One of the most frequent pest issues Brits face is a mouse infestation, and one of a mouse’s favourite locations to set up shop is in the attic of your home or business.
Being plagued by mice in your house may be very frustrating since mice can cause a lot of damage. They contaminate your food and harm the building structure. They leave behind viruses in their faeces and urine that can cause various health problems.
In the UK, we have numerous species, including the dormouse, harvest mice, wood mice, yellow-necked mice, and house mice.
As their name suggests, House mice are the ones that like to live in our houses (and their attics). It’s been estimated that their population is about 4.5 million strong here in the UK.
How do mice enter the attic?
Firstly, it is worth noting that mice can squeeze themselves into a 10mm hole – about the diameter of a biro (ballpoint pen). So, anywhere in your building with a gap big enough to poke a biro through, is a potential entry point for a small mouse!
Mice can gain access to your attic in a variety of ways, including:
Pipes, gutters, and drains
A mouse can run up drainpipes to access a low gutter. From there, they can look for a way to get into the attic via the eaves. Mice can enter through drains that lead to your home. They can also enter through air vents or air bricks.
Wiring
Holes around wiring, are another common way into the building. Top entry points include meter boxes and telephone cables. Mice can scale short telephone lines and enter your home through the hole if there’s space around the cable.
Tree branches and external structures
Where you have trees or other external structures against your building, mice can use these as a pathway into your home if there are small gaps in the walls, such air vents or other holes, near where the branches or structure make contact with the external walls.
Running up walls
Mice can run up vertical walls 2 metres high, but it depends on how rough or smooth the wall surface is. If you live in an old bungalow with low eaves, mice might be able to simply run up the face of the external wall and straight into your attic, if there’s even a tiny gap.
Even if your eaves are higher than two metres from the ground, if you have large objects close to the walls like bins or a planter, these can act as a platform, helping make it possible for a mouse to reach the eaves.
Through the internal walls of your home
Mice who live in the attic don’t always enter the house via the attic. Sometimes, they enter at lower entry points, such as through the front door if it’s been left open for a short period of time with no human nearby. They can then make their way up to the attic through the walls because your attic offers a comfortable, safe environment for them to live.
Through the external walls of your home
Most external house walls in the UK are cavity walls. This means there are two parallel layers of blockwork, or an interior wooden frame with an exterior block layer, in each case, with a cavity between the layers. The cavity acts as a mouse-sized corridor around the building. Once in the cavity, a mouse will look for the easiest way to enter your home.
Why do mice enter the attic?
Aside from the fact that under the eaves can be an easy entry point for mice, the attic itself is often packed with fluffy warm insulation, perfect for making a mouse nest.
The attic can offer easy access to the rest of the house through the walls, which often open into the attic space. Furthermore, attics are large, dark, dry places not often visited by pets or humans, making them perfect for mice to carry on their existence with little interference.
Attics also offer great hiding places, even if a person goes up on a mouse hunt. There’s no shortage of insulation, and with so many joists, beams, and in many cases, lots of junk, mice have plenty of places to escape if you look for them.
Attics also often come with a generous water supply as many houses have a water tank in the attic so the mice won’t be thirsty either. With so much wood joists, electrical cables, and maybe even old books, your attic offers mice a wonderful selection of gnawing material. Basically, your attic is a paradise for mice!
5 signs that you have mice in your attic:
If you’re not sure whether you have mice, look for clues. Here’s what to look out for:
Rodent droppings
Although it’s not pleasant to come upon a pile of mouse waste, it can be useful in identifying the type of rodent you have in your home so you can start to take the next steps in finding a solution. If you see numerous, distinct clusters or tracts of what appear to be rodent faeces in your home, especially along walls, take a closer look to discover whether it’s from a rat or mouse.
Strange squeaking or scratching noises
Because of their nocturnal habits, you’re much more likely to hear or see mice at night. If you have a rodent infestation, you will hear moving, clawing, and squeaking noises inside your walls or ceilings. If you stay up late, you might see them darting across the floor.
Heavy musky odour
Like other creatures, mice have a distinct odour. It’s time to think about pest control if your home smells musty all of a sudden, and no amount of open windows or fans appear to get rid of the smell. Because they can swiftly multiply, the odour will increase, the larger the rodent population becomes.
Tiny tracks in dusty areas
Dusty areas will show tiny imprints of rodents or lines from their tails dragging. Check the areas around food sources, corners, and skirting boards. Following these clues, you could identify a rodent’s entrance and exit places.
Greasy smears on skirting boards
When moving, mice frequently stay close to borders and walls. You might have some very unwelcome visitors if you see greasy stains along your skirting boards or the bases of your walls where their furry coat has been rubbing as they scurry along. Of course, there are other reasons why marks could emerge, so if you see any, keep the affected areas tidy and watch to see whether the marks return. Rodent runways such as these can also be great places to set traps.
