House mice cause structural damage to buildings by their gnawing and nest-building activities. In livestock confinement facilities and similar structures, they may quickly cause extensive damage to insulation inside walls and attics. Such damage also occurs in homes, apartments, offices, and commercial buildings but usually at a slower rate because mouse populations in such structures are smaller.

House mice often make homes in large electrical appliances, and here they may chew up wiring as well as insulation, resulting in short circuits which create fire hazards or other malfunctions that are expensive to repair. Mice may also damage stored items in attics, basements, garages, or museums. Damaged family heirlooms, paintings, books, documents, and other such items may be impossible to replace.

Sounds such as gnawing, climbing in walls, running across the upper surface of ceilings, and squeaks are common where mice are present. Visual sightings of mice may be possible during daylight hours, and mice also can be seen after dark with the aid of a flashlight or spotlight. Nests frequently are found when cleaning garages, closets, attics, basements, and outbuildings where mice are present. They consist of fine, shredded fibrous materials.

Odors may indicate the presence of house mice. A characteristic musky odor is a positive indication that house mice are present, and this odor can be used to differentiate their presence from that of rats.

Effective prevention and control of house mouse damage involves three aspects: rodent-proof construction, sanitation, and population reduction by means of traps, toxicants, or fumigants. The first two are useful as preventive measures, but when a house mouse infestation already exists, some form of population reduction is almost always necessary.

Control of house mice differs in important ways from the control of Norway or roof rats. Mice are smaller and therefore can enter narrower openings, making rodent-proofing more difficult. They have limited areas of movement (home range) and require little or no free water. While having a reproductive capability that is higher than that of rats, house mice are usually less sensitive (often far less sensitive) to many rodenticides. Persons who do not take these differences into account when attempting house mouse control may expect poor results.

After rats are controlled at a given location, house mice may increase in numbers by moving in from elsewhere or by reproduction. This may be expected because habitats suitable for rats are usually even more suitable for mice. One should anticipate that following rat control, the potential for house mouse problems may increase, and control measures should be taken before mouse numbers reach high levels.

Frightening

Mice are somewhat wary animals and can be frightened by unfamiliar sounds or sounds coming from new locations. Most rodents, however, can quickly become accustomed to new sounds heard repeatedly.

For years, devices that produce ultrasonic sound that is claimed to control rodents have come and gone on the market. There is little evidence to suggest that rodents' responses to nonspecific, high-frequency sound is any different from their response to sound within the range of human hearing.

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