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Signs Of Mice In Your Property – What To Look And Listen For

Signs of mice

Dealing with a mouse infestation can be a daunting task. These tiny creatures can swiftly make their way into properties and proliferate, causing significant damage. The first step in combating these unwanted guests is to be aware of their presence.

Identifying the signs of a mouse infestation early can save homeowners a lot of trouble and expense. Mice are not just a nuisance; they can also cause severe damage to your property and are carriers of various diseases. Detecting their presence early is crucial in preventing serious harm to your property and health.

This blog post will give you the necessary knowledge to spot the signs of a mouse invasion. We will not delve into the specifics yet but focus on general indicators. This information will serve as your first defence against these intruders. This is our guide on what to look and listen for when suspecting a mouse infestation.

What Are The Tell-Tale Signs Of Mice?

Before we dive into the specifics, we must understand that mice are remarkably stealthy creatures. They tend to operate primarily at night when the house is quiet, making them difficult to detect. However, they do leave behind distinct signs that can indicate their presence. Here are some of the most common signs you have a mouse infestation:

  • Mice droppings: small, dark oval-shaped pellets. You can find these in clusters in the corners of a room, underneath the kitchen and utility room kickboards, under appliances, and scattered on the floor in loft areas if the mice are uninterrupted in their nocturnal roaming.
  • Strong ammonia-like smell: This usually occurs when an infestation has taken hold in your home or business. You may even see ‘mounds’ of urine where grease and dirt have added to the smell to form small, smelly, unsightly clusters.
  • Smears: Normally found on skirting boards, against doors and cupboards, and in the corners of a room. This occurs when the body of a mouse meets the surface they are brushing against.
  • Nests: You will usually have to look to find the nest a mouse has made, but you will see the signs they have been building their nests. This includes shredded cloth, paper, plastic bags, and signs of disturbed loft insulation. You will find mice nests in loft areas, under floorboards, and behind electrical appliances that emit heat, such as a freezer or cooker. But look for the obvious shredding signs first!
  • Scratching and scuttling noises: Mice are most active at night when they’re less likely to be disturbed. They will run in between the floorboards and in the cavity walls. They will run across the kitchen floor and scuttle inside the cupboards, drawers, and storage areas to find food.
  • Gnaw marks on food containers: Containers with plastic lids will show signs of gnawing.
  • Mice droppings in foodstuffs: droppings in dry goods such as sugar and flour, even the bottom of a greasy grill pan, are not unusual in heavily infested homes and offices.
  • Mice prints: If mice infest an area rarely frequented by humans or where cleaning rarely happens, the dusty floors and surfaces can show signs of mice tracks and tail marks.
  • Live and dead mice: In heavily infested homes and offices, you may see a dead mouse, maybe more in decay. Seeing a live mouse during daylight and evening hours is not unusual.
  • Signs of disturbance in your kitchen compost boxes: Fruit and vegetable peelings provide an easy-access meal for mice.

Believe you may have a mouse infestation?

Speak to a Dyno-Pest technician for a free inspection

Typical Places You May Find Mice In Your Home Or Office

Mice are not just found in any particular place; they are opportunistic creatures that can set up homes in various areas within a building. They are attracted by warm, secluded places with easy access to food and water. The following are some common areas where you might find mice in your home or office. Knowing these locations can significantly aid in your detection and subsequent elimination efforts.

