2,500 offspring per year.

If you see a long-tailed rodent roaming your backyard or in the shed, Rollo says you shouldn’t panic, but you should take action.

“Some people might think, they see a mouse, set a trap and get rid of it. In some cases that might be true, but more often than not, there’s a lot more of them around than you might think. Calling a professional pest control company is always advised, not only to help you get rid of them, but also to help you to determine why they’re there in the first place and what steps you can take to help prevent them from coming back,” Rollo adds.

Food is one of the obvious attractions for mice especially, but they may also be seeking shelter.

“If you have pet food that’s sitting out in the garage or bird seed, these are attractive to rodents. Even just having a bird feeder outside, you’re going to attract more rodents,” Rollo stated.

If you choose to set up traps, Rollo advises homeowners to be very careful with where you place them and handle them.

“Any sort of pesticide and this is a Rodenticide. It definitely has the ability if a child or a pet were to consume it, to be dangerous,” Rollo stressed.

If you choose to hire a professional, they’ll look at things like trapping and removing the rodent population, and cleanup is also very important because mice dropping can be very dangerous. Rollo adds they will also help with scent removal, so other rodents don’t come to the area.

“Some of the telltale signs of rodents is droppings, that’s one of the first things people notice. Gnawing or chewing marks is another, or just seeing the rodents themselves,” Rollo says.

Having a pet cat or dog might help to keep a rodent away, but Rollo adds it isn’t a very effective way of deterring them.