How to Find and Identify a Mouse Nest

The sight of a mouse in your home is never welcome. You know where there's one mouse, there's bound to be more, and, most likely, there's a mouse nest somewhere in your house where a whole family of mice are happily living.

But finding that humble abode is not always so easy. You'll see droppings throughout your house, a shadowy figure running along the baseboard, but you can't tell where they're going, and you're not sure you would know how to identify a mouse nest even if you saw one.

Luckily, mice are creatures of habit and instinct, and, once you know what to look for and where to look, it can be easier to find a mouse nest, dispose of it, and prevent the mice from coming back into your home.

Signs There's a Mouse Nest in Your House

• Droppings around or near where you suspect there could be a mouse. Typically, you'll find droppings in high traffic mouse areas.
• Shredded fabric, paper, cardboard, and other materials. These are what mice use to make their nests, so if you start finding shredded items and it's not from a craft project or shredding rampage you've been on, then you might have small culprit.
• Gaps between walls, baseboards, or molding. Mice can compress themselves to shockingly small sizes, so if you notice a hole that seems suspicious or has droppings nearby, there's a chance that mice are using it as an entry point to a nest in the walls.
• Areas on furniture that are shredded or disturbed. They can also nest behind or in furniture that is not often used, since it provides a dark, covered spot for a comfortable nest. Or, if they are not in the furniture, they may tear the furniture apart to get material for their nest.

Where You Might Find a Mouse Nest

Mice don't like to stray far from their food source, and they gravitate toward dark, enclosed, quiet spaces where there's less chance of them being located. This could be inside a wall, where you may hear them running around at night. Crawlspaces, attics, and basements are prime territory for mice to create their nests. They may find their way into a drawer in a room that's not often used or burrow into a piece of furniture in rarely visited room.

Mice can even find their way into the motor compartments of appliances to create nests, chewing up wiring in the process.

Just outside of your home, you'll find them in sheds, piles of debris, and other areas where it's easy to hide.

What a Mouse Nest Looks Like

A mouse nest will look like a three to six inch pile or roughly shaped ball of paper, string, cardboard, bedding, fabric, and sticks. Often, it will be hidden in a dark, isolated spot with just one entrance.

Typically, around the mouse nest, you'll find an abundance of droppings.

What to Do When You Find a Mouse Nest

If you find a mouse nest, you need to take immediate action to get rid of the best. Consider that a female mouse can have up to ten litters a year, each with an average of six baby mice, or pups, and you could have a big problem on your hands, quickly. Here's what you should do when you find a nest.

Dispose of the Nest

Put on gloves, put the nest in a plastic bag or empty box, and throw it away far from your home or burn it. If there are still mice in the nest, release them away from your house or exterminate them.

Clean and Sanitize the Area

Clean the area where you found the nest thoroughly wearing both gloves and a mask. Mice can pass diseases to humans, and you do not want to expose yourself. Use bleach to clean the area—you're aiming for complete sanitation of the area.

Stop Mice From Coming Back

Prevent the mice from coming back. Fill any holes with steel wool, which will stop them from being able to make their way into your home again.

Decide on a Mouse Control Method

Decide on the best way to prevent mice from infesting your home again. This could include mouse traps like spring traps or glue traps that fatally injure the mice. But it could also mean catch and release traps, which allow you to release the mice into a better life, far away from your home.