When To Call an Exterminator for Mice: 7 Signs When To Call Pest Control for Mice

Knowing when to call an exterminator for mice and when to call pest control for mice can be crucial, since mice can prose a real threat to the safety of your home.

The truth is that mice are extremely intelligent mammals that know how to survive, adapt to new situations, problem-solve, and intuit new solutions on the fly, and out-think predators and exterminators.¹

In addition, their tendency to gnaw on wiring and other parts of your house can present a real danger.

If you think that you have a mouse infestation problem, then you have probably passed the point of contemplating when to call an exterminator for mice problems.

This guide outlines some of the most common warning signs that indicate you need a professional pest control company to deal with rodents in your home.

7 Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore Before Deciding When To Call Pest Control for Mice

Although a single mouse may not warrant calling in a professional, if you’ve ignored some telling indicators, the problem may be bigger than you realize.

Here are seven signs you should never ignore when considering when to call pest control for mice infestation problems.

1. Your Neighbor Is Being Serviced By Mice Exterminator Professionals

The number one to ruin a homeowner’s day is to come home or look out the window and see that your neighbor is being serviced by mice exterminators.

Mice intelligence has evolved over thousands of years to adapt to human behaviors and co-habitate with them via commensalism to gain as much benefit as possible without offering anything in return.

Mice are extremely smart problem solvers when it comes to finding food, shelter, and water. If your neighbor has decided that the gossip-hounding stigma of having mice exterminators appear at their house is worth it, then you must consider the possibility that you are harboring an unnoticed and burgeoning infestation as well.

If you see your neighbor being serviced by mice exterminators then that is an easy validation for deciding when to call pest control for mice. It might be worth it to call an exterminator for a consultation and inspection evaluation at the very least.

2. Pets Reacting To Unseen Signs of Mice Infestation in House Settings

Mice communicate via noises and reacting to pheromones and urine. Mouse urine is extremely pungent, even to human noses.

The scent of mice urine can cause other mice to sexually mature quickly or even self-terminate their own pregnancies within their bodies via a process called the Bruce Effect.¹ The point is that a large nest of mice might be scurrying around and communicating with each other in your home via these methods while being unchecked and unnoticed by you.

Cats and dogs have powerful olfactory senses and may have noticed a mice infestation problem long before you did without being able to communicate it.

Mice are also wily and good at evading human sight detection until their populations become too great.

(Image: IlonaBurschl¹⁹)

However, most house pets should be able to detect their movements and activities. If you notice your pets pawing at walls, playing with unseen items behind large appliances, or reacting to smells you have yet to detect, don’t dismiss such activities.

Your pet could be trying to tell you about an issue that requires you to decide when to call pest control for mice.

3. You See One or Two Mice

If you sighted just one or two mice in your home or on your property, then you may already reached the point for when to call pest control for mice may already be a given. As previously mentioned, one female mouse can potentially give birth to a least six mouse pups monthly.⁴

Some female mouse species can birth as many as 14 mouse pups monthly, although the given average is at least eight monthly.¹ Even the term “monthly” is a relative term when considering mice pregnancy rates since most female mice can give birth to pup litters almost every 21 days.¹

To consider the worst scenario, just imagine that one female mouse in your house can give birth to 14 pups every 21 days for one year. That is the equivalent of one female mousing birthing 238 mice in one year.

Mice typically form nests to care for their young. One mouse nest can house half a dozen to a dozen mice and female mice can become pregnant right after birth.⁹

The point is that seeing one or two mice is probably a sign of a much larger problem that you don’t see. It could be a sign of a population explosion or a delayed one with hidden nests harboring young mice pups.

You may need to start asking yourself, how much does an exterminator cost for mice eradication if you see even just one mouse scurrying around your home? Additionally, do not react out of pride if you see one or two mice in your home.

Mice are opportunistic and will invade mansions and low-income housing alike to find food, shelter, and water. A 2021 government study reported that over 14 million American households admitted to seeing at least one mouse or rat scurrying around in their dwelling.¹⁰

4. Uncovering Mice Nests

Mice are opportunistic and adaptive creatures that will create their nests out of the materials that are plentiful around them. Mice nests can be made from cotton, carpet fibers and strands, toilet paper or cardboard shreds, lint, and so on.

Mouse nests are usually not larger than half a foot in diameter.⁹ You will usually find mice nests in unseen areas like inside walls, unused drawers, attics and basements, and so on.

