Did you know it’s common for a mouse colony to live in your house undetected? Mice are discreet and cautious pests that spend the daytime hiding and sleeping. However, at night, they emerge to hunt for food, water and nesting materials.
When you have a mouse infestation in your home, it’s common to hear them scurrying around in your walls, especially at night. It will sound like scratching inside your walls. You may notice it long before you see an actual mouse inside your home.
Mice can fit through tiny spaces, which is how they often enter homes unnoticed. However, several signs will alert you to their presence, such as finding holes in your clothes, spotting mouse droppings and smelling their urine.
Mouse pee smells like strong ammonia when it is fresh. Over time, the odor changes to smell like damp wood.
You do not need to see an actual mouse to know that there are mice in your home. It’s important to stay alert to the signs of these pests and contact a specialist to take care of the infestation.
Mice in the Walls but Not in the House
Do you hear a strange scratching sound coming from inside your walls? It could be the sound of mice running or skittering through your house. Even if you have not actually seen a mouse in your home, they could be hiding inside your walls.
In order to protect themselves from predators, mice like to hide in sheltered locations during the day. At night, when the rest of the house is quiet, they run through the home in search of food and water.
You will most likely notice the signs of a mouse infestation before you ever actually see a mouse in your home. Hearing a scratching or skittering noise coming from the mice in your walls is a common sign of a mouse problem. It’s easiest to hear them moving through your walls at night, given that the rest of the house is quiet and mice are nocturnal creatures.
Mice are small pests that do not need a large hiding place. Walls provide them with the shelter they need while offering easy access to the rest of your home. When they emerge from their hiding place in your walls, they do so to scavenge for food to store in their nest.
More Signs of a Mice Infestation
Hearing mice running through your walls is only one indication that you have a mouse infestation. You may pick up on several other signs before you ever see a mouse with your own eyes.
For example, you may spot mouse droppings around your home. It’s common to see mice droppings along their path from their shelter to their preferred food source, which is usually in your kitchen.
Mice droppings look like dark grains of rice. You will most likely see them near your walls, basement or attic.
Next, you may notice mice gnaw marks around your home. Mice need to gnaw on certain materials in order to keep their teeth from growing too long. When they live inside, they like to gnaw on wires, insulation and other materials inside your walls. If you notice gnaw marks around your home, it’s a clear sign that a mouse colony is nearby.
Another common sign of a mouse infestation is an unpleasant odor from their urine and feces. It’s common to smell this odor near their nesting site inside your walls.
Finally, mice like to steal materials from your home to build their nests. Finding these materials around your home is a common sign of a mouse infestation, especially when they are shredded. The materials mice prefer include paper, fabric, insulation and other soft materials they can shred.
The bottom line is that you do not have to actually see a mouse to figure out that you have these unwelcome guests in your home. It’s important to pay attention to the more subtle signs of a mouse infestation.
Do not wait to see a mouse to contact a professional pest control service. An expert can find the mouse nest for you, control the infestation and advise you on prevention methods for the future.
Can Mice Fit Under a Door?
Did you know that mice can fit through the tiny cracks at the bottom of doors? These pests are extremely agile creatures and can squeeze themselves into tiny spaces that seem impossible. Most adult mice only need an opening that is a quarter inch in diameter to fit through to make their entrance.
Doors that have a small sliver of space between the bottom of the door and the floor or door frame are convenient entry points for mice. In fact, this is often how they easily make their way inside homes to find shelter, food and water for their colony.
Once mice slip into your home through the cracks in your doors, they move through the rest of your home by scurrying inside your walls. If needed, they will also use your interior doors to move from room to room.
What Does Mouse Pee Smell Like?
One common sign of a mouse infestation is noticing the smell of mouse pee. It’s important for homeowners to be informed about what mouse urine smells like so that they can notice it early on in an infestation.
What does mouse pee smell like? Mouse urine has a strong and pungent odor of ammonia. It is most noticeable in an enclosed space because of the concentration of urine, and because it does not have the chance to evaporate like it would in an open area.
Since mice often nest and live inside the walls of a home, it’s common for mouse pee to absorb into nearby porous materials such as wood and insulation. Over time, this absorption can cause the urine to have an even stronger smell that sticks around longer.
The smell of mouse urine can also change over time. The longer it’s been sitting or has been absorbed into the wood, the more the scent changes. Instead of smelling like strong ammonia, mouse pee will take on a musty odor.
As the ammonia scent fades, mouse pee takes on the odor of damp wood instead. This change takes place because the ammonia in mouse urine breaks down over time, and the urine reacts to the surrounding environment.
If you notice a strange odor in your home that wasn’t there before, it could be a sign of a mouse infestation. The smell will usually come from their nesting site, which is a helpful way to discover where the mice are hiding in your home.
Other common signs of a mouse infestation include:
- Mouse droppings
- Gnaw marks on wires and insulation
- The sound of mice running through your wall
- Nesting materials scattered near the mouse nest
- Random holes in your clothing
The best way to control these pests is to partner with a pest control company. An expert can identify the infestation, control the mice and set up prevention methods to make your home less inviting for future mouse colonies.
Kick Mice Out of Your Home
Mice are excellent hiders that can live inside a house for a long time before being seen. This is why it’s important for homeowners to be aware of the common signs of a mouse infestation, such as hearing them running through the walls, in order to be proactive.
Mouse colonies grow rapidly. It’s crucial to catch them early and work with a pest control specialist to take care of the problem.
ABC Can Get Your Rodent Problem Under Control
Dealing with mice can feel like a disgusting chore that never ends. Instead of wasting time and money trying to deal with a pest problem on your own, contact ABC Home & Commercial Services. Our licensed professionals will control these pests and can provide ongoing pest control services so you can have peace of mind.