Where are mice getting in? It’s a fair question that’s doesn’t always have an easy answer. There are the common areas such as garage doors that have worn weather stripping and exterior utility penetrations, but those are obvious. Read on to see if the mice that are ruining your attic or basement may be gaining entrance at another obvious area that has a simple fix.
Mice in your basement or attic?
I suppose you’re reading this article because you’re looking to get rid of mice. I can’t promise the following information is going to solve all your problems, but I think this often overlooked area may help. I’m sure if you look to the left you’ll guess what the area is. That’s right, corners. You have at least four of them on your home and likely more.
This photo was taken in Newtown, CT. We took the account over from another company who was having trouble managing the rodents. At the inspection we noticed that mice were both in the attic and basement. They were also making their presence felt in the dining room (which is odd).
Mouse droppings give away a mouse’s location
The dining room is directly adjacent to this corner. Our service people inspected the basement and didn’t find anything unusual. Certainly there was evidence of mice, but nothing we hadn’t seen before. That was until someone pulled the insulation. Under the insulation we found a perfectly drilled hole of about 3″in diameter. It was an odd place to have this hole, but it was clear that mice we’re gaining access through it. We know this for sure due to the presence of sebum. Sebum, is an oil left behind at heavily traveled areas, but how were they accessing the dining room?
We figured that out as well. Once inside the basement they were climbing up through a hole drilled through the subfloor for heat pipes. We solved the inside issue by using a non rusting mesh to seal the hole in the floor and in the rim joist.
We completed this from the basement so it wasn’t visible in the dining area.
Rodents are in the attic because they’re climbing the house
Since our pest control technician for Newtown, CT is not the quitting type he moved on to the attic, but first he looked outside. David got down on his hands and knees and looked up into the same corner pictured above and found mouse droppings in spider webs and more sebum. This was a sure sign that mice were using this as a climbing point to get to the attic as well. The corner was sealed with our MouseBarrier style of rodent exclusion.
Our logical next step was to visit the attic from inside where we were expecting to find droppings, sebum or some other sign of mice. We didn’t, but I’m happy to say that the owner hasn’t been bothered by mice since we caught the mice inside and sealed the exterior.
Solving mouse issues from the outside, poison free?
The new buzz in the pest control industry is exclusion. Most companies (if they’re smart) are starting to embrace this method of pest control. To be truthful we’ve always known this is the best method of pest control, but frankly it’s hard. It’s time consuming and the outcome is not always 100%, but when coupling with the judicious use of rodenticides as well as traps and door sweeps you can achieve a high level of control.
The good news for our industry is that most homeowners understand that mice are able to get into a home through the smallest of holes and finding each one is impossible (don’t let anyone tell you otherwise).
If you need help with mice Envirocare Pest Control can be reached at 1-888-879-6481