Finding one mouse nest is worse than just spotting one mouse scurrying across a floor because it insinuates that there could be other mouse nests in the vicinity. And that also implies that an impending mouse population explosion in your home is imminent.

If you uncover only one mouse nest, then you are probably way past the point of deciding when to call pest control for mice infestation issues.

5. Grease Smears and Track Marks Are a Surefire Sign That You Need Pest Control for Mice

Mice are opportunistic creatures of habit. If you have a bad infestation then you may also notice that mice usually travel in the same paths that you saw them previously traversing.

Mice will usually walk along the same pathways they usually traverse until something makes them brainstorm and use detours and alternate paths. A good sign that you have an unrealized mouse infestation is to notice dark-colored smear marks or small footprints along the floor level of walls or corridors.

Mice collect dirt and debris on their fur as they scurry and will sometimes leave behind so-called “grease marks” on walls or footprints as they scurry around. Grease smears and foot track marks are worrying signs that you might have a bad and as yet unseen infestation problem.

Grease smears and mouse footprints heavily imply that the rodents are traversing openings to the outside of your home, have nested and invaded deep spaces within your walls, ceilings, crawlspaces, or other areas and that multiple nests currently exist in your home. If you’re asking yourself, “When to call pest control for mice infestation issues?” the answer could be the moment after you notice grease smear marks and tiny mouse footprint tracks.

6. If You See Mouse Droppings, Contact Rodent Control Services

Mice are instinctual animals. Mice are known to eat their own dropping, but they also poop constantly.

One mouse is able to drop up to 75 dropping within a 24-hour period.⁹ Mice can be known vectors of disease and mice droppings can potentially contain Salmonellosis, Hantavirus, or rat-bite fever.⁴

You might even develop respiratory problems or contract infections from just inhaling the particulates around mouse droppings.⁴ Mice droppings are bigger and thicker than a grain of rice, dark colored, and usually have pointed ends.

If come across one or several mouse drops, it might imply that you have one or two mice in the home. Still, that could also imply that there could be one or two mice nests hidden somewhere around your home or property.

If you uncover scores or hundreds of mouse droppings then you can be assured that you have a severe and unchecked mouse infestation problem in your home. Additionally, severe mouse-dropping accumulations spread around your home can also be a potential biohazard issue, so wear a filter mask and protective gloves before handling or sweeping up mouse droppings.

If you want to know when to call pest control for mice problems, then it should be immediately after finding mouse droppings. A professional mouse exterminator will know how to safely remove mouse dropping and assess infestation problems more efficiently than you.

7. Strong Ammonia-Like Smells Emanating From Hard-To-Reach Places

As previously mentioned, mice urine is extremely pungent. The stench of mice urine is used by mice to communicate, enhance sexual maturity, or even cause a female to initiate a self-abortion within its body.

Mouse droppings don’t have an appreciable odor that can be easily detected by the human nose. However, you should have no problem detecting the stench of mouse urine under a sink, within a wall, or behind an appliance.

It should never be understated that the stench of mouse urine will always attract new mice since mice have strong senses of smell. Additionally, the stronger the hidden urine smell, the more likely it is that you are suffering an unchecked and severe mouse infestation issue.

When To Call an Exterminator for Mice

It is not an accident that entertainment culture has countless depictions of cartoon or TV mouse characters continually outsmarting, evading, and escaping from human antagonists.

People laugh and relate to such depictions because they can relate to the stress, revulsion, and frustration of dealing with mice infestation.

(Image: Kapa65¹⁶)

Cleaning up a maggot or beetle infestation would not be a pleasant experience, but you could probably handle such endeavors on your own. However, the moment that you spot one or two mice in your home is probably the moment you realize too late that you may already have a bad infestation.

Mice are wily and sneaky, so if you see one, then an enclosed population explosion has probably occurred in your home or property without you realizing it until far too late.

In other words, the moment that you spot a mouse or undeniable evidence of mice infestation, like mouse droppings, creepy scratching noises in the walls or ceiling, disembodied high-pitched squeaking noises that can’t be pin-pointed, and so on, then you’ve probably traveled way past the emotional Rubicon of even starting to contemplate when to call an exterminator for mice.

Unless you are willing to do the very dirty work of exterminating them yourself, then you should probably call a professional exterminator. When explosive mouse populations grow out of control in confined settings on houses and property, they always leave unmistakable signs of their existence.

