How To Get Rid of Mice

18–21 minutes to read | Updated for 2021

As cute as a pet mouse can be, wild mice create serious problems for humans. Hiding in sewers and underground subway systems, these pests often invade homes once the weather grows colder.

They will chew their way through your home, leaving feces and tracking bacteria and disease. Along with a host of health hazards, there are known neurological and emotional effects resulting from a mouse infestation.

To address an infestation, your first move to determine just what you’re dealing with. It’s important to distinguish mice from rats and to identify the specific species that is causing you problems. Once you learn about several common species of mice that are found throughout homes, you can take steps to rid your property of them and prevent more from returning.

Common Characteristics

Mice range from small to medium in size. They generally grow to around two to three inches as adults, not including the length or their tails. Some can grow five to seven inches. Different species can vary in color, but most mice are grey, brown or black. They all have small paws with nails, and their heads are characterized by whiskers and large eyes and ears.

While mice can bite if they feel threatened, their main danger is in the diseases they transmit, including salmonella, hantavirus, and forms of meningitis. Mice teeth never stop growing, so they’re constantly gnawing and chewing on rough materials in order to file them down. This causes them to chew through wiring and insulation inside homes.

Differences Between Rats and Mice

Mouse are more curious than rats and more likely be seen running around.
On average, most mouse species are smaller than rats.
Mice like to burrow within walls, while rats dig under buildings and plants.

Common Species of Mice

House Mice

True to its name, house mice like to situate themselves inside human homes, where it uses all the materials it can find to feed and build nests. They’ll use shredded material like paper, cloth, and cardboard for nests but will also eat glue, soap and residue. House mice are also known to transmit typhus, salmonella and bubonic plague.

How To Identify:

1/4 to 1/2 inch
Reddish black
Found throughout the U.S.
Can destroy wet and decaying wood
Pose a serious structural threat; consider seeking professional help immediately
Nocturnal

Deer Mice

Deer mice are known to transmit Hantavirus, which is a potentially fatal respiratory disease. They’ll often be found in outdoor structures, such as sheds and barns, and they can be prevented by sealing up common hiding spots. Keep an eye on small holes, cracks and crevices around your property.

How To Identify:

Slightly larger than the average house mouse, on average.
Can grow to 5” to 8” long
Light to dark brown with white feet and white belly
Found throughout the U.S., but tend to cause the most problems in rural areas around outdoor garages and sheds
Known to chew through wires, insulation, furniture and clothing

White-Footed Mice

White footed mice are known to make their way inside homes once the temperature begins to drop, so closer to Winter and Fall. Like other rodents, they can spread bacterial diseases after coming in contact with food, and they are also known for spreading lyme disease through ticks that they pick up in the brushy, forested areas they live in.

How To Identify:

Average adult length is 6” to 8”
Fur color can range from light to reddish brown, with white feet and bellies
Found in colder regions, such as the Northeast United States and Canada
Tend to thrive in brushy, forested areas
Omnivorous diet that includes insects, wood, seeds, nuts and fruit

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Gather the Tools You’ll Need

a good flashlight

For peering into dark corners

protective clothing

To avoid scratches and disease

clear eye goggles

To protect your eyes

a breathable face mask

So you aren’t breathing in fumes

Step 1: Prepare Yourself for Safety

Mice spread bacteria and disease and can even bite if they feel threatened. Keep safety a top priority when you begin your property inspection. Dress in long sleeves and pants, socks and closed-toed shoes to cover as much skin as possible. Wear goggles to protect your eyes and a face mask to protect yourself from breathing in foul odors from mouse waste.

Step 2: Check Your Entire Property

Shine your flashlight along your walls and in areas where you may have heard scratching noises or seen mouse droppings. You’ll want to look for any holes or chew marks that are signs of entry points toward the mice’s hiding place. Because most species of mice are nocturnal and averse to bright lights, the flashlight can scare many of them away. For that reason, you’ll be more successful inspecting at night. Remember that all species have been known to make their way inside human property, but some species like deer mice and white-footed mice tend to stay outdoors and inhabit outdoor structures like barns and sheds.

Step 3: Clean and Develop a Treatment Plan

If you haven’t caught site of the mice invading your property, you can still try to identify them by their droppings. All species will require similar treatment plans, but knowing the species can help even more by providing insight into their size and habits. Since mice breed so quickly, it usually isn’t encouraged to use DIY methods. Contact a professional rodent control expert while taking it upon yourself to properly clean and sanitize your home.

Pro Tips

If you’ve ever been startled by a mouse in your kitchen, you may have hoped you could just ignore it until it went away.

But if you see even one mouse in your home, it’s a good bet that you’ve got entire families of mice—in your walls, in your attic, in hard-to-reach spaces in your garage, and in other hidden places. And even if you don’t already have a lot of these resilient pests in your house, spotting that one mouse indicates that you probably will soon.

Mice tend to live in groups, which is why it’s so important to begin a treatment method the moment you see any evidence of them.
On average, female mice can have five to ten litters each year.
Like insects and other pests, mice use pheromones to communicate and leave trails to their nesting areas. Part of a successfully integrated pest management plan should include disrupting these trails and making it harder for the mice to communicate.

