Have you been dealing with pesky mice and rats making your home a living zoo at night?
Wondering if Lights can be Used to Keep them away?
If so, what Lights are the best to Get rid of Mice and Rats?
Stay tuned for this article as we teach you how to repel Mice and Rats using nothing but the lights you might already have in your home!
Will Keeping Lights On Keep Mice Away?
Given that mice are nocturnal creatures, mice do tend to prefer darkness over well-lit areas.
If you are wondering if mice will wander out with lights on, it most certainly can happen although seeing a mouse in bright lighting is far less likely.
While mice are nocturnal creatures by nature and can mostly be found roaming at night, it is not entirely rare to see them searching for food around your home during the daylight hours as well!
Mice do tend to avoid bright lights and harsh sounds, so leaving lights on overnight would help deter mice from entering a designated area, although it may not stop them completely.
If there is something that a mouse is very interested in that can only be found in a well lit and bright area, it is likely that the mouse will disregard the lights and enter the area regardless.
This is especially true if the lighting stays consistent and doesn’t change or vary throughout the night.
Over time, mice may become used to and desensitized to steady lights, so a good way to circumvent this issue is to use strobe lights that flash throughout the duration of the night.
Due to the randomness of the flashing lights and colors, mice will become scared and will be more likely to avoid the area and will try to avoid it wherever possible if it’s bright enough.
They do get more frightened by flashing light rather than steady and calm light.
While leaving lights on can help deter the mice from getting too close, it is not fool proof by any means and they may still enter the area regardless of lighting techniques.
The best type of light source to use for safe and harmless mouse repellent is something that is generally not based around a specific color or steady light.
A good example of what to use would be flashing strobe lights or LED ribbon lights, which can both easily be programmed to emit random bursts of light of any color you chose.
Rope lights also work to keep mice away as they can be controlled through your phone or via a remote, and can be programmed to change light brightness and color randomly through the night.
If you are wondering if there is a Specific color that will keep mice away…
While these lighting options often have color changing capabilities, the ideal color is a warm white shade to keep mice away, as the goal is to mimic the color of sunlight and other natural lighting.
If you don’t want flashing lights around or in your home at night, any solid bright lightbulb would still help, although it will not repel them as much as flashing strobe lights.
Will Keeping Lights On Keep Rats Away?
Much like with mice, light will not 100% deter rats from entering a space, although it will definitely help encourage them to stay away from the area.
Rats, like their much smaller counterparts, are nocturnal creatures, so while they are less likely to enter well lit areas, if there’s something they want it’s still possible for them to ignore the lighting entirely.
Just like when using light to deter mice, it is very important to use a variety of different flashing and pulsing lights to encourage rats to stay away, as there is a strong likelihood of the rats becoming used to a steady and consistent light source.
If you are wondering if Rats Hate Very Bright lights and will try to actually avoid it at night…
As a general rule, the brighter the light is, the more likely they are to avoid it where possible.
Just like mice, rats are not very scared of bright light and well lit areas, although they are nocturnal creatures and are generally far more comfortable and mobile in the dark.
While rats will typically avoid entering well lit areas especially at night, they will venture into the light should the need arise (for example, a water source or irresistible food selection).
Rats do tend to avoid light more so than mice, but keeping an area well lit is not a cure-all for a rat infestation.
Best Types of Light to Use Against Rats
Since rats are generally larger than their household counterparts, it can often be more of a challenge to keep them away from an area using light and light alone, even though they are more likely to avoid well lit areas than mice are.
The ultimate key to warding off rats using light is to get the area as bright as possible and make sure the light doesn’t stay steady in one brightness or color for a long period of time.
Rope lights are fantastic to use for this purpose, as many of them have remote controls which allow you to change brightness and color randomly without having to physically adjust the light.
Stroble Lights are also a great option…
When compared with standard household lights, rats are far more likely to avoid strobe lights and flashing LED light strips.
This is especially true if the strobe lights are flashing different colors in addition to brightness levels, rather than changing just one of the other throughout the evening.
The best method of using light to deter rats is to use a variety of colors and brightness levels.
This is best achieved by using rope lights for rats that can be controlled from within a certain distance with a remote.
LED lights and lightbulbs are also an option, as they too can be controlled from a distance.
If there are no alternative options as previously listed, Christmas lights can also be used as they often have bright flashing colors which would deter the rats.
Alternatively, there are some varieties of rope and LED lights that can be controlled from your phone.
Once you have your method of lighting chosen, try to make sure colors and brightness levels fluctuate so that the rats do not get used to one particular color or brightness.
Many rope lights and LED lights have settings that will automatically change colors and brightness for you, but if that is not an option for you, try to find a way to cycle these settings as often as possible.
Will Motion Sensor Lights Deter Rats?
While motion sensor lights will not be quite as successful as randomly flashing lights that run all night long, they will still work to deter rats.
The issue with using motion sensor lights is that by the time the light turns on to startle the rat, the animal is already in the area you would like it to avoid.
With this being the case, it is possible that the rat would take shelter somewhere inconvenient rather than scurrying off into the woods.
As a general rule, while motion sensor lights will work, they will not be as beneficial as rope lights or flashing LED lights.
LED Lights to Deter Pack Rats From Cars
The effectiveness of these lights in vehicles to keep Park Rats away can depend very heavily on placement, and they will be more successful at deterring the pack rats if they are placed externally on entry points of the vehicle.
Try to place these lights at entry points where rodents may be able to access the vehicle, as this will ultimately be more successful than placing the lights within the vehicle itself.
Sleeping With Lights on to Keep Mice & Rats Away
If you are wondering if leaving your lights on while sleeping will prevent mice and rats from entering your room…
While sleeping with the lights on in your home at night may slightly discourage rats or mice from entering your living space, most household lighting is a solid color and brightness.
It is likely that if lights are left on every night, the mice and rats will eventually become used to it and it will no longer deter them.
Sleeping with standard household lights on at night is not an advisable way to deter rodents from entering your home permanently.
Keeping lights on in a garage may have a similar issue, although it would be less disruptive to a human sleep cycle to install LED lights in the garage rather than in the home.
As a general rule, if you have clean surroundings that are not full of tempting food sources for rats or mice, they will not go in your room regardless of lighting.
Rats are still wild animals and tend to avoid people where possible.
If you know there are rats or mice in your home, leaving a standard house light on in your room may help to deter them, but will not completely erase any chance of them entering your room.
Have you been dealing with pesky mice and rats making your home a living zoo at night?
