Every autumn, calls arrive in a cluster after the first hard frost. The caller says the same thing: it started last night. The truth is usually that it started some weeks earlier, and cold finally made it loud.
What the cold actually does.
Mice do not hibernate. As temperatures fall, they look for shelter with food nearby, and a heated building is ideal. Cooling nights also thin the leaf cover, so animals that lived in gardens and woodpiles feel exposed and move.
The house itself changes too. Heating dries the air, wood shrinks and pipes expand. Those shifts can open fresh gaps in the same week that mice start probing.
Working out what the sound is.
Not every sound is an animal. Before you assume the worst, listen for a few minutes, ideally in the room where you first noticed it.
- Scratching that moves from place to place and stops when you tap the wall.
- A dry, rasping gnaw, often near a corner or baseboard.
- Light patter overhead in the attic, usually at dusk or after midnight.
- Ticking or knocking that follows the heating cycle, which suggests pipes or ducts.
Write down the time, the room and the kind of sound. That note is more useful than a guess about the animal.
The one-week checklist.
| Day. | Action. | What you are looking for. |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Walk the exterior at dusk with a flashlight. | Gaps at pipes, vents and door seals. |
| 2. | Check the garage and basement corners. | Droppings, gnawed boxes, nest scraps. |
| 3. | Move pet food and birdseed into lidded tubs. | Spilled food and open bags. |
| 4. | Inspect the attic hatch from below. | Droppings on the ladder or around the frame. |
| 5. | Look under sinks and behind appliances. | Pellets, grease marks, chewed lines. |
| 6. | Rake leaves back from the foundation. | Burrow mouths and flattened runs. |
| 7. | Review notes and photos. | Patterns that point to one or two routes. |
You do not need to finish all seven in order. The point is to gather evidence so the first phone call is short and precise.
Making the house less welcome.
Food comes first. Store flour, cereal, pet food and seed in lidded containers. Wipe counters at night and pick up water bowls at bedtime. None of this removes mice already inside, but it takes away the reward for staying.
Next comes access. Gaps at the base of the house are the main routes, as covered in our guide on older masonry and hairline gaps. A technician can close those with metal, which foam and caulk cannot match.
Prefer talking to reading? Call the number and a person responds whatever the hour.
Dial (888) 686-4821A local note.
Centerport sits on Long Island's North Shore, where plenty of lots have mature trees and some back onto larger grounds. Callers sometimes mention the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum when they describe where they live. The museum's estate tells us nothing about your wall, so give us your street and describe any trees or outbuildings touching your house.
What a technician does in a first visit.
The visit starts outside, with a perimeter walk. Next the technician examines the attic, the cellar or crawlspace and the garage. Traps go on the lanes, and a sealing list is drafted. A recheck follows on a date named at the start.
Read more about the process on the mouse control page, and about trap choices on the trapping page.
Staying safe in the meantime.
Do not sweep or vacuum pellets, keep the children and pets in another room, and steer clear of scattered poison. The safety box below summarizes the CDC steps for cleanup.
First, a cautious way to deal with dust
The following squeezes down published public health advice, and it applies even if you never book a visit.
- Skip all dry methods. Old pellets turn to powder, and breathing that powder is the very thing to prevent.
- Trapped air holds whatever has been floating in it, so let a long-sealed space clear out first.
- Shield your hands during the task, then lather up under running water at the end.
- Wet each pellet and stain thoroughly, then allow the liquid to do its work.
- A dead animal never touches bare skin; bag it and drop the bag in the trash.
- Fever, sore muscles or shortness of breath in the weeks after cleaning call for a doctor, and you should say what you handled. A pest firm cannot give medical advice.
The pages behind the notes above
Anyone can read these documents, so go to the originals if you like.
- EPA rules on store-bought rodent bait: How the EPA distinguishes household bait from products set aside for trained applicators.
- CDC guide to wet cleanup after rodent contact: A damp cleaning method for homes, with a reason given for every stage.