# Mice in the attic



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Go under the house and look for any holes where wiring or plumbing was run and seal them up.
Look along the bottom of the siding for gaps.
Look around the foundation for any gaps.


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## RWolff (Jan 27, 2013)

> But the questions I have beyond possible entry points are:
> 
> 1) What might be the significance of the month of May? Is the mother mouse coming in there around that time, giving birth, the whole family scampers about for a few weeks, then they move on? If so why wouldn't I hear them during other times of the year since as I understand it mice breed just about year round? I never hear them either in late fall or winter when seemingly they would be more motivated to get indoors.
> 
> 2) Are there certain temperatures that are inhospital for mice? It gets pretty hot in my attic in the summer time and right at the beginning of June here in Michigan is usually when the temperatures get more summer-like, which is also when the attic noises seem to go away.


 It's spring, pretty much ALL animals become active then and reproduce, mice can have multiple litters year-round, so once they get into your house you can bet they are building nesting areas in the walls and reproducing. Mice can breed by age 50 days, and the average litter size is 10-12 with the gestation period being a very short 20 days. After birth estrus begins again, so as you can see, mice are breeding factories!
Since the average litter size is 10-12, and they can breed by age 50 days- not even two months old, it is easy to see how just one pair or one pregnant female can create a huge colony in your house and you kill a couple or three and within three weeks another 10-12 are on the way!

Mice and rats can squeeze though the tiniest holes and cracks, 1/4" hole is all a mouse needs to get in!
A mouse can jump as high as a foot, and climb 13 inches up smooth surfaces, it goes without saying that on rough surfaces they can climb and enter a gap or hole in the attic area, a missing soffit vent screen, or open louver.
They can also get under doors if there is a gap or the weatherstrip or door sweep ont he bottom is flexible and there's about 1/4" space they can squeeze under.
A rat can squeeze through a hole just 1/2" in diameter.
They can be more active in spring (May) than other times, but you can be sure they are in your house year-round because they reproduce so fast.

Mice eat just about anything, they will even lick the glue off postage stamps, and rodents like mice and rats like to gnaw on electrical wiring in the walls, plus their urine is corrosive to metals. I can't stand the damn things, every surface they walk over- they $hit about every 6"!!

If you have pets, make sure crumbs, dropped food etc is GONE, it is easier if you don't have pets (no water bowl on the floor mice can drink from) dry the kitchen sink etc after use so there's no water in it- you want to create a hostile environment for the mice where their water and food supply is extremely limited, because your next step is get some mouse traps and bait them, plain white bread squashed around the paddle works extremely well and even when it dries out it will still attract them, put them in various locations, check them frequently, replace or reset immediately. You might even put a tiny dish of water near it to attract them even more to that location- make that the ONLY source of water and food if at all possible for best results.
It will take work, diligence and time, but if you get all holes and gaps sealed well, you will get rid of all the ones in the attic and walls.

I redid my porch 2 years ago and inadvertanly left a tiny strip of wood off under the clapboard near the door, then suddenly I started seeing mice after being mouse-free for ten years, it took a LOT of work to track down the entry point and it was very hard to find it.Once i sealed that up it took MONTHS to get rid of the damn things, I would catch 2-3 every couple of days, in one case two in one spring trap!
but I finally got rid of all of them.
I would not use poisons, they will die in the walls and insulation and stink, or crawl out in the middle of the night and die where your cat or dog can eat one of them who has ingested the poison.

2) I don't know, but if it's too hot in the attic they simply migrate through the walls down into the basement or a lower area, or they go out their entry point during the day and return at night.




> That is quite a ways up and I don't see any obvious ways for them to climb all the way up (which would include scaling up aluminum siding). I suppose they could be scaling up the brick lower level and finding a way underneath the siding but I've not seen any openings there.


They can even climb a nearby tree and hop off to the roof, they can also get under the siding if there is a little gap, 1/4" hole is all they need! It could be atiny gap where the foundation meets the wood, under a rubber or other flexible doorsweep, thru a tiny gap where a chimney flue to a water heater exits, you'd be amazed how these buggers find a way in!


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## vaportrails30 (May 9, 2013)

On the second night last week I heard some activity again but not as much as the night before. Then one or two nights afterwards of not hearing anything. I did over the weekend then go outside on the side of the house where the sounds usually start and did find a couple of suspicious spots. One was a little hole in the corner of the awning of our front porch where a bit of wood had rotted and a small hole existed. I'm not 100% sure that is an entry point into the walls of the house or where it leads. They could probably scale up the first level brick and get their way into that spot though. There is also a tall bush right there that could aid them in that process. I also saw in the second row of aluminum siding on the upper level above the brick where there was a bit of separation from the bottom of the siding to the wall, and the gap there was probably large enough for a mouse to squeeze under and get into the walls and up into the attic. It would take a mighty acrobatic mouse to get over to that point. It is not in the corner but over a little ways so they would either have to move sideways along the siding up into the gap or perhaps scale up the brick and then somehow get up past the first row of siding to the gap in the second row. I have underestimated them in the past.

So I closed off both of those areas with caulk and steel wool where appropriate. So far 2 nights in a row of nothing. So hopefully I've closed off their entry point(s), and also accomplished it when they were perhaps not holed up in the attic still. We shall see.


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## RWolff (Jan 27, 2013)

vaportrails30 said:


> So I closed off both of those areas with caulk and steel wool where appropriate. So far 2 nights in a row of nothing. So hopefully I've closed off their entry point(s), and also accomplished it when they were perhaps not holed up in the attic still. We shall see.


You may have found the entry point, but remember, there can be a nest in the wall and babies, so while none can enter or leave (we hope) the ones currently likely living in the wall are still there so keep at it with spring traps and bait them, keep an eye on them a couple of days, move them around if they catch nothing, if you catch nothing in 2 weeks I think you got the problem solved.
If you catch even one mouse, it's all but guaranteed there's more.


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