Mice in the Home

Written by University of Minnesota Extension faculty

The common house mouse weighs less than one ounce and is from 1 to 1 1/2 inches in length. The body is grayish-brown above and lighter, never white, below. Generally, it is a permanent resident in homes and other buildings. Wild mice enter dwellings in late summer or fall, spend the winter, and leave in the spring. All mice are excellent climbers and can be found at all levels of the house from the basement to the attic. Mice can be controlled.

OUTDOOR CONTROL METHODS

Do not stack firewood next to buildings. Keep vegetation around buildings and wood piles trimmed. Remove all trash or rubbish or store it in containers with tight fitting lids. Remove hay or straw mulches from around foundations. Do not leave pet food outside. Store bird feed in metal containers with tight fitting lids.
Clean up under and around bird feeders.

Inside attached garages, install 1/8 inch or finer mesh wire screening over the openings where the roof rafters and the top wall plate meet. Use a pre-mix cement to grout the holes in the top row of exposed foundation blocks in attached garages because mice climb through these holes.

INDOOR CONTROL METHODS

Store food and pet food in glass or metal containers with tight fitting lids or in cabinets with snug fitting doors. Use standard single or multiple catch traps and glue boards. Bait the traps with a small dab of peanut butter.
Poison baits are available but they should not be used near human or pet food supplies.

In the garage, place traps next to the corners of the doors, the most likely entry point. As rodents move, one side of their body is kept in contact with a vertical surface. Therefore, set traps perpendicular to walls where mice have been seen. Place traps 1/8 inch from the wall, 6 to 8 feet apart with triggers placed toward the wall.

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Written by: Skip Rither
Reviewed by Jim Kitts - 2003

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Mice in the Home