We all love great barbecue. However, maintaining our bbq grill and keeping mice away from it can be a challenge.
Mice have a keen sense of smell and they are attracted to food smell from leftover pieces of meat and yummy grease of the grill.
Having mice even remotely near our cooking equipment is very unhygienic and, to a certain extent, dangerous.
In a hurry?
6 Steps on How to Keep Mice from Your Gas Grill
- Get rid of the food source for mice.
- Keep mice out with a physical barrier.
- Cover the grill.
- Use mouse repellents.
- Use mouse traps and ultrasonic pest control devices.
- Use all five methods.
Why Mice Love Your Backyard Grill
Your grill is the perfect place for mice to live in.
- Dirty grills draw them due to strong scents, scraps of meat, and grease leftover after we use it.
- Mice can enter through small holes and crevices of our grill. Once they make it inside, they usually make it their cozy home for the right temperature.
- It provides mice a safe place from predators as mice can find their way through narrow holes that preys are usually unable to.
- It also provides a warm place for them during winter and a low heat nest during summer.
These are a few reasons why mice and other rodents choose to live in your background barbecue and use it as a mouse nest.
How to Keep Mice Out of Your Grill
1. Get rid of the food source for mice.
- When it comes to having a mouse-free BBQ grill, eliminating the food source means that half the battle is already won.
- The primary reason mice are drawn to BBQ grills is for the lingering bits of food.
- Using a scraper for your grill is advisable.
It would be easy to scrape off the burnt pieces of food from the grill, the grill body, and its drip pan.
- Any cutlery with a flat surface can also do the job, just as well in case, a scraper is not available.
- After cleaning the grill and the drip pan, leave it out to make sure that the smell is gone and cover it with aluminum foil.
2. Keep mice out with a physical barrier.
- Keep your grill away from fences or walls that rodents can use to get in the grill.
- Grill kept in the garden centers ensures that there are mice to get inside it.
- Most grills have holes that can act as entry points for mice.
Sealing them up with metal or wood ensures that they will have no way in the grill.
- Lastly, store the grill inside the house to make it more difficult for mice to find it.
3. Cover the grill.
- Covering the grill when you’re not using it is very important.
Invest in a weber grill with a grill cover that can strap to ensure your grill is secured.
- Avoid leaving your grill in the outdoor kitchen even when not in use.
Leaving it in the open makes it easier for mice than storing it inside the house or garage.
4. Use mouse repellents.
- There are various natural and commercial mouse repellents you can use to keep mice off our grill.
- Peppermint oil and cayenne pepper are some of the well-known natural repellents.
- Dab some peppermint oil or similar essential oils on cotton balls or sprinkle cayenne pepper on mice pathways or nest sites.
Commercial mouse repellents and pest deterrents, on the other hand, are sure to work if natural remedies aren’t working.
Rodent repellents contain chemicals that keep mice away.
5. Use mouse traps and ultrasonic pest control devices.
Mousetrap, glue traps, and ultrasonic pest control are widely available in pet stores.
- Snap traps are usually kept in mouse-prone areas with food bits. These draw mice nearer and trap them.
- Glue traps with an adhesive that catches a mouse and renders it immobile are also available.
Pheromone traps give off rodent pheromones to attract mice and trap them.
- Ultrasonic pest control emits a high-pitched sound beyond what human beings can hear, and scares rodents away.
6. Use all five methods.
- Having rodents in your grill is not an easy problem to solve.
However, with the five methods listed above, you’ll be ready to bid farewell to rodents with the five methods listed above.
- Using these five strategies in combination will ensure that you get the best outcomes possible.
- Each of these approaches has the advantage of being neither time-consuming nor expensive.
A clean grill and using barriers to keep mice away from it will surely make your life easier.
In addition, you can use natural or commercial repellants and use traps to help keep your grill mice-free in no time.
FAQs
What draws rodents to your yard?
The odors associated with pet food, animal waste, trash cans, bird feeders, barbecue grills, and even unused fruit and nuts in plants attract rodents.
What are the dangers of mice living in your grill?
The presence of rodents such as mice in cooking equipment poses a significant health risk.
Mice droppings and remnants are incredibly toxic and packed with pathogens. The area gets heavily contaminated, causing allergic reactions and infections.
Contact with mice excrements can lead to infections like Hantavirus, which can cause fatigue, fever, and worse, death.
Salmonellosis or food poisoning could occur if rodent droppings get into your prepared meal.
How to clean the grill after mice lived in it?
- The first step is to remove the grill to provide access to every nook and cranny that has to be cleaned.
- After that, scrape away any remaining food particles or mouse droppings with a scraper, steel wool, or metal grill brush.
- Spray or rinse the grill with a gallon of soapy water. Make sure that the water source has high pressure to wash away stubborn remains as well.
- Spray the grill with a degreaser and sit for a few minutes before scrubbing and wiping it down with dryer sheets.
- To guarantee that your grill is ready to be fired up, wash it with a water mixture and a cup of white vinegar.
How to prevent mice from returning through vents?
You can take a few basic precautions to prevent rodents from reentering your home or garage through vents.
- First, clean your vents regularly for a minimum of once a year.
- The next step is to eliminate everything that attracts rodents, like leftover foods and stagnant water.
- Lastly, block all possible entry points with a wire mesh.
Summary
Nobody wants an uninvited visitor like rodents when they enter your BBQ grill to nest.
Now you know why mice make their way to your grill.
But you’ve also learned how to successfully deal with the mouse problem and prevent it from happening again.
You’re a pro now, with all the knowledge you need to manage the issue effectively. All you have to do now is get ready to say your goodbyes to your uninvited visitors!
Have questions or other problems you’re looking for solutions to? Please leave them a comment below. I am happy to give you more tips.
