There are many signs that will help you detect if you have a mouse infestation. You may spot their droppings, gnaw marks, trails that they use to travel around the home, and you may also hear them traveling and squeaking through the walls, usually at night. Does this mean that house mice are nocturnal animals? Let’s find out.

When do mice sleep?

Surprisingly, house mice are neither diurnal or nocturnal – they prefer the twilight. This means that they are most active at dusk and at dawn. During these periods of the day, they have the least number of threats present, because both the nocturnal and diurnal animals are either getting up to start the day or going to sleep. On top of that, you have low light conditions. When the mice enter the home however, they may start to shift their activity patterns becoming nocturnal or diurnal, depending on a variety of factors, including the size of their nests, your sleep schedule and whether you have any pets or not.

Where do they sleep?

When mice enter the home, they will build a nest, usually inside the wall voids of the home, but sometimes in crawl spaces, in the basement, the attic, or inside some clutter. They will maintain a small territory after setting up their nest, usually not venturing further than 10-30 feet away from it. To make the nest, they will use whatever materials they can get their paws on, including stuffing from a blanket, pillow, insulation, stuffed animal, paper and other similar materials. Be careful with leaving cardboard boxes, junk mail and other scrap materials lying around because they can serve as ready-made nests for the house mice.

Are there mice in the home? Signs to look out for

If you have mice in the home, you have to detect the infestation as fast as possible, because the longer they are indoors, the more dangerous they become. To do this, you will have to keep an eye out for their droppings, gnaw marks, and trails. Once you suspect that you have an infestation give a pest control pro a call and have him perform an inspection. If the infestation is confirmed, he will move onto control and make sure that your home is completely mouse free. For more information on house mice, or if you suspect that you have an infestation, contact us today.