Signs of mice in your house
The House Mouse – Mus musculus.
So you’ve found tiny footprints in your house, or perhaps an unmistakable little mouse-dropping calling card left behind? Your guest probably isn’t alone. Where there is evidence of a mouse in your house, there’s a very good chance many more mice are going about their business — unseen by you — between the walls of your Ohio home, in the basement, bedroom, garage, kitchen and every other nook imaginable. Weighing less than one ounce each, your whiskered home invaders are comfortably assaulting your home as surely as an army of masked bandits.
Mice are tiny, but their impact in your Ohio home is significant. Your best hope for minimizing the potential damage to your home is constant vigilance.
Droppings – Found especially near shelter, feeding area and runways, mice droppings (feces) are easy to spot as tiny black cylinders slightly smaller than an ant. Droppings are easy to spot on window ledges, kitchen counters and under the kitchen sink.
Tracks – Foot and tail marks are readily visible in dusty areas.
Runways – Tunneling in attic insulation leaves a distinct appearance not unlike Swiss cheese.
Sounds – Listen for gnawing, light running and squeaking in the ceiling, particularly at night. Nocturnal, mice are usually more active after daylight hours.
Rub marks – Look for rub marks along walls, entrances and frequently used areas.
Gnawing – Characteristic chew marks can be found on structures of food items.
Nests – Collections of finely shredded materials in small bundles show signs of a mouse’s home.
Ok, you’ve discovered some of these indications that mice have moved in with you. What are these unwanted visitors doing to your house in the dead of the night? If their characteristic musky odor isn’t enough of a nuisance, there’s always the physical damage mice are causing to your home.
Chewing, tunneling through insulation, and spoiling food by direct contact are just the beginning — and that’s before considering an estimate that a mouse contaminates 10x the amount of food it actually consumes.