How Do I Get Rid of Mice In My Walls?

Has this ever happened in your home? You are laying in bed, just about to drift off into peaceful sleep, when you hear the scratching and scurrying of tiny little feet. Maybe it's just your imagination or maybe you have some unwanted visitors that could potentially be a nightmare situation in your walls. Here are some suggestions on how to determine if you have mice in your walls and how you can begin to solve the problem.

Determine What's In There

The first step in any problem is determining what the issue really is. If you continue to hear the scratching and scurrying at night, you probably have a rodent of some kind as they tend to be most active during the nighttime hours. You will want to examine your home for other clues that could give you a better idea of what pest is inhabiting your walls, crawl spaces, or ceiling.Things to look for during the daylight hours include: small black or brown droppings about the size of a quarter inch, chew marks on corners, food items, or storage items, and grease marks that come from the critter themselves as they run over the same area over and over again.

Lure Them Out

Once you have determined that you have a mouse in your house, you will want to lure it out in order to remove it from the home. Some homeowners begin with traps that entice with food, such as peanut butter or cheese. Be sure to put these traps in locations where you have seen evidence of the mice, such as under the sink, around the pantry, or in the basement.One caveat that we warn against as professional pest exterminators is the concept that where there is one mouse, there will likely be many more. Keep in mind that if you do capture one critter, there may be more hiding out in your walls - possibly hundreds! If you determine that the scope of the problem is bigger than one or two rogue mice, then you will want to contact a pest exterminator to create a solution that will rid your home of pests as well as prevent further infestations.

Plug Holes

If you are successful at luring out the mice, plugging the locations where they entered your home to begin with will be the next step. Living in New England, and Massachusetts in particular, leads to some potential problems in this area. Many older homes in this region are built on fieldstone foundations or foundations that lend themselves to having many small openings in the foundation. Each hole in the foundation or siding of your home is a potential point of entry for mice. If this is the case, plugging entry points may need to be a job that you contract out for and seek the input from a professional

Call a Professional

For some lucky homeowners, this may be the extent of their mouse problem - a few nights of lost sleep and the cost of some hardware store traps. Unfortunately, mice can be tricky in that they reproduce quickly, and what was once a small problem can become an infestation in no time. If this sounds like what's going on at your home, contact us here at Pest-End and we can complete a thorough inspection to determine the scope of the problem.