You will learn about seven of these unmistakable signs in this comprehensive guide so that you can make better-informed decisions about when to call an exterminator for mice infestation issues. No one is saying that you can’t exterminate your own mouse problem.

Still, it’s a very dirty job that also requires you to innovate your own mindset relative to problem-solving. There is verified scientific evidence that proves that mice are highly intelligent, adaptive, and accustomed to cohabitating with humans in order to gain access to resources like shelter, water, and food while contributing nothing of reciprocal value to humans.

When To Call an Exterminator for Mice (When You Could Potentially Make the Problem Worse Yourself)

Sometimes it is beyond the comprehension of homeowners that mice can be so destructive or difficult to handle. As a homeowner, you must strategize wisely when deciding exactly when to call an exterminator for mice problems.

You should assess whether you can handle the issue yourself or when to compare exterminator prices as early as possible whenever you spot signs of mice infestation. Depending on the environment, weather, easy access to resources, and region dynamics, mice infestations can explode in population and become untenable long before a homeowner realizes there is a problem.

Still, many homeowners let pride get in the way of acknowledging that a mouse infestation problem is bigger than they can handle. In 2006, a New Mexico homeowner caught a mouse in his house, took it outside, and then threw the rodent onto a mass of burning leaves in his yard.²

The burning mouse ran from the burning piles of leaves, ran back towards the house, and spread the fire to the interior of the inside. The homeowner completely lost their home to an accidental self-caused inferno while trying to exterminate one mouse.

If you live in a remote or highly rural area, then you might definitely have to consult a professional exterminator to figure out how to get rid of field mice. Rural homeowners in Australia are seasonally plagued by hundreds of thousands and sometimes billions of mice infestations depending on local conditions.

An Australian family made the news in 2021 because an unchecked mouse population explosion on their property caused the mice to chew on electrical cables causing a fire that burned down their home.³

The point is that sometimes you should ask yourself when to call an exterminator for mice long before the problem gets out of hand.

How Do Mice Infestations Start?

Mice invade homes for shelter, food, and water, and to find safe places to nest and birth their young. If you have a mouse infestation then it is very probable that you have cracks, holes, and openings in your interior and exterior walls or foundation that allow mice access into your home.

Mice might migrate from an infestation plaguing a neighbor. A tree limb that extends very close to a window in your home could also allow mice easy entry into your home.

You should consult with an exterminator or home repair expert to fully inspect your home from top to bottom to identify potential mouse entry points into your home and seal them up.

What Are Some Basic Ways To Prevent Mouse Infestations?

Inspect your home from the exterior to the interior and seal up any holes or openings that will allow mice access to your home. Adopt a strict cleaning routine and stick to it or hire cleaning help.

Never leave food lying about the home or in garbage cans without a lid. Store all unpackaged food supplies in plastic containers with tight lids.

Have a plumber service leaky pipes as soon as possible. The cleaner your home is the less likely mice will want to invade it.

Additionally, you will likely notice one of the seven signs of potential mouse infestation much sooner the cleaner your home is. Always make your home and property as inhospitable to mice as possible and check on these methods often to make sure that mice are not bypassing your barriers and safeguards.

Can Mice Transmit Rabies?

Scientific research has shown that there is no existing proof as of yet that a human being has ever contracted rabies from rodents like mice in the United States.¹⁵ A human being contracting rabies from a mouse bite is unheard of in the scientific community.

However, that does not mean that a human being can’t get rabies from rabid mice because it has been scientifically proven that mice can contract rabies from other rabid wild animals, usually raccoons.¹⁵ In other words, while it is technically possible to catch rabies from a mouse bite, it is highly unlikely to happen, and there is no academic documentation that such a thing has ever happened in the United States as of yet.

Always refrain from touching or picking up mice pests in your home with your bare hands. While it is unlikely that the mouse you touch has rabies, it could certainly be a vector for several other diseases and bacteria.

Always wear protective gloves and gear when cleaning up after dead mice carcasses.

When To Call an Exterminator for Mice (Assess the Signs of Infestation First)

These examples of mouse population explosions and catastrophically short-sighted mouse extermination techniques are not presented to you to hurt your ego as a homeowner. The truth is that there are many problems that you could handle on your own, mouse infestation problems may not be one of them.

