10/26/2026
I often hear people say, when asked about mice and rats in their house, "We get one or two a year, but we catch them."
Often, when you catch mice in your home using glue traps or snap traps, you are only catching male mice that are out foraging for the females and their young. Female mice only travel 10 to 30 feet from their nest, meaning the population can increase in your crawl space without your knowledge.
This picture is a great example of the importance of regular pest control services. As you can see, mice chewed into a wire connected to the dishwasher while also chewing on the plywood to make the entry hole larger into the kitchen. Luckily, the house did not catch fire, as evidenced by the black marks on the floor joist. The breaker didn't trip, and the dishwasher was still functioning even after killing the mouse you see in the picture and another one on the ground. The third picture is a nest made from the insulation of the air duct work that was damaged.
