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How To Recognize House Mice And The Property Damage They Commonly Inflict Within Homes

The house mouse (Mus musculus) is easily the most commonly controlled rodent pest species within homes and buildings throughout the United States. Unlike other common indoor rodent pests like Norway rats, roof rats, and deer mice, the house mouse prefers to dwell indoors rather than outdoors in most circumstances. An adult house mouse can be recognized for its slender 2.5 to 4.5 inch body and its scantily haired tail of equal length. They have thin whiskers, narrow hind feet, sharp and short claws, and their round ears appear largely hairless while the rest of their body is covered in greyish-brown fur that becomes darker around their midsection.

House mice nest within dark and concealed indoor areas during the day, and at night they emerge to gather food sources. One house mouse eats around one ounce of food daily, and in homes they often choose foods that are high in fat, protein, or sugars over the seeds and grains they typically consume. House mice readily eat food crumbs beneath appliances in kitchens, but most infestation cases see the rodent pests raid pantries and cupboards where they gnaw their way into food packages to perform taste-tests. House mice frequently avoid eating the contents of the food packages that they nibble their way into because they don’t like the taste. This is why house mice tend to contaminate more food items than they eat within infested homes.

Food items that sustain damage from rodent pests are usually contaminated with pathogens from rodent saliva, urine and/or feces and should be discarded. Shelves and cupboards where damaged food items are found should be thoroughly sanitized. House mice also damage fabrics, wood, wallpaper, insulation, plaster, and carpeting in order to gather the raw materials they need to construct nests within their hiding spots. In attics and wall voids, house mice frequently chew on wires, which often leads to house fires. Eliminating house mouse infestations generally requires professional pest control intervention.

Have you ever successfully eliminated a house mouse infestation with snap-traps?