Mice have the same basic needs as any animal: warmth, shelter, and food. If your house offers these, then the mice outdoors desperately want to come in. Not every homeowner has a mouse infestation, so how do mice get in the house of some people but not others? Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control explains how mice enter through some common locations, including weep vents.
How Do Mice Get in the House?
A mouse’s skull is only 10.4 to 11.5 mm across at the widest point. Their heads are the biggest parts of their bodies, so if a mouse’s skull fits, then so will the rest of it. To judge whether they should enter a space, mice simply poke their heads inside and gauge the diameter of the opening with their whiskers.
Most people believe that if their houses are well-built, they should be impervious to pests. But because of their ability to squeeze into extremely tight spaces, mice can gain access to a home in many unexpected locations. Here are just a few examples:
- Gaps between floorboards.
- Holes created for pipe installation.
- Doors that don’t close tightly.
- Attic fans.
- Pet doors.
Can Mice Get in Through Weep Vents?
Weep vents are human-made gaps between bricks that builders intentionally create to allow air to circulate throughout the home. These weep vents allow moisture to escape through the gaps in the brick just above the home’s foundation. They are a necessary feature of brick walls that prevents water damage.
Standard weep vents are approximately 1 cm wide, which is big enough for a mouse to squeeze through. And because builders place them at ground level, they become open doors for mice. Clues that mice are entering this way are brown stains around the opening or mouse droppings stuck to the bricks.
When they notice mice coming and going through weep vents, some people wrongly believe that the mice are simply living between the bricks. This gives them the false impression that they do not have a rodent infestation, causing them to delay getting help for the problem. Unfortunately, the truth is that once inside the vent, a mouse can climb its way up the backside of the brick wall, behind the soffit, and directly into the attic.
Is It Safe To Have Mice in the House?
Sharing your home with mice creates an unsanitary situation that is best avoided. This is because as mice go back and forth from your yard to the inside of your house, their tiny feet carry with them bacteria from everything they have walked across and eaten on their nightly forays.
Consider the following examples of what mice might encounter before returning indoors:
- Dead animal bones they gnaw for calcium.
- Droppings from larger mammals that they pilfer for undigested grains.
- Human garbage containing food scraps.
- Insect prey, including cockroaches.
- Parasites such as fleas, ticks, and tapeworms.
All of the above items contain germs that can spread to humans. Furthermore, because mice like to chew on electrical wires, they can also create a fire hazard that puts your family further at risk.
Does Skedaddle Know How To Get Rid of Mice in Weep Vents?
Instead of relying on traps and poisons, Skedaddle focuses on getting the mice out and preventing them from returning. We do this by first using our observation skills and experience to determine where mice are entering your home. Once we have found the entrance, we install one-way doors that prevent them from returning when they leave to find food.
We also know how to keep mice away from your house for good. During the inspection process, we note not just the holes where mice are actually coming in, but also the places where they could potentially enter in the future. Then we seal up all these openings, making your house completely mouse-proof. This humane method allows the animals to find a more appropriate home outdoors where they belong.
How Do Mice Get in the House? Skedaddle Technicians Have Seen It All!
Mice don’t understand the difference between a human home and their natural habitat, so to them, every minute opening is an opportunity for warmth and shelter. Weep vents are one example of entry points, but there are hundreds of possible locations.
How do mice get in the house? The bottom line is that they will come in wherever they find an opening the width of a dime. If you have mice in your house, contact us right away by phone for a home inspection. You may be surprised to learn all the places where mice are getting into your home.