Many homeowners who discover a mouse infestation might wonder how do mice get in your house and how that leads to an infestation. This article will explain the most common ways mice get into a home. Not only that, but you will also find the best way to remove the mice and the steps you should take to prevent them from entering your home again.
How do Mice Get into Your House?
Mice commonly enter a house through an existing hole made by other wildlife or a new hole they made. They can also enter your house through a structural anomaly, such as an exposed crack in the home’s siding.
Mice can chew their way into the house to create their entry point. So if there hasn’t been a previous wildlife problem, or if the house was built very securely, this might be the issue.
Common Entry Points for Mice
Below are specific entry points for mice discovered by a wildlife removal firm during a house inspection. The list also provides the home areas where the entry point can be found.
| Entry Point | Area of Home |
| Brick soffit gap | The upper perimeter of the home |
| Basement windows | Bottom side of the house |
| Cellar vents | Usually under the front porch |
| Weeping brick | The ground-level perimeter of the home |
| Hydro electrical lines | Side of home |
| Wall/dryer vents | All sides of the home |
| Roof soffit intersection | Upper roofline |
| Door trim | Areas where doors exist |
| Weather stripping | Garage/back door |
| Roof vents | The roof of the home |
| Siding border-caps | Brock siding connection corners |
| Drip edge connection | Roofline perimeter |
| Cracks in the foundation | Bottom side of the house |
| Windowsills | All sides of the home |
| Gable vents | The upper area near the roof |
| Chimney flashing | Roof of home |
As previously stated, mice will enter a home through holes made by other animals or by chewing a hole themselves. As a result, a mice infestation occurs, and you might need professional help to remove the mice and prevent them from entering your house again.
If you want to do the mouse inspection yourself, prepare yourself with resources to be ready during the inspection. If you detect obvious symptoms of mice, contact your local wildlife removal company to have them humanely removed.
Note: Contrary to popular perception, cats are not adequate to control mouse infestation. The most effective, long-term, and humane way to address a mice infestation problem is to conduct a full inspection followed by implementing permanent mice prevention measures.
Finding a Rodent Entry Point
When inspecting for mouse access sites on your own, you should be able to tell if the hole is from a mouse or another animal. If you suspect mice in your home but haven’t seen them, you should observe the holes thoroughly.
If you notice the following signs, that means the entry hole was created by a mouse:
- You found mice fur bits near or around the entry point caused by mice coming and exiting.
- Mouse excrements piled up along or near the access points. Mice excrements are shaped like rice grains.
- The openings are relatively small, only large enough for a mouse to fit through but not large enough for other animals such as a squirrel or raccoon.
- The entry point hole is surrounded by tiny teeth and chew marks.
- Grease marks made by mice brushing up against surfaces at or around the entry point.
- Food or mud and debris at or near the entering point or on the ground below the entry point.
It is most likely that there’s a mouse problem in your house if you see three or four of the signs above. You may also have more than one mouse in your house. You should contact a local mouse control company to schedule an examination and removal at this stage.
What To Do Before Your Mice Inspection
You need to do a few things before the mice removal company arrives to assess your house. The following are some chores you may do to make yourself more comfortable while you wait for the mice removal business to arrive:
- Clean and sterilize your home thoroughly to prevent the spread of mice-borne bacteria or diseases such as Hantavirus, Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis, and Tularemia.
- Make sure that the mice do not have access to food.
- Clean up mouse droppings in common areas of your home, such as cupboards and stoves.
The Type of Damage Mice Can Do To a House
Mice do significant damage to numerous parts of your house. One important issue they cause is through their access points. Depending on where the entries are located, they can make it much simpler for other species such as raccoons and squirrels to enter the house. Homeowners that have raccoons in their attic generally learn that they once had mouse problems as well.
Mice can also be the source of leaks into the house, depending on where the entry points are. Leaks in the basement or attic can be caused by holes in the foundation or the drip-edge connection on the roof. These leaks can then cause other problems that will require repair.
Mice can chew holes in many parts of the house, but they leave their droppings and urinate in the attic. They chew holes in the wood structure of a house. They also chew through wiring, exposing live wires that can increase the risk of a house fire.
Getting Rid of Mice In The House
Removing the mice from your house is very important to do after figuring out how they enter your home. When you see a mouse in your house, it is more likely that there are more mice in the house and that they’ve been there for a long time. When you see mice or even mice droppings, it makes sense to contact a mice exterminator in Texas (or wherever it is you are living) to help you eliminate the problem, and prevent it from coming back.
You should not ignore the mice problem in your house. Once you see the signs of mice in your house, contacting your local wildlife removal as soon as possible is the best course of action. The sooner you remove the mice, the less damage they will create and the lesser your repair bills will be, and you also reduce the risk of illness and disease which mice can spread.
