Most Common Places To Find Mice In Your Home

If you are experiencing mice in your home, chances are you are seeing them in places such as your kitchen or pantry. And if you are seeing them in these open places, there is a good chance there are more, maybe plenty more, in hidden places within your home. Here we will explore the dark side of having these rodents in your home, common places they hide out, signs they leave behind, and how you can avoid or get rid of them.

Damages And Dangers Of Mice In The Home

Mice in the home pose a number of health threats as well as threats to the structure of your home and belongings. These are filthy creatures, they don't come alone, they chew constantly and, if that's not enough, they steal things while you are asleep.

• Mice spread diseases: Mice often pick up and carry bacteria from trash heaps, dumpsters, sewers and such. From there they reenter and track this filth onto your food preparation surfaces, silverware and pantry areas. A few of the diseases they are known to spread are hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, leptospirosis, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, rat-bite fever, salmonellosis, and tularemia.
• Mice carry parasites: Like other rodents and wildlife, mice often are covered in parasites such as mites, ticks or fleas. Fleas torment pets and people, mites can leave itchy red marks, and ticks have the potential of spreading diseases such as Lyme.
• Mice damage homes and belongings: Since rodents never stop chewing, and since mice are rodents, this means, if there are mice in your home, things are going to get chewed on. Mice chew everything from treasured keepsakes to electrical wires inside your wall voids--not something you want to take chances with since this has been known to spark house fires.
• Mice raid your pantry: Since mice are nocturnal, they are up and about during the nighttime hours, where they are likely to be sneaking around your kitchen and pantry areas, stealing food. They also like to steal items and materials for building nests. And while they are stealing from you, they are also depositing all that filth and bacteria they picked up.

Common Places Mice Hang Out

Mice tend to hang out in areas that are dark and quiet and generally undisturbed.

• Attics: Mice are famous for hanging out in attics. It is where they often make nests inside areas of insulation. From here they make their way through wall voids into kitchen and pantry areas where they find food.
• Wall voids: Since mice are active at night, you are most likely to hear them moving around, and scratching and chewing, inside the walls of your bedroom at bedtime (when they are waking up.) But sometimes they make their nests inside wall voids right next to pantries. If they do, you may not hear them moving around at all, unless your bedroom shares a wall with the pantry.
• Behind kitchen cabinets: This is an ideal place for mice to set up shop since they have easy access to the cabinets and drawers from here.
• Inside unused, or infrequently used, drawers: If there are drawers in your kitchen or other areas that are never, or very rarely disturbed, mice are likely to build nests in the backs of these drawers.
• Inside boxes in storage areas: If you have stored boxes, and a mouse infestation, you will want to be careful when opening these boxes, you may find a mouse or two, or a whole family that has moved in.
• Any secluded location: Mice love to build nests in out-of-the-way places, such as rooms that are infrequently used. In these spaces, they are likely to build nests inside old furniture or in other objects they can squeeze in.

Signs Of A Mouse Infestation

• Tiny, dark-colored droppings in the backs of kitchen drawers or other places.
• Unexplained holes in fabric, clothing, insulation, etc.
• Chewed holes in kitchen cabinets, baseboards, drawers, etc.
• Holes in food packaging.
• Scratching, gnawing or scampering noises inside wall voids.
• Tiny footprints in spilled flour or other material.

Prevention Tips And How To Eliminate A Mouse Infestation

While there are several things you can do to keep mice from entering your home, once they have established themselves, getting them all out is a different chore. To keep mice out, you can declutter your yard, seal up holes in your foundation and walls, keep your house clean of food sources, and eliminate any leaks that provide mice with a water source. But if you are seeing the signs of mice or the mice themselves, it is time to consider professional help. DIY methods of mouse removal may have some success, but the mice will keep coming back time after time if all angles of pest control are not addressed. If you are ready to be mouse-free and stay mouse-free, reach out to the professionals here at Montgomery Exterminating to learn more about our residential pest control services.