If you have been dealing with rodents scuttering across the kitchen floor and rummaging around inside your wardrobes, you are not alone.
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The Bendigo Advertiser has received numerous reports in recent weeks from residents encountering mice in their homes as the weather turns cold.
Pest control businesses around the city have been kept busy answering call-outs to deal with the ever-growing problem.
While not quite in plague proportions, the rodent problem seems to have escalated in recent weeks.
When the Bendigo Advertiser rang Go Pest and asked if there had been an increase in call-outs to deal with mice, the response was "absolutely".
The business had been receiving calls every day from the public about rodent infestations following good summer conditions and the weather turning cold so quickly.
Buzz Off owner Mark Edwards said he had been returning to properties every six to eight weeks instead of the usual 12-week cycle to rid homes of infestations.
Mr Edwards said he had noticed a slight increase in the number of call-outs this year compared to 2021.
"It's this time of year," he said.
"Generally in spring we have the insects and when it gets colder then we have the rodents. There's also a lot of European wasps around at the moment."
Mr Edwards said it was a reminder that with the colder months approaching, mice were looking to move inside for warmth.
A VIP Pest Control's spokesperson said business was up about 30 per cent on last year for rodents.
"Certainly this time of year they move into houses," he said.
"It's up a bit marginally (on last year) but not over the top.
"Last year there was an explosion of a rodent problem in farms.
"We've had more mice calls than rats this year which is a bit unusual. The weather conditions have been favourable for breeding."
Bunnings in Epsom say they have not noticed any leap in sales of mouse traps or baits compared to last year when there was a "bit of a plague".
As for the best tips to prevent mice coming into the house, Mr Edwards summed it up in one word - sealing.
"Seal the areas they can get in," he said.
"If you prevent them coming in, then you don't have the problem of trying to get them out."
He said weep holes, ventilation holes and gaps under the doors were key problem areas.
"They can get under a gap the size of your finger so they don't need much," Mr Edwards said.
He also warned people of complacency and urged them to close doors and not leave food around to keep rodents away.
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