Mouse infestation problems can be very difficult to gauge because humans inherently underestimate the intelligence of mice. Mice are not inherently dangerous and are shy critters that mostly scurry away when they see humans.

However, unchecked mouse infestations can cause population explosions and damage furniture, fabrics, and wiring infrastructure via rodent chewing. Mice can also be vectors of numerous bacteria and diseases that can be easily transferred to humans via tactile contact or food contamination.⁴

You are going to learn how to spot seven unmistakable signs of when to call an exterminator for mice infestation problems. Firstly, here is some basic data that you should know about mice, their behaviors, and their intelligence.

You must learn this data so that you can understand why mouse extermination is so difficult, is always innovating, and why you need to learn when to call an exterminator for mice infestations earlier than later.

When To Call Pest Control for Mice (Mouse Basics 101)

The common house mouse is classified under the scientific name Mus musculus.¹ While there are numerous mouse species in the world, if you currently have an infestation problem forcing you to consider when to call an exterminator for mice problems, then it is probably this species.

Mice are extensively used by scientists for testing and analysis in advancing medical treatments and testing commercial products.¹ Scientists actually mapped the genome of the house mouse back in 2002.¹

The typical mouse can live for a year; mice are notorious for breeding rapidly and initiating explosive population growth in a short period of time. One female mouse can give birth to anywhere from six to eight pups monthly.⁴

Unseen and unnoticed mice populations can explode in growth rapidly in the confined spaces of your home long before you even notice of sign of their existence. Mice as we know them probably originated sometime in ancient India about 13,000 years ago.¹

Mice colonies practice commensalism, a social process where one species gains many benefits from associating or cohabitating with another species, like humans, without offering any benefits.⁵ Scientists believe that human beings may have started domesticating cats millennia ago because of uncontrollable infestation issues.

If you have to learn how to get rid of rats, then you have the same problem. Recent scientific studies have undisputedly proven that mice and rats have similar intelligence ranges.⁶

Science has proven that mice are immensely intelligent and wily. One experiment theorized in 2021 that common mice might be over 1,000 times more intelligent and adept at problem-solving and intuiting solutions on the fly than previously thought.⁷

Other experiments suggest that mice’s intelligence evolves continually because of continued and evolving interactions and extermination attempts by humans.⁸ The more that human beings hide food and resources from mice, the smarter mice become to gain access to those resources.

Don’t underestimate the potential severity of a mouse infestation, or the severity of damage caused by mice, nor procrastinate about when to call pest control for mice.

Will House Cats Hunt Mice?

It depends on the species, levels of predatory instinct, and the preferences of the cat, but the answer is generally no. You should not expect your housecat to hunt down and kill mice for you.

Domesticated housecats are accustomed to being fed by you, living life on their terms, and may not be interested in hunting for a meal as an alternative. Your cat will probably notice a mice infestation and potentially view them as toys or a form of distraction.¹²

Additionally, domesticated house cats who do chase mice may not kill them and will preferably enjoy the hunt and the chase more.

Also, your cat is likely to present the dead mouse to you as a gift if it does kill it, or leave it somewhere you are bound to find it, as its version of a gift, so be careful what you wish for.

Are There Any Domesticated House Cat Species That Enjoy Hunting Mice?

The modern house cat as domesticated by humans probably evolved from larger, feral cat creatures starting about 6,000 to 10,000 years ago in a time called the Near East Neolithic Period.¹³

So, every domesticated house cat has some instinctual proclivities to hunt, capture, and devour smaller prey hardwired and integrated within their DNA.

(Image: 165106¹⁷)

However, some domesticated cat species are more likely to embrace their predatory nature relative to mouse catching than others.¹⁴

Some domesticated cat species that enjoy hunting down mice include the Siberian, Siamese, American Shorthair, Manx, Burmese, Persian, Japanese Bobtail, Turkish Angora, Maine Coon, and Chartreux species.

When To Call Pest Control for Mice (How Long Does it Take To Get Rid of Mice?)

There is no set one-size-fits-all timetable or standard for how long it could take to completely wipe out a mice infestation issue. You or an exterminator has to first inspect the property and assess the severity of any potential infestation issue.

The method of the infestation eradication solution will be determined by the actual severity of the problem. If you or an exterminator catches some stray mice but completely miss hidden nests, then the problem could continually reappear every month or two.

