I Can't Seem to Get Mice Out of My Attic Ceiling

Description

• House mice are small, grayish-brown rodents about 3 inches long, not including their tail. Unlike native mice, whose tails are slightly furry, house mice, which are native to Asia, have naked tails. Although they prefer eating grains and seeds, they’ll eat a wide range of foods, especially if they’re high in fat, protein or sugar. Unlike rats that infest your home, they don’t need a source of free water since they get whatever water they need from their food. House mice don’t have good eyesight, but they have excellent senses of smell, taste and touch.

Symptoms

• If you hear scratching in the walls and ceiling and find droppings that look like black grains of rice, you have mice in your house. Additional symptoms include signs of gnawing on cardboard boxes, and a musky odor caused by the mice and their urine. The smell is more common in cupboards and drawers. You may also find nests made from shredded paper or other fibers.

Exclusion

• Discourage mice from coming into your home by sealing gaps and openings in the foundation and around water pipes, vents and utility cables. Use caulk, concrete or metal, not insulating foam, wood, plastic screening or other materials that mice can gnaw through. Steel wool makes a good plug. Ensure that screens, windows and doors fit properly. Remove overgrown vegetation from around your house and don’t let lumber, firewood or other objects pile up around the outside of the building.

Trapping

• If you only have a few mice, traps are a better option than poisons that take a long time to kill rodents and pose a risk to pets. In addition, you don’t need to worry about odor caused by mice dying inside the wall. Place traps up against walls, in areas where mice are active, and check them several times a day. If you’re using live traps, you can release captured mice in a wooded area away from your home, or take them to an animal shelter to be euthanized. If you’re using snap traps, place dead mice in a sealed plastic bag and dispose of them in an outside garbage container. Good baits include nuts, seeds, bacon, butter or sweets.