"How Do I Know If I Have Mice In My Attic?"

“Mice in the Attic??? It Sounds Like An Elephant!"

Sometimes are customers are adamant that they are being kept awake at night by raccoons or squirrels in their attic. But after performing a detailed exterior check of the roof and the rest of the house, we determine that neither animal has found its way in.

At this point we usually assume that they are hearing the scratching sounds of mice. In the middle of night any sound can be seem quite amplified. Customers will ask “how can you tell for sure if I have mice?” By inspecting an attic we will be looking for one inch trails the mice make on the insulation. Mice like to follow the same paths when they move around within the attic, which will create a detailed network of trails.  If the customer has had mice for a long period of time, the trails will be very pronounced, as seen in the photo.

Mouse noises are almost always quite localized, homeowners will point at the ceiling and say “I hear it there.” This is the main difference between the noise caused by mice compared to that from raccoons and squirrels. Because they are so light weight they cannot be heard moving on top of the insulation in the attic. They tend to nest beneath the insulation, directly on the drywall and being rodents they constantly chew on their surroundings. In the dead of night the chewing sounds caused by mice can be perceived as the noise caused by raccoons and squirrels.

By Brad Gates, B.Sc.

Brad Gates is the owner and president of AAA Gates Wildlife Control. He has over 35 years experience in the humane wildlife removal and prevention industry.