As previously mentioned, mice are ancient creatures that are intelligent and evolve their thinking the more humans try to catch them or keep them away from their resources. It could take a few hours, days, or even months to completely eradicate a severe mice infestation problem.

You must be prepared for the reality that it could take multiple exterminator visits over weeks or months before the problem is solved.

Do a Rat Exterminator And a Mouse Exterminator Use the Same Extermination Methods?

Contrary to popular belief, mice and rats are not the same animal. Mice and rats are different species that share some aesthetic traits but obviously differ in size and dimensions.

Still, your local exterminator is going to use the same extermination methods for both mice and rats whenever out on a call.¹¹

What Is a Surefire DIY Mouse Extermination Method?

Inspect your home from the exterior to the interior and seal up any holes or openings that will allow mice access to your home. Adopt a strict cleaning routine and stick to it or hire cleaning help.

Never leave food lying about the home or in garbage cans without a lid. Store all unpackaged food supplies in plastic containers with tight lids.

Have a plumber service leaky pipes as soon as possible. The cleaner your home is the less likely mice will want to invade it.

How Do Exterminators Get Rid of Mice in Walls?

It will probably take several visits and extermination applications for a mouse exterminator to successfully eradicate a large mouse infestation in a wall.

Additionally, the exterminator may need to open temporary large openings in your walls to do their jobs.

(Image: HeVoLi²⁰)

Firstly, mouse exterminators may need to temporarily open up a wall to place special traps designed to trap and kill numerous mice at once. They may also need to open up a wall to lay down poison bait as well.

Some exterminators will use very potent and toxic rodenticide-based fumigation techniques and spray the interior of walls with gases that will kill rodents. Unfortunately, you may have to vacate your home while such fumigate methods off-gas.

And it could take several applications before fumigation methods succeed. Exterminators will employ these methods to kill as many adult and baby mice as possible.

After the exterminator believes that they have exterminated as many mice as they can they will then proceed to block up every potential opening that the mice are using to traverse from the wall into the home or the outside.

The process is called “exclusion” and is designed to starve out any stragglers that were missed during the previous extermination attempts and to keep other mice from re-infesting the home from the outside again.

Is It Worth Getting an Exterminator for Mice Infestation?

Trying to exterminate mice is the same as trying to exterminate insects or bugs. Evading human detection and extermination while simultaneously enjoying access to human resources is an art form that mice have been perfecting for millennia.

If you have noticed any of the seven signs of infestation presented in this comprehensive guide for deciding when to call pest control for mice then the problem probably became untenable long before you even noticed it. Mice urine, fur, and dropping can also contain bacteria or viruses that are harmful to humans.

The more mouse droppings that you notice in your home, the more likely your home is potentially becoming a biohazard zone. While mice usually avoid humans, they are known for gnawing at furniture, fabrics and clothing, food and food packaging, and even electrical wiring.

Ignoring the signs of potential mice infestations could end up costing you a lot in the long run. A professional exterminator is better equipped to handle mice infestation issues and assess the severity of your problem than you.

Additionally, it might take several visits and extermination applications to handle the problem depending on the severity of the issue. Don’t let ego or pride prevent you from calling a mouse exterminator when necessary.

What Is the Best Way To Hire a Mouse Exterminator?

Research local exterminators online and compare their prices. Contact exterminators and ask them about their extermination methods.

Inquire about initial extermination consultation visits just assess the severity of suspected infestations. You may also want to get referrals from trusted acquaintances who have undergone such infestations themselves.

While there is a stigma connected to mouse infestations, any home can become infested by opportunistic and wily mice.

What Is the Average Mouse Exterminator Cost?

There is no set cost metric or metric for how much it costs to hire a mouse exterminator. The typical cost to commission the services of a mouse exterminator can range anywhere between $300 to $550.

(Image: Karolina Grabowska¹⁸)

However, these are just basic estimates for such services and should not be viewed as definitive prices. The price that your exterminator will quote you will depend on the severity of the infestation, methods required for extermination, cost of materials, the size of your home, the difficulty of work, the number of applications and visits, and so on.

Sometimes people need assistance with pest control for cars, RVs, boats, and other vehicles that require different and customized extermination methods than would be used in a house. If your infestation issues require multiple exterminator visits then your final mouse extermination costs could be hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Think about all of the signs of mice infestation to know when to call pest control for mice infestation because, by the time you accept when to call an exterminator for mice extermination services, it might have become a costly problem to solve by then.