Where Do Mice Hide During The Day?

It is important to note that there are mice, lovers, as well. These are people who keep mice as pets, and in fairness to mice, they make good pets too because they are very docile yet playful.

One thing about mice is that they are nocturnal. They go out at night to forage for food and are hiding during the day. The intriguing thing about them is where do they hide during the day? Do they remain inside the house? Or do they leave and go outdoors, and just come back at night when all humans are sleeping?

This question and more will be answered by no less than the leading pest control company in the Triad region, Go-Forth Pest Control. Go-Forth is also one of Raleigh's local exterminators with great reviews online, in case you still do not know.

Read on.

Where Do Mice Hide During The Day

For the purposes of this article, we will be talking about the house mice, because these are the ones that most affect us; they are the most common types of mouse.

An adult house mouse is small, about 1 to 2 inches long, with tails that are just as long, if not longer than their slender bodies. They have large ears, small and rounded eyes, and a pointed snout. They can weigh from about ½ oz to 1 oz as adults. Their fur color can be light gray to brown in color. This could vary though, as it can have darker shades. They can be differentiated from young rats by the size of their heads and hind feet.

Mice, as we mentioned, have slender bodies. Aside from that, they are very flexible. House mice can squeeze into holes that are the size of a nickel, that is why they can hide anywhere that has holes in it.

House mice prefer living in cool, dark places during the day. The most common areas they like to hide are in between walls, pantries, cupboards, sofas, old boxes, and other similar areas wherein they would not be disturbed inside your home. They also live in barns, granaries, and fields, where food is readily available.

It is very important to know where mice hide in your home. This is because of the fast rate that mice reproduce. Mice are already sexually active and give birth to offspring by the time they get to 5 weeks old, and would continue to do so every three weeks for the rest of their lives. This, of course, is a very big concern for homeowners.  

Other Places Where Mice Hide

Mice are not just present inside houses. They are also in office buildings, food establishments, storage buildings, warehouses, and other indoor structures. Mice are very opportunistic. They look for places where they can get food, water, and shelter. Mice nest wherever they can indoors. You can often find them nesting in common areas like inside or behind a cabinet or desk drawers. Under or behind kitchen cabinets and appliances, inside or under bathroom cabinets, inside old cardboard boxes, in water heater closets, between ceiling that are near heat sources, under furniture, inside upholstered furniture voids, and in corners of an undisturbed room with lots of clutter. These are just some examples of where they can hide but are not limited to these areas.

Since mice are nocturnal and come out of their nests at night. Convincing them to come out of their hiding and choosing the right bait can be difficult.

As we can all see, house mice like to live in close proximity with humans. Where there are humans, there is food and water.

Signs That You Have Mice 

You must be wondering how you would know if you have mice infestation already since they come out only at night. They are averse to bright lights, so they go out when the lights are off at night.

Fortunately, mice leave signs that tell us they are just around the corner. Here are some clues to their presence:

1. Gnaw marks on cardboards, papers, books, newspapers, magazines, vegetables and fruits, furniture, electric wires, and gas pipes. Mice have incisors that are constantly growing, thus the need for them to chew all the time. Chewing makes the incisors stop growing.

2. Droppings. This is the most obvious sign. Mice eat 15 to 20 times a day, thus they defecate a lot. Mice droppings look like small black pellets. These may be dry and hard, or wet and soft.

3. Squeaking noise behind walls and ceilings. Mice make squeaking sounds since they love to play and socialize. Tracing the source of these sounds can lead you to their nests.

4. Gathered nesting material. Mice build their nests using materials like shredded paper, cardboard, insulation, or cotton.

5. Food wrappers, fruit peelings, small pieces of bread, that are in and out of the way areas in the house. Areas that only mice can reach.

6. A strong, unique, and musky odor coming from their urine.

Mice As Pests

Mice are more than just a mere nuisance because they can cause a lot of damage to your home. They chew a lot. Mice popularly chew on furniture, books, boxes, cardboards, papers, and clothes and chew through walls. They can be fire hazards as well because gnaw at electric wirings and gas pipes. Mice are said to account for almost 10% of the fires in America.

They can also transmit various deadly diseases. This happens when our food and water are contaminated with their droppings, urine, and saliva. Eating contaminated food will make us sick. Also, if their droppings are stirred and get in the air, we might accidentally breathe them in, which could be just as dangerous.

A lot of homeowners report a high level of anxiety each time they find out that they have mice hidden in their house somewhere. You can judge this by the screams you hear from the neighbors at night after seeing a mouse.

If you are a business owner, mice are one of your biggest enemies. Businesses are just as vulnerable as households—especially those involved in food manufacturing as well as restaurants. The mere presence of mice can bring down these businesses, so much so that restaurants and food manufacturing businesses are required by law to make sure that they are taking steps to prevent mice infestation in their place of business. A mouse will chew on stored food packages, boxes, raw meat, vegetables, fruits, notebooks, books, cardboards, and papers, and thus possibly contaminating them and causing diseases to both employees and customers. It can also chew on the gas pipes around the kitchen, as well as electrical wirings. This makes them a fire hazard.

At a time when all phones have cameras and a click of a button can send pictures visible to the world in a second, a mouse has never made such a huge impact as it has right now. A picture of a mouse in a kitchen or dining area, for example, will quickly make one restaurant lose its customers - and worse, a shutdown order from the local government.

Mice are high health risks. They are carriers of several nasty diseases that they transmit to humans. Among the diseases they spread include Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis, salmonella, leptospirosis, and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.  

Control

There are some DIYs you can do to prevent mice infestation in your house. Here are some tips you can follow.

1. Then make sure to put a lid on your trash can to cut them off from one of their food sources. Throw away your garbage regularly and properly.

2. Seal off cracks, crevices, and holes by caulking. Mice are flexible enough to fit into holes the size of a nickel. 

3. Put your food inside sealed containers.

4. Sweep and mop the floors regularly. There may be bits of food down there that mice love to eat. Vacuum carpets, sofas, and other furniture. Always clean your tables and kitchen sinks too.

5. Fix leaky pipes and faucets. 

6. Remove clutter like piles of newspapers and magazines, boxes, and cardboards to prevent mice from hiding in it.  

If you are stressed out by the presence of mice in your house, do not worry. The best pest control company in Raleigh, Go-Forth Pest Control, is just a phone call away.

Go-Forth Pest Control Is Simply The Best

Go-Forth Pest Control will help you inspect your house for mice and other pests, come up with solutions and work with you in deciding which course of action to take. They will safely get rid of these pests for you.