Listen….do you hear that?

It’s the sound of tiny feet running inside the interior of the walls of your home.

Looks like you have a bad situation on your hand.

We talked with a group of experts and got their best advice on how to get rid of mice in walls. This is good news for you if you’d rather do the job yourself and not have to pay a professional.

Pests love to hide out and this is especially the case for mice. They enjoy getting in between your walls, scratching, crawling, and clawing their way around, driving you crazy. Once mice get inside your walls it is hard to get them out. They’ll make your walls their home base.

They will carry food inside your walls, they will build nests inside your wall, and they will breed like rabbits inside your walls. Considering all that is happening behind the scene, you must act fast before mice get comfortable living in your wall space.

How Did Mice Get Inside Your Walls?

Mice can easily squeeze into your wall space if you have wall openings of any kind in your home. All a mouse needs is a hole the size of a dime and he can squeeze his way in. This is possible because rodents like mice have collapsible rib cages which allow them to get very small and still be able to move about and function properly.

Access points that mice use to get inside your walls include utility pipes, cable networks, ductwork, gas lines, and dryer vents. A determined mouse can even chew and gnaw his way in if he is sufficiently motivated to do so.

You’ll want to seal up all openings that mice can use to get inside your walls. But wait until you get those mice out before you do this.

The space inside your walls is perfect for mice. They can build nest and breed. Walls provide perfect cover and concealment during daylight hours. Your walls are well insulated so they are warm and dry too.

All things considered, mice will not leave willingly, you will have to force them out.

How Do You Get Mice Out Of  Walls?

I am often asked, “how to get rid of mice in walls”.  My suggestions are listed below. However, I thought you should also hear what the experts have to say about this topic.  I asked the experts and they provided their best recommendations. They said to stay away from poisons and to stick with traps and glue boards.

The safest and easiest way to get rid of mice hiding in your walls is to trap them. You do not want to use any poisons. If you do you will have a big smelly mess on your hands. The effects of poisons are not immediate so if you feed mice poisoned baits you’ll end up with a dead mouse in your walls.

Believe me, the smell of dead rotting mice is too much to handle and you don’t want to have to tear apart and open up your wall to remove the dead rat.

Why You Should Set Up Multiple Traps

Before we get into setting the mouse trap it’s important to tell you to always place more than one trap out at a time. The more mouse traps you place the quicker you can eliminate mice in your walls. If you place out enough traps its possible and likely you can trap all of your mice in one night.

Setting the Trap

If you set up snap traps you can easily catch your mice off guard and get them out of your walls for good. All you have to do is position your snap traps along the bottom edge of the walls where you have heard or seen mouse activity. Place the trap with the baited end facing the wall.

One technique I have used with outstanding success is to place the traps out without bait and without setting them. The rats will get accustomed to walking over the traps so when you set them they will be much more effective.

Now there are several different traps you can use to get the job done. You have traps that kill mice and you have traps that can catch the mice alive so that you can release them later. Which trap you use will be based on your personal preference.

We can recommend and point you in the right direction. We have tested and researched many mouse traps and know which ones work best and are easiest to use. If you want to see which traps we recommend just visit our best mouse traps resource page.

Best Trap Baits To Use

You’ll want to bait the traps with tasty foods the mice cannot resist. Try baiting the traps with peanut butter as this is their favorite food. Mice like other foods including chocolate, bacon, raisins, beef jerky, gumdrops, and hazelnut spread.

Don’t be too generous when placing food on the traps, use as small a portion as possible. If you place too much bait the mice can nibble without setting off the trap.

Check Your Traps Often

Traps work if you set them up properly and use enticing baits. That said it is important for you to check the traps often. This is especially the case if you are using live-catch and release traps. A stressed mouse could die and a day or two and start stinking up your house before you get a chance to release it.

You should check your traps daily and if you get many hits you should check more often. Follow these steps and you should be able to get this mouse situation under control. When it comes to the subject of how to get rid of mice in the walls, trapping is still one of the safest and most effective ways to remove a mice infestation from your home.

How To Use Glue Boards To Trap Mice

Instead of traps, you can try using glue boards, also called glue mouse traps.

Glue boards are very effective at catching mice too. Many animal activists considered them to be inhumane. The reason why is mice and rodents will eat through their body parts to free themselves after getting stuck on a glue board. I have to agree, I’ve seen this happen before and it is an ugly sight to see.

You can pick up glue boards at your local hardware store. Place them along the walls where mice tend to run from point a to point b. They can be placed in other locations like under sinks and bathroom and kitchen counters.

If your home is infested with mice you will have to place out many more glue boards.

Safety Concerns For Children And Pets

One word of caution when using any type of trap, or glue boards you have to consider the safety of any pets and small children you might have. Be careful not to place the devices in arms reach of kids and pest as traps and glue boards can cause injury.

Okay, now you know how to remove mice from your walls.

This Happens When Mice Get Trapped Inside Your Wall?

Have you considered what you would do if a mouse gets trapped inside your wall and wants to get out? It can happen.

On more than a few occasions, mice have been trapped inside walls and homeowners were left feeling puzzled trying to figure out the best way to free them without causing major damage.

We have just the solution for you if you ever find yourself dealing with this type of situation. All you have to do is drill a small nickel-sized hole in your wall. Drill the hole a few inches above the floor where you have heard the most activity. This should create just enough space for the mice to squeeze through and escape.

But I would not let the mouse escape and run free. Before you drill the hole get ready to catch the mouse. You can use a simple cardboard box to place against the wall and use it to catch the mouse when it exits the wall.

This is just another diy pest control we teach on how to get rid of mice in walls.

How to Prevent Mice From Getting In The Walls and Ceilings

I mention all the small openings before that mice can use to crawl inside your walls. To recap, the access points mice can use to get inside your walls include cable networks, dryer vents, duck work, gas lines, utility pipes, and any other small holes that are dime size or larger.

You want to seal the holes off so mice will not be tempted to squeeze through and enter your wall space.

Related Questions

Can mice eat through walls?  Mice will eat through your walls. All they need is enough time, opportunity and sufficient motivation. However, they prefer an easier and more direct route which is to squeeze through small openings. Be sure to close or seal off any opens that lead inside the walls before mice in the walls become a problem in your household.

What attracts mice in your house?  Mice are attracted to houses that are easy to access.  They love to invade and occupy cluttered and unclean homes. These houses provide food, water and other things rats need to survive. Mice will enter your home because they need food, water, and shelter.  If all of these things are present they will turn your home into a breeding ground.

What happens if mice die in your walls? Mice can die in your walls due to many reasons. They can get stuck and die, they can die if you feed them poison, or they can die of old age. In all cases, when mice die they will rot, decompose and stink up the place. The smell of death could attract other unwanted pests who want to feed off the dead body.  If you smell dead mice in your home you will have to open the wall and get it removed.