You probably understand the need for professional mice removal if you have an infestation. However, it can be difficult to determine whether there are mice in your home. Because mice are very small and nocturnal, you may not see them right away. However, they often leave behind other clues of their presence.

One of the first clues many homeowners have that mice are present is droppings. A single mouse can generate between 50 and 75 pellets per day. The age of the droppings can help you determine whether you have an active infestation or remnants left behind by mice that have since moved on.

How Do You Identify Mouse Droppings?

Mouse droppings can be confused with those of other pests, such as rats or bats. Rat droppings and mouse droppings are both roughly cylindrical in shape and dark in color. Rat droppings are usually larger; they can be up to half an inch long compared to one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch for mouse droppings. Rats also do not produce as many pellets on a daily basis as mice, with 50 being on the high end of the range for rats and on the low end for mice. Mouse droppings are also more tapered at the end, making them look more like grains of rice.

Bat droppings can look similar to mouse droppings. Bat droppings tend to be more crumbly, and because bats eat insects, their droppings may contain shiny bits of an exoskeleton, giving them a glittering appearance.

How Can You Tell the Age of Mouse Droppings?

When mouse droppings are fresh, they have more of a bright, moist appearance. When they are older, they appear dry and the color seems more faded. The color can vary depending on what the mice are eating, but fresh droppings can range in color from dark brown to off-white.

It is not advisable to handle mouse droppings. Some species carry a dangerous pathogen called hantavirus that can cause acute respiratory illness in human beings. Handling mouse feces could expose you to this virus. However, if you were to handle mouse droppings, while taking the proper precautions, to determine their age, you would find that the older droppings would feel hard and crumble away at your touch. By contrast, the fresh droppings would feel soft and damp.

Where Are You Most Likely To Find Mouse Droppings?

Mice are in your house looking for food and shelter, so places that offer these necessities are often where you’ll find droppings if mice are present. Check kitchen cabinets and pantries where you store food. You may also find that mice have chewed through cardboard storage containers. You are also likely to find mouse droppings in warm places, such as your utility closet and water heater, and where they can find nesting materials, such as closets.

Look for droppings in corners and along baseboards. Mice have poor vision and prefer to stay close to the wall when moving around rather than running out into the middle of the room where they would be more vulnerable.

What Should You Do if You Find Mouse Droppings?

Mouse droppings can present a difficult conundrum. On one hand, you have to get them cleaned up because they are unsafe and unsanitary. On the other hand, the very act of cleaning them can release aerosolized particles into the air. This is how hantavirus spreads. If you have to clean the droppings yourself, you should wear personal protective equipment, such as a face mask and gloves, use a strong disinfectant, and ventilate the area.

It is better to have the droppings cleaned professionally. When Skedaddle technicians perform wildlife control in Madison, cleaning and decontaminating is part of our process. Find out more about the services we offer in Madison.