As it gets colder, everyone wants to cozy up inside where it's warm ... including mice! Not only do the pesky critters get into your food and leave their droppings wherever they go, but they are also dangerous. "You have to realize that you are now sharing your home with pests that carry diseases," warns Mike Masterson, exterminator and CEO of ISOTECH Pest Management. Mike explains the mice can get through openings as small as the diameter of a pen, so while taping up holes is a good temporary fix, you need to think about long-term solutions:

• Mice can gnaw through tape, so if the hole is small, use steel wool to block their entrance. Tear apart the wool and stuff it right into the holes.

• For larger holes, get 1/8-inch thick wire mesh and use wire cutters to cut a small section that covers the hole. Use a staple gun to put it in place.

• Use plastic, containers to hold cereal, pasta or other foods. Toss their original cardboard containers that can be enticing to gnawing rodents.

• If you're using a snap trap, use only a pinky finger-size worth of peanut butter on the trigger. The mouse will have to place a paw on the trigger to reach the peanut butter and will set off the trap.

• You can create your own easily disposable version of a snap trap by using an empty container such as a rigatoni box. Cut holes in both ends of the box so mice can run through it, and put the snap trap inside with a little bit of peanut butter just to attract them. However, don't set the trap for the first week; let the rodents get used to traveling through box. Once they have been snagged by the trap, just pick up the entire box and throw it out.

• If you're not sure if the dirt you see around the house is actually mouse droppings, use can use a detox bait that is non-toxic and safe to leave out all year long. The bait glows under a florescent light, so once the mouse ingests the bait and it leaves their system, the droppings will glow as well.

• For those who want to get rid of mice in a more humane way, there are plenty of live traps available. The mice get caught inside the mechanism but are not harmed, and you can release them outdoors with a simple pop of the top.

• Mike says that the safest and most painless method is to use rodenticide, which causes internal bleeding in the mice. He warns that you must place it inside a locked safety rodent box that only mice can get into and that is impervious to other household animals or small children.

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ISOTECH Pest Management