If you’ve been hearing distant sounds coming from the ceiling at night,you just may have a mice infestation. Don’t wait until you also hear scurrying in your walls and see droppings in your kitchen cupboards to investigate. It’s best to act right away if you suspect that you have mice living in your home. Mice are breeders and multiple quickly—a female mouse can have five to ten litters every year—creating an army of mice that can cause structural damage to your home. 

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While having mice in your home is unpleasant to think about, it’s also not good for your health. If you live in Southern Ontario, you need to be especially vigilant since there is a deer mice epidemic. Some deer mice carry the rare but serious virus hantavirus that is dangerous to humans. 

The problem with an infestation of mice in your attic is that you probably don’t spend much time in there, so you might not notice these unwanted visitors. Pay attention for any of the following signs and act quickly to diagnose the problem so that you can move on to solving it.

You Hear Noises at Night

Mice are nocturnal and live in groups, so if you notice noises coming from your attic at night, it’s likely that you have an infestation. You’ll often hear scratching noises as the mice build their nests and search for food.

Signs of Tunnelling

The sounds of mice are often amplified, which can make it seem like there are larger animals in your home. It’s a good idea to check your attic during the day for visible signs of an infestation. Check the walls for signs of tunnelling. Mice often chew through insulation in search of nesting material and a place to hide. 

Mouse Droppings

This is perhaps the most obvious sign that you have mice in your attic. If you notice any mouse droppings in your attic, you know you have a problem. Mouse droppings are very tiny and oval shaped, but if you have a lot of mice in the attic, you’ll also have a lot of droppings, so it will be easy to spot.

Nests

While you’re looking around in the attic, keep an eye out for anything that looks like a nest. Mice use a variety of fibrous materials to create their nests, from paper to food to pillow stuffing. There will likely be droppings around the nest as well.

Gnaw and Scratch Marks

Mice like to gnaw on things like bags, plastic items, and wires and they shred paper towels and books. Mice holes are fairly clean-cut and are about an inch in diameter. They make these holes often as an opening that they can fit through, so you shouldlook for any grease marks left behind from the oils in their fur.

Smell

Mice urinate frequently and that urine leaves behind a strong scent of ammonia. If you are hit with a wall of that smell when you enter your attic, it’s a safe guess that thereare mice living in there. The smell can often linger, so look around for other signs of a current mice infestation.

You See a Mouse

You can save yourself the trouble of checking the attic if you see a mouse anywhere in your home. That, combined with noises coming from your attic at night, is a pretty good indicator that you have mice in the attic. As we know, where there is one mouse, there are many more hidden behind it.

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