Mice have an astute sense of smell; it’s about three times better than humans. They have poor eyesight, so scent is how they navigate the world, sniffing out their next meal, using pheromones to tell the age and sex of another mouse ten miles away, or detecting danger. They can swim, jump eighteen inches and will mount stairs or textured walls. That’s how a mouse can be first discovered in your crumb-filled silverware drawer.
Eek! Catch your breath. Don’t panic. Shut the drawer, walk away and keep reading, because it didn’t have to come to this.
One mouse might get away with a night of squatting or a single burglary, but there’s almost no such thing as “one mouse” for long. They often fail at being stealth because their signature tell-tail clues give them away.
Mice try to stay stealth because danger for them includes people, since our fear and disdain for each other are often mutual, but they can’t hide forever. Keep an eye out for these clues that signal a mouse in the house:
• mysterious stains on the ceiling
• a sniff test in the basement and attic; the aroma will be ammonia-like or worse
• little, clumpy nests made of fabric, fibers, cardboard, dry wall or insulation
• small, dark, rice-sized droppings, a.k.a. mouse poop
• holes in bags of pet food (they’re omnivores in times of need)
• scatterings of acorn shells
Whatever the calling card, mice can be systematically and permanently evicted, and you don’t have to be your own Sherlock Holmes to figure out how to do it.
“It is detective work,” said Thomas Tripp, general manager of Modern Pest in Portland. “The issue isn’t just that mice are nesting and reproducing somewhere in the house, it’s the existence of a point, or points, of entry.”
Tripp said that to solve the case of a mouse intruder, finding out how they got in is just as important as finding them inside. However, discovering entry points for the Rodentia order is challenging because they have contortionist skills, accessing a structure through a quarter-inch size hole, which is about the size of a brand new #2 pencil’s eraser.
“If their skull can fit through, then they’re in and looking for a warm habitat with food and water nearby,” Tripp said. When he’s on a job, his team checks for wall pockets, gaps in pipe installation that have been left unsealed, dryer vents and foundation cracks.
But after sealing the entrances and exits, mice can be on the move. Those superpowers of smell, flexibility, acrobatics and an incredible fertility rate (a female mouse can have up to ten litters a year) can quickly lead them behind dishwashers, into walls and then in and out of your kitchen as they please. Getting rid of mice is a multi-step process and while there are standard go-to procedures, Tripp said every house, old or new, has different variables that may require experienced professional detective work.
To leave you with a little serenity, remember that mice aren’t trying to free load and freak us out. They would prefer to be in their natural habitat too. Often, they arrive after a storm shakes up their nest, or nearby new construction destroys a food source. When that happens, mice and other rodents simply need someplace to go.
Let’s just make sure it isn’t your house.
Next Week: a better mousetrap. Learn about proven tactics and technology to remove mice from inside and outside of your home.
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