Where Should You Look for Mouse Droppings in Your Home?

The Kitchen, in Order

Behind the kickboards, which unclip by hand and hide the main run. The back corners of low cupboards, particularly the one under the sink. Inside the cupboard where dry goods are kept. Behind and underneath the fridge, cooker and washing machine. Along the top edge of a wall unit. And in the cutlery drawer, which people find genuinely upsetting and which is entirely normal.

If you check one thing, take the kickboards off. It answers most of the question in five minutes.

The Rest of the House

The airing cupboard, especially around the pipework and on the slats. The understairs cupboard. Behind the boiler. In the loft, along the joists and in the insulation. The back of a wardrobe and the floor of a fitted one. Behind the sofa and along the skirting in the living room.

Also: in the utility room, inside the garage against the walls, and in a drawer or box that has not been opened in months. Anywhere enclosed, dark and undisturbed with an edge to run along.

What the Distribution Tells You

Mice run along edges and avoid open floor, so droppings follow walls, skirtings and the backs of units. A scatter along a line is a run; a concentration in one enclosed spot is usually near a nest or a food source.

Where the droppings stop is informative too. Follow the line to its end and you are usually within a foot of the gap they are using to get in and out of the void.

How Many, and How Old

A single mouse produces dozens of droppings a day, so quantity is a poor guide to numbers and a good guide to time. A heavy accumulation usually means weeks or months rather than a large population.

Fresh droppings are dark, soft and slightly shiny. Old ones are grey-brown, dry and crumble under pressure from a tool. To settle whether it is current: clean a small area completely, mark it, and look again in three or four days. New droppings mean live activity, and that is the most useful test there is.

Clearing Up Safely

Do not sweep or vacuum dry — it puts particles into the air. Dampen with a disinfectant solution, pick up with gloves and a disposable cloth, bag it and put it in the outside bin, then wash your hands. Ventilate a loft or a closed cupboard before working in it.

Then throw away any food packaging that has been gnawed or is in the affected cupboard, and move dry goods into hard containers. Treatment is £190 for a flat and £240 for a house, and knowing where the droppings are is the most useful thing you can hand a technician.