How to rid your home of mice

Mice are active mostly between dusk and dawn, but you can spot evidence of their activity anytime. That lovely sight of mouse poop is often your first sign—each mouse drops up to 75 of the little black pellets a day!

They move along walls and avoid open spaces, so follow where you see the mice droppings in both directions and you'll know where they've been traveling. Mice gnaw at drywall and similar materials, creating clean-cut holes up to 1 1/2 inches in diameter, but they can fit through any dime-size opening they find. Look for the holes and debris in the dark corners of your kitchen and laundry room.

Check for caches of pet food and birdseed in unexpected places—behind appliances and furniture, and near other undisturbed spots in your house. Mice build nests of paper and other fibrous material in sheltered spots near constant heat, such as refrigerators, ovens, and water heaters.

Learn how to identify mice and rats, use rodent control products, and build strategies to keep these pests out of your home.

Tips & Strategies

HOW TO GET RID OF MICE IN YOUR HOME

Rodents can multiply quickly and don’t usually travel alone. Follow these tips to get mice out of your house at the first sign.

First, identify what might be attracting the mice and how they're entering your home, then follow our guide to getting rid of mice and deal with this pest issue for good.

Warning

Mice and other rodents spread a variety of viral and bacterial diseases. If you are dealing with a rodent issue, even if you are just cleaning up a space that has had rodent activity inside, wear gloves and an approved mask or respirator to protect yourself.

What Do Mice Look Like?

Mice are small mammals with long tails (which can even be as long as or longer than the mouse's body), large eyes, fur on their bodies, and large ears. When fully grown, they are typically about 7 1/2 inches in length including the tail, though actual size will vary by type of mouse. Many species of mice are common in the U.S., including the house mouse (Mus musculus), deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), and various species of field mouse from the Apodemus genus.

Mice are tiny and can squeeze through holes as small around as a dime! They also do not stray far from their nesting sites, meaning that if you are finding mouse activity inside, they are likely nesting somewhere nearby, either inside or in the yard.

4 Ways to Get Rid of Mice

Seal Entry Points

When rodents are accessing the inside of your space, it is important to find where they are entering and seal those spaces up. While many DIYers would run for a can of spray foam in this instance, this is not ideal. Spray foam may fill the space, but mice and rats can easily chew right through it, making re-entry a breeze. Instead, use some sort of metal sheet or mesh and screw it in place.

Modify Their Habitat

When attempting to get control of a mouse issue, ask yourself what is attracting them to your property in the first place.

1. Is your yard providing mice with easy access to food or water?
2. Where are the mice seeking shelter or nesting?

By determining where the mice could be feeding, finding water, and hiding, you can start to change these factors to make the environment around your home less desirable to these unwanted visitors. Cut back ivy and vegetation where mice could be hiding, make sure that you aren't leaving food around for them to enjoy, and turn off irrigation systems when not in use to reduce water sources.

Tip

As lovely as bird or squirrel feeders can be, they are a huge attractant for rodents, and putting them close to the house can encourage rodents to start poking around your home for other food sources. Bird or squirrel feeders provide mice with ample supply of seeds and nuts (which they love), and as long as it's available, they will keep them coming back for more. If you are having a persistent rodent issue, consider removing any bird or squirrel feeders.

Marco Molitor / EyeEm / Getty Images

Set Snap Traps

Some people have no desire to try and trap rodents themselves, but if you're trying to manage a severe mouse infestation on your own, there may be no choice. Snap traps can be used for mice, but make sure that the mouse traps you are buying are special mouse snap traps and not rat traps. Rat snap traps are too big for mice.

Try Glue Trays

The other traps to consider when controlling mice are glue trays. These can be controversial, as they are not as quick and humane as snap traps. They can also scare mice that are caught live, causing them to urinate and further expose you to disease. That being said, snap traps only have the ability to catch one animal at a time and require emptying and resetting. When using glue trays to control severe mouse infestations, it is not uncommon to find multiple mice on just one tray, making these very effective traps for mice.

Signs of a Mouse Infestation in Your Home

When it comes to rodents, there are two primary pieces of evidence you're looking (and listening) for: scratching sounds and droppings.

Scratching Sounds

If you're sitting on the couch reading or lying in bed at night and you hear a scratching or scurrying sound from inside the walls, this could indicate the presence of an animal in your space. Sounds in the walls or attic don't always mean rodents. It could also be squirrels, birds, or even yellow jackets, so you'll need to do some further investigating to figure out what's causing the issue.

Droppings

If you are finding droppings in your garage, pantry, or other spaces, this is definitely an indicator that an animal is coming in and looking to help themselves to whatever they need.

Animal droppings can actually tell you a lot about what pest is present around your home. If you find droppings that you think belong to a rodent, compare one to a grain of rice. Mouse droppings are significantly smaller than a grain of rice. If the dropping is close to the same size or larger than the grain of rice, you are likely dealing with a rat issue.

Tip

Mouse droppings are commonly confused with bat droppings. Once you've followed the test above to determine the dropping is not a rat's, check to make sure it's also not from a bat. If you're up for it, grab a pair of gloves and squish one of the droppings between your fingers. If it squishes flat like a pancake but stays intact, it's probably a mouse dropping, but if it crumbles as you crush it, the dropping likely belongs to a bat.

What Causes a Mouse Infestation?

Like it or not, mice and other rodents are an important part of a healthy eco-system, and they will likely be present around your home. If you are seeing evidence of mice, consider what could be attracting them to your home. Do you have bird feeders around that are providing them food? Could they easily find water in your yard? Is there dense vegetation against the foundation of your house that gives them a place to hide against the house?

