Signs of Mice
Mice can go unnoticed for some time before you realise they’ve moved into your home. If mice have moved in, you might start to notice some signs before you actually see a mouse in your house.
Typical indications that mice are living in your house or workplace are:
- Grease or ‘smear’ marks – mice often keep close to walls and skirting boards when they’re travelling and where their bodies repeatedly brush against the floor, corners and skirting you might start to notice dark marks.
- Mouse droppings – these are small, dark and around 3-5 mm in length. They’ll appear randomly anywhere the mice have been very often in cupboards or along skirting.
- Mouse footprints – in areas that aren’t often used such as attics or on top of cupboards you may see mouse trails left by their paw prints and tails.
- Ammonia small – mouse urine has a strong ammonia smell and you may start to notice this smell as the mouse infestation increases in size.
- Chewed wires – rodents chew and mice will chew wires, wood, insulation… anything they can get their teeth into. You’ll notice small teeth marks and damage where mice have been chewing.
- Noises – mice are often active at night and you’ll hear scurrying noises often in your loft, between partition walls, under floorboards, in ceilings or in basements and loft spaces.
- Seeing mice – if you spot a live mouse in your house during the day there’s a chance that you’ve got a sizable mouse infestation by this point. Mice tend to be more active at night so it’s likely you’ll spot signs of them before you actually see mice in your home.
How to Get Rid Of Mice
If you think you’ve got a mouse infestation in your home then there are steps you can take to remove them. It’s useful if you can find out how they’re getting into your house, as before they took up residence they had to find a way in. Mice will live in your attic, under floor boards, in ceilings and in wall cavities. Check all possible cracks, gaps and spaces in walls and roof spaces – but know that mice can squeeze through tiny gaps as wide as a pencil so it can be tricky to work out how they getting in.
Once you know how mice are getting into your house it’s better to leave their entry point open until after you’ve dealt with the mouse infestation and no mice are left in your house – otherwise you’ll trap mice inside your home with you and it’s likely they’ll chew other areas in an attempt to escape. However you can try putting traps near their entry hole and along their travel routes, along skirting, behind units such as fridges, in cupboards – anywhere you’ve seen signs of mice.
Snap traps which instantly dispatch the mice are one option, provided you’re happy emptying the traps, or live traps can be used. Make sure snap traps are well out of the reach of children and pets. Chocolate or peanut butter are both tempting treats for a mouse and can be effective mouse bait.
Keep all food in sealed containers so you’re not providing mice with an easy food source and to prevent contamination. A really good clear out will also help. Removing all clutter and having a good hoover gives mice fewer places to hide out and less opportunity to snack on any food crumbs that may have found their way under the furniture.
After you’ve taken all these steps, if there are still mice in your house, then it’s worth calling a local reputable pest controller who offers a mouse pest control program. Ultimately this may be the easiest and most effective option as mice can be tricky to remove once established.
