How to spot a mouse problem

Have I got mice in my house?

The first indication that there are mice in a property is often the sound of mice scratching in the loft above your bedroom or the discovery of droppings in cupboards, drawers or work surfaces. The droppings are dark brown and about the size of a grain of rice.

A House Mouse is approximately 7-9cm long excluding the tail. It has large ears and small eyes. House Mice are light brown to dark grey in colour and weigh between 10 and 25 grams.

Mice will also enter houses particularly in Autumn and can squeeze through gaps the width of a pen.

How can mice affect me?

Mice carry diseases such as Salmonella. They urinate and defecate indiscriminately producing up to 80 tiny droppings per day, contaminating food and surfaces. Mice can cause considerable damage to property through their constant gnawing. This can affect cables, plastic, paper, pipe work, lagging, putty and many other household materials.

How can you stop mice getting in the house?

With great difficulty! Mice can squeeze through holes the width of a biro, typically living and breeding under floors, in cavity walls, ceiling voids and behind skirting boards where they are able to construct small nests.

They are very agile and excellent climbers. Although predominantly nocturnal, mice can be seen during the day. They are inquisitive creatures and will feed from numerous sources, often nibbling small amounts of a wide variety of foods.

Maintain your property to exclude mice

Buildings can be proofed against mice by blocking any openings through which they may enter. They can squeeze through any hole larger than 6mm so check your property for damage and repair with suitable materials.

All air vents should be covered with 3mm gauge perforated zinc. Gaps above 3mm around window or door thresholds should be filled.

Any gaps around pipe work serving meters or plumbed in washing machines and any pipes that travel through the cavity wall should be filled.

Make sure you do not attract mice.  Follow basic food hygiene guidelines. Don’t leave stale or mouldy food lying around and keep food off the floor, preferably in sealed containers.

Control rubbish

Avoid the accumulation of rubbish, piles of wood and other garden waste. Clear areas of overgrown garden foliage. These can all provide excellent nesting places!

Clear away pet food and ensure good housekeeping when keeping animals, storing their foodstuffs in sealed bins.

Do not sprinkle waste food on the garden for birds. Try and use specialised bird feeders that cause minimal spillage.

Maintain your compost bin

If you have a compost bin only dispose of garden and vegetable matter.

Do not dispose of meat or cereal products on compost heaps.

Make sure that the compost bin is resting on a hard standing to stop mice burrowing up into it.

A badly constructed or poorly maintained heap will provide an attractive home for mice and rats.

What you can do if you discover you have mice

If you have a suspected problem with mice visit us at http://www.ppmlimited.co.uk or call us on 01462 81 1818 / 01908 761 761