Mice and other rodents are also incredibly sensitive to air flow, especially in the fall and winter. If mice are running around the perimeter of your house and there is a gap that is allowing air from inside to flow outside, they will want to follow this airflow because it leads somewhere warmer and food could be present. Seal up gaps along the foundation of your home, make sure rodents can't feel air flowing from inside, and be sure to close all doors (including garage doors), especially at night.

Tip

It's no secret that mice like garage spaces. If your garage door stays closed but mice are still getting in, your door could actually be the problem. Open your garage door and inspect the rubber strip that runs along the bottom, also called a garage door sweep. If the door sweep is slid too far over into one corner of the door, it will leave a gap on the other side that is perfect for mice to enter through. Mice and rats have also been known to chew holes in the door sweep, so also inspect for damage and replace it if it has been chewed. Replacement door sweeps can be found at the hardware store.

How to Prevent Mice From Entering Your Home

The best prevention against mice is to maintain a well-kept home. Make sure crumbs are swept up and store food in sealed containers. Also pay attention to your home's exterior and seal up holes and cracks—anything that may allow a mouse into your house—promptly.

Mice vs. Rats

It may seem obvious, but the first and most important step in solving any pest issue is identifying what specific pest is causing the problem. Rats and mice cause similar damage, but they look and behave differently, and it can be important to know these differences if you are trying to address a rodent issue.

Mice are significantly smaller than rats, and so are the holes and burrows they make. Mice are more likely to come inside the living space than rats are, and they also nest in larger numbers than rats. They are also not as neophobic as rats, which can make controlling them with trapping easier and more productive than trapping rats.

What Is Neophobia?

Neophobia is the fear of new or unfamiliar things. Rats are incredibly neophobic, which can make controlling them difficult, as they are very sensitive to changes in their environment and are likely to be suspicious of newly placed control methods. Mice, on the other hand, are considered more curious and do not become wary of new things the same way rats do.

Rats, unlike mice, have a larger wandering range and will come and go from a variety of places. If you are dealing with rats, they could be nesting anywhere nearby. Rats are significantly larger than mice and leave holes that range in size from a half dollar to a baseball. Rats do not nest in the large numbers that mice do, as they are territorial once they reach adulthood. Their smaller numbers and wariness of new things can make it difficult to entice them to enter a trap.

Mice

• Smaller than rats

• Can fit into holes as small as dimes

• Don't wander far from nest

• Nest in larger numbers

• Curious

Rats

• Larger than mice

• Can fit into holes as small as half-dollars

• Wander far from nest

• Nest in smaller numbers

• Afraid of new things

FalconScallagrim / Getty Images

Roger Tidman / Getty Images

FAQ

• Where do mice come from?

  Mice are all around us, hiding in plain sight. This is especially true if you live in an area that is heavily wooded, has lots of vegetation, or backs a greenbelt.

• Will mice go away on their own?

  If there are mice present in your home, it is highly unlikely that they will go away on their own. Try to address and change what is attracting them to your property, including food, water, and harborage sources.

• How long do mice live?

  The average lifespan of a mouse is anywhere from 12 to 18 months. Mice reproduce rapidly, meaning that even when the initial mice causing the issue are gone, there will be plenty of offspring left behind.

When to Call a Pro

There are a number of reasons to call a professional for a mouse issue. Maybe you have no interest in trying to eliminate the mice yourself, or perhaps you've already tried and can't seem to get a handle on the problem. If there is a mouse situation that is so severe it feels like chemical control (poison) is necessary, definitely call an IPM professional.

While mouse and rodent baits are available at the hardware store, there are a number of risks that come with improper use of rodenticides (poisons designed for rodents), especially if entry points around the home have not been sealed adequately. These risks include:

1. Pets and children coming in contact and/or ingesting the product
2. Neighborhood wildlife and pets being harmed by the product
   
3. A rodent feeding on bait, climbing into an open entry point, and dying in a wall void, creating smell and potential fly infestation issues

It is important that mouse poison is used correctly. Professional pest control experts should be putting rodenticide blocks in a locking station that is anchored in place. These stations encourage rodent feeding while keeping bait locked away from people and pets. When poison baits are left in the open where children or other animals can access it, the results can be catastrophic.

Article Sources

The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

1. Diseases Directly Transmitted by Rodents. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

2. Controlling House Mice. UM Extension.

3. Trap Up! Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

4. Modlinska, Klaudia, and Rafał Stryjek. Food Neophobia in Wild Rats (Rattus norvegicus) Inhabiting a Changeable Environment-A Field Study. PloS one, vol. 11, no. 6, 2016. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0156741

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   For a severe infestation..

   What smells keep mice away?

   But what exactly do mice and rats hate to smell? Mice can be kept away by using the smells of peppermint oil, cinnamon, vinegar, citronella, ammonia, bleach, and mothballs.

   What keeps mice out of your house?

   Use cat litter As mentioned above, mice have a very good sense of smell that helps them sense predators—in this case, the cat. Litter tainted with the scent of a cat is a natural mouse repellent. To keep mice away with cat litter, sprinkle some along the walls where they usually pass.

   What will scare mice away?

   The scent of another animal, such as a cat, can sometimes scare mice away. Again, their goal is to avoid danger, so the smell of a cat or their litter box may cause the pest to go elsewhere. The scent of another mouse also may alert them to avoid an unfriendly neighbor.