Why is Getting Rid of Mice a Priority?

According to a government publication from the UK:

Wild mice become sexually mature at only six weeks of age.
Litters usually contain up to eight baby mice, and females can reproduce up to eight times each year.
One pair of breeding mice can produce up to 64 direct descendants a year, and meanwhile all of their descendants can begin reproducing within six weeks. This means that a few mice can multiply into a huge population in a short time.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified a few diseases that mice and other rodents can transmit directly to you or your family:

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome:People typically contract this serious respiratory illness from breathing dust that has been mixed with rodent droppings.
Rat Bite Fever:Mice are usually too timid to scratch or bite people, but you can also contract this disease by drinking or eating food or water that mice have contaminated with feces.
Salmonella:Even the common house mouse can spread a strain of this dangerous bacteria. That’s one reason why many health professionals caution families against keeping pet rodents when they have very young children in the home.

Besides spreading disease, mice aggravate allergies through their dander and droppings. They also bring in fleas, opening the door to another type of infestation and all the risks that come with it. Mice will spoil stored food, destroy property, and contaminate your home. They will also chew holes in essential structures and in electrical wiring and insulation, and so pose a risk to your safety as well as your health.

According to Cornell’s Dr. Hermanson, even relatively clean houses may provide attractive nesting and hiding places for mice. These tiny creatures can survive on leftover food in a pet dish or a few crumbs that have been swept into a corner.

Identify Entryways

Before you begin using the natural repellent of your choice, you should first take a tour of your home inside and out to identify any areas where mice are likely to get in. This could mean small holes, cracks and crevices that you may not have seen before, especially in your garage, basement or attic. You might also want to check your roof, especially if you have a fireplace and a lot of trees which mice could climb up to gain access to your home. Once you’ve identified each entry point, it’s time to create and execute a mouse-proofing plan.

Installing Barriers

You can place permanent barriers at common entry points, such as around pipes and electrical lines entering the home, and holes in the siding. You can also find products like spray foams, or use metal, wood, or plastic to fill in gaps where mice are coming in. Invest your time and energy on this first line of defense — once mice have made a home for themselves inside your house, other mice will be attracted by their scent. The fewer opportunities you give mice to enter your home, the less need you will have for repellents and traps.

Mice in the home have been a problem for as long as there have been indoor dwellings, so it is no surprise that there are many different opinions on how to get rid of them.

Many traps on the market are quite effective, but it is important to choose one with your specific circumstances in mind. Mouse poison is be dangerous for pets and children, while live mouse traps require extra effort on your part to be emptied and reset for catching more mice. You also need to consider the level of mouse problem in your home. If you have hundreds of mice in the walls, it may be more practical to bring in a professional exterminator. Popular treatment options include:

Traditional Mouse Traps, Snap Traps, and Beyond

Traditional traps use bait and a spring-loaded bar to attract and kill mice. They have been around a long time because they work. But the rodent control arsenal has grown to include the snap trap—mechanical jaws that close on the mouse when it springs a trigger. But these types of traps only kill one mouse at a time, and even the snap traps can be challenging to set without hurting yourself. Both traditional and snap traps require you to detect and dispose of each dead mouse before you can use them again. Bait boxes, poison, live traps and high-tech models use gas or electricity to kill mice – improvements worth paying extra for. Find out which of the best mousetrap options, both standard and electronic, are ideal for you.

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Kness 101-0-002 Ketch-All Mousetrap,Silver

d - CON Ultra Set Covered Snap Trap 1 Ct. (Pack of 5)

Kat Sense Indoor Mouse Traps That Work, Humane Instant Kill Snap Trap for Small Rats, Pest Control...

Tomcat Press 'N Set Mouse Trap, 2 Traps

(Pack of 12) JT Eaton 409 Jawz Plastic Mouse Trap for Solid or Liquid Bait

$18.88

$19.74

Price not available

$3.46

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How To Get Rid of Mice

Trying to get rid of mice for good?

Common Characteristics

Differences Between Rats and Mice

Common Species of Mice

House Mice

How To Identify:

Deer Mice

How To Identify:

White-Footed Mice

How To Identify:

Pests-Proofing your RVs, Campers and Travel Trailers for Winter Storage

Tomcat Snap Rat Trap

Top 4 Best Electric Fly Swatters

Trying to get rid of mice for good?

Gather the Tools You’ll Need

a good flashlight

protective clothing

clear eye goggles

a breathable face mask

Step 1: Prepare Yourself for Safety

Step 2: Check Your Entire Property

Step 3: Clean and Develop a Treatment Plan

Pro Tips

Why is Getting Rid of Mice a Priority?

Identify Entryways

Installing Barriers

Trying to get rid of mice for good?

Traditional Mouse Traps, Snap Traps, and Beyond

Live Traps

Glue Traps

Bait Stations

Mouse Bait

Mouse Repellent

Mouse Poison

Natural and Herbal Mouse Repellents

Pure Peppermint Oil

Peppermint Repellent Recipe

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

Soap

Cat Urine

Pets

Mouse-Proof Food Storage

Trying to get rid of mice for good?

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