Mice Droppings: Important Facts
Very often the first sign that your house is facing a mouse attack will be the spotting of mice droppings. Mice droppings can indicate anything from a couple of mice in the house to a whole infestation. With mice though the gap between few and many is really rapid and once you have seen mice droppings you have to act quickly to deal with the mice problem. Remember that a female mouse reaches sexual maturity at two months and can produce around 10 litters every year.
The other thing to worry about if you see mice droppings is being infected by the Hantavirus. While this is mostly found in the urine and feces of deer mice rather than house mice, there is no way you can know for sure what kind of mice is around and it is best to exercise extreme caution. Hantavirus can be fatal and enters human beings through the air. This is the reason that people are advised not to vacuum or sweep mice droppings. Mice dropping are small, thin and look sort of brown colored sprinkles. It is best to use a damp paper towel and pick up the mice droppings and get rid of them promptly in a plastic trash bag. Use gloves and a face mask while dealing with mice droppings and also air the area out thoroughly after you get rid of the droppings. You should also disinfect the area where you found the mice droppings and should try and cover the entire space rather than do a localized cleaning. After you are done with all the cleaning, make it a point to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water even if you had used gloves during the cleaning.
Now you have to deal with the real problem indicated by the mice droppings. You need to find the point of entry of the mice. Thoroughly examine all the rooms in your house from the attic to your basement and seal all holes. Mice can fit into holes smaller than their bodies because they can squeeze themselves into tight spaces – so, do not ignore any hole as insignificant. The usual vulnerable spots in a house are the vent holes in the laundry area, the plumbing connection for the dishwasher and other areas and the outlet for the gas stove. The gaps around baseboards also can be a good place for mice to crawl into a house. Once you have identified the holes, you should seal them with steel wool or plastic foam. These are materials that mice cannot easily gnaw through. Remember that just cloth or paper is likely to be ineffective because the mice will just chew through the substance. If you think a hole is too big to be sealed with something like these, you should consider nailing a piece of wood to cover the opening.
While locating and dealing with the entry points into the house, you also need to start dealing with the mice that are already indoors. Mice droppings are indication that they have made themselves at home in your house and you need to be aggressive in responding to the problem. You can set traps and catch the mice. If you are doing a catch-and-release trap, release the mice far from home as they have a tendency to find their way back promptly if you just let them out in your neighborhood. While the traps that poison the mice seem less humane, you may need to resort to that if you want to put a stop to mice wandering around in your basement and attic. Given that mice are not only an inconvenience but a real threat, you are entirely justified in taking serious measures to tackle the problem. While one mouse may look cute and helpless, a family of mice can ruin everything from electrical fixtures and furniture to books and clothes. You can use the mice droppings as an indicator of where the mice have been visiting and leave traps in all those rooms or areas.
You should also look out for a mice nest while investigating around your house. Mice like to build their homes in semi-dark and cozy area and will use all kinds of soft materials to make their space soft and comfortable. If you can locate this and remove it or destroy it, you will have reached the root of the problem indicated by the mice droppings.