Noise
Most often, when you are about to go to sleep and the house is at its quietest, you may first notice the noise inside your walls or attic. Since mice are nocturnal animals with eyes that can adapt to the dark, they become more active as dusk falls.
You might hear scratching and scraping as mice move around because they squeeze through cracks in your wall cavity and flooring to get into rooms in your house with food and water.
You might not always hear the mice moving around if they can reach food sources without venturing near your bedroom.
How to get rid of mice from the attic?
Getting rid of mice from your attic may become challenging because there are often a lot of hard-to-reach areas there. Therefore, the following advice will assist you in getting rid of such pests in the attic:
Trim trees and shrubs on your property
Since mice can access your attic by climbing on tree branches and tall bushes, you should routinely trim them. Ensure tree branches are not close to your walls. Trim hedges to ensure they are nice and low.
You can also ensure that any bins around the house are away from walls so they do not provide a platform for mice, to jump from.
You can also eliminate any hiding places of mice by pruning and weeding around shrubs near doors and windows so mice can’t stealthily hide and wait for the door to open.
Set up mouse traps and poisons
Use mouse traps and poisons to get rid of the mice in the attic. Mouse traps come in various styles, including snap traps, bait blocks, live traps, glue boards, and electronic traps. Pick the option that’s most easily available to you. Ensure that children and pets cannot reach these traps.
Always put poisons and traps along walls or on top of the ceiling joists in the attic, as rodents use these as pathways to travel.
If you prefer a humane method, try live traps, commonly referred to as catch-and-release traps, which can capture a mouse without injuring it so you can move it to another location.
Using a live trap, you should check them at least once a day, lure mice with a baiting component like peanut butter as a food source, and move any live mice you catch far out of the house.
If you haven’t sealed up the house properly first, the mice may come back in the same way they entered the first time.
Seal small holes and gaps
Fix small gaps or holes near vents, door or window frames, around cable entry points, or the eaves. You can fill gaps in block work with mortar. Other gaps can be blocked with weatherproof fillers, caulking, or stuffed with steel wool. Don’t block air vents because the perform an important function in ventilating the house. For air vents and air blocks secure a fine wire mesh sheet over the openings.
Get rid of food sources
Each day, mice only require a minimal bit of food. Remove all access to foods. Store all food in airtight containers so they can’t smell it, or keep food in the fridge. Avoid having food like bread hanging around the kitchen, easily accessible.
After your dogs or cats have finished eating, clear out the pet bowls and store leftover pet food in airtight containers to prevent rodents from being attracted to it. Also, clean up spills and messes right away.
Contact a pest control company
An infestation of pests should be dealt with as soon as possible since, if ignored, mice populations could quickly multiply, further endangering your health.
Contacting a pest control expert for assistance is the best approach to get rid of mice that have taken up residence anywhere in your home. Pest control specialists have access to state-of-the-art traps and poisons and they are trained to use these tools safely. A good pest controller will also be able to spot all the entry points and assist in blocking them.
At Merlin, we specialise in helping businesses with pest control. Businesses with mice in the attic need a stealthy, fast, and reliable approach to not alarm staff and customers. Get in touch to discuss commercial pest control.
Will mice go away on their own?
Contrary to common perception, mice do not leave your home on their own. Therefore, you will need to take action to get rid of them. Also, having a pet cat won’t get rid of them.
Risks associated with mice
Mice are a severe threat to public health and may even be fatal. Their urine, droppings, and bedding have been known to infect humans with Salmonella and Listeria.
They bring filth and bacteria with them as they move around, spreading it to your counters, cabinets, pantry, and other places they go.
Mice tend to poop and pee near their food sources, i.e. your food. This increases the danger of food poisoning for anyone who has an infestation.
Due to their compulsive need to nibble to keep their teeth at a constant length, these pests can also inflict significant property damage to electrical lines, water and gas pipes, and woodwork. They have also been blamed for many electrical fires and floods.
Summary of preventative actions
- Cut back any branches that might serve as a passageway to your property. Avoid planting shrubs or other vegetation too close to your doors because this might offer hiding places.
- Seal any openings, access points, or cracks you can find in your property.
- Caulk around all pipes and wires leading into your home and stuff gaps with wire wool.
- Seal vents with a fine aluminium mesh
- Install sturdy door seals at the bottom of all doors
- Don’t forget to seal your bins when not in use, and keep them away from walls.
- Make sure to keep all your food in airtight containers.
- Avoid hoarding and excessive clutter, as these things can provide harbourage for mice.
- Make sure the feeding bowls for your pets are clean and always empty of leftovers.
- Call in the experts. A good pest control expert will be able to spot the entry points.
