If you are dealing with a mouse infestation in your home, you may have seen your little nemeses scurrying through your garage, under the cabinets in your kitchen, or even leaving droppings in your cupboards. Mice can be cute, but they can also be an insidious presence in your home that causes much frustration. You may or may not be aware of the fact that mice leave invisible “trails”, which are basically pheromone-based scents that attract other mice to the area. Let’s examine what these trails are, what they mean to other mice, and why they could spell out bad news for your home and its potential for infestation.
What Are Mice Trails?
Mice travel a lot — both outdoors and into and out of people’s homes, garages, and barns. As they make their way through the world, they leave behind trails of pheromones. If the last time you thought about pheromones was 10th grade biology class, you’re not alone! Pheromones are chemical signals that animals send to each other to signify safe spaces, cue mating season, or communicate messages to other mice. Yes, your innocent-looking house mice are actually communicating with each other by using secret messages. This is why professional mice removal is so important.
What Do These Trails Mean to Other Mice?
Mice are social creatures. When they pick up on a scent trail left by other mice, these trails could signify that they’re on track to finding a new home. If it’s winter, for example, these mice are seeking warmth, shelter, and food. When they stumble across a scent trail left by another mouse, this could mean that they are close to finding what they are looking for.
This is why simply blocking the entrance haphazardly, or setting mouse traps will not work to eliminate your infestation problem. Blocking your uninvited guest’s “front door” can certainly decrease the mice that are arriving through that entrance, but for every visible entrance there are many more you can’t see. And, because you aren’t privy to this secret method your mice are using to communicate with each other and find your home, you won’t be able to find all of their entrances — or even all of the mice.
If this sounds like a potentially huge problem, it is, but don’t worry! There are ways to erase these scent trails as well as seal your home to new arrivals before the infestation gets out of control.
What Will The Presence of Trails Do to My Home?
You are obviously not a mouse, so unfortunately you won’t be able to see, hear, or smell the mice leaving these trails. They’re essentially invisible to you and other species. Groups of mice will eventually do the following things to your home.
- Leave droppings, which can attract parasites, bacteria, cockroaches, and mould
- Damage your house’s infrastructure
- Attract more mice
- Cause putrid odours that you can’t easily eliminate
When you hire a professional from Skedaddle to help with your infestation problem, they will secure the mice’s entry point as well as seal any other cracks that the mice may be coming through. Please do not touch the mice yourself! The technician will deodorize your home, crawlspace, attic, and any other area that may be a current safe zone for the generations of mice that are living in it.
Deodorizing will remove the invisible pheromone trails that are attracting other mice to your area. This is a crucial step in the process: If you don’t deodorize, you may quickly find yourself with another mouse problem after you thought you were mouse-free.
How Skedaddle Can Help
Do you have a mouse problem? We can help assess your residence for infestation and provide details about our mice prevention services. Contact Skedaddle today to learn more about mice, infestations, and pheromone trails and to schedule a consultation for humane wildlife control in your home.
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