Reading the sounds
Mice are most active between midnight and 4 AM. What you hear tells you where they are:
Scratching in walls or ceiling
Mice navigating inside wall cavities — a well-established run
Gnawing sounds near baseboards or cabinets
Active chewing to enlarge entry holes or access food
Light skittering above you
Attic activity — mice enter through roof eaves, vents, or utility penetrations
Squeaking or rustling in kitchen walls
Nest nearby, likely insulation packed between studs
Physical signs to check
- Droppings — dark, rice-shaped, found along baseboards, in cabinets, behind appliances
- Gnaw marks on food packaging, wood trim, or electrical wiring insulation
- Smear marks along walls where fur oils leave a gray residue on regular routes
- Nesting material — shredded insulation, paper, or fabric in a hidden corner
- Urine pillars — small waxy mounds of urine and debris in active areas
Why this gets worse quickly
A single female mouse can produce 5–10 litters per year, with 5–6 pups each. A pair that enters your home in October can become 50+ mice by spring. Mice also chew electrical wiring — a known cause of house fires — and contaminate food preparation surfaces with droppings that carry hantavirus and salmonella.
What professional rodent control includes
Traps alone don't solve a mouse problem — exclusion does. Effective treatment means:
- Finding every entry point (mice fit through gaps the size of a dime)
- Sealing or treating those points so new mice can't re-enter
- Placing a bait program to eliminate the current population
- Following up to confirm activity has stopped
See our rodent control service page for the full exclusion and bait program we use in Columbia, MD homes.