  • Kitchen and laundry areas. A mouse can squeeze through a gap the size of a pencil to enter your home or business. Once entry has been gained, don’t be surprised to find them in the following areas: behind kickboards and at the back of appliances such as fridges, freezers, cookers, dishwashers, and washing machines. They will be attracted to the secondary warmth emitted by the oven and fridge/freezer and the scraps of decaying food and crumbs.
  • Any area with cables or pipework should be inspected. With their flexible skeleton, mice can enter through the smallest cracks and into the pipework.
  • Air bricks and air vents. Mice will easily enter via these from the ground floor to the upper floors.
  • Loft areas. In homes, the loft area is a massive magnet for mice attracted to the plentiful supply of nesting materials and the lack of human activity. Check inside suitcases and in all boxes and baskets. It’s not uncommon to find evidence of mice in the piles of bedding and sleeping bags in a loft. For businesses, you can find mice nesting in the boxes of paperwork and files stored in the loft area.
  • Basements and cellars. Mice are attracted to these areas because they are quiet, rarely used by humans, and store materials perfect for nesting.
  • Cavity walls. Even in the most modern homes and offices where, to the untrained eye, it looks impossible for mice to gain entry, mice will use the cavity walls to access every floor and travel from building to building. They may enter via a pipe, a crack in a wall, or the air bricks. And will then command the space via the cavity walls where you will hear them but rarely see them.
  • In boxes of ‘stuff’. Humans gather ‘stuff’ such as clothes, books, and soft furnishings that we are unwilling to part with, consigning them to dark spaces in the spare room, loft spaces, and garage areas to be dealt with later. Don’t be surprised to see a mouse in one of these boxes. It provides a perfect home where they can live and breed undisturbed.

What Should You Do If You Have An Infestation

Mice can contaminate food with droppings, fur, and urine and are carriers of several diseases, one of which is toxoplasmosis; they pose a particular threat to pregnant women.

Mice will feed on the smallest of scraps and crumbs. They even eat soap because of their fat content. They love pet food, tiny bits of food in your carpet, soft furnishings, and children’s play areas. If you are to remove their food sources, you must adopt a forensic approach to cleaning your home or business.

  • Any food stored in cupboards should be placed in tamperproof containers – glass and metal. Mice will easily gnaw through plastic lids, and you often don’t see the damage until they have been feasting on the food for a few weeks.
  • Restrict the areas where young people eat food, as the mice will find the places where crumbs and leftovers are distributed liberally!
  • Vacuum all floors, such as carpets and hard flooring, where food is served and eaten at least twice daily, and check all skirting boards, too.
  • Inspect and clean behind kitchen appliances.
  • Wash all surfaces used for preparing, serving, and eating food with an antibacterial cleaner so they are neither contaminated nor harbouring leftovers for mice.
  • Bins, including kitchen compost, should be emptied regularly and cleaned.
  • All glassware, crockery, and cutlery should be cleaned on the same day.
  • If you feed the birds in the home or office garden, keep the bird food in tamperproof metal containers.
  • Inspect the loft areas that are easy to access and safe to inspect, remove all materials used for nesting, and place the items you want to keep in tamperproof storage. It might be time to undertake a thorough inspection and clean out of the loft (and the basement).

After consulting the relevant professional first, we only advise blocking air vents for safety reasons.

Look at the exterior of your home or business critically to identify gaps around pipes and cables that could provide access areas to mice. Be aware that mice will chew through wood, MDF, plasterboard, and chicken wire, and they make light work of foam fillers. Ask your builders’ merchants for the best proofing materials to use.

Do you have the right skills and equipment to tackle those hard-to-reach areas? Personal safety must always come first.

Within your home and garden, the best proofing often lies in cleaning and restricting access to foodstuffs, water, and nesting materials. You can also attempt to remove mice yourself using more DIY methods but they are not very often successful.

Can you mouse-proof your home or business? The answer is yes. But only to a limited degree. Some proofing will have to be undertaken by a qualified pest control professional like Dyno-Pest.

Call In The Professionals

If you have an infestation of mice, the best course of action is to contact professionals.

It is our job to successfully eradicate an infestation of mice in your home or business. Dyno-Pest has 25+ years of experience working in thousands of homes and businesses, treating mice infestations discreetly and efficiently. This usually takes three treatments because it takes time for a breeding cycle to be entirely eradicated and for any bait to be taken by the mice.

Your Dyno-Pest technician will explain how the treatment works when you should expect to have seen the last of the pests, and what you can do by way of a good home and business practice to help prevent a recurrence.

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