Do mice usually get into garages during the winter? In the last week, I’ve found piles of what I believe are mouse droppings on my workbench. I’m thinking that they came in through the garage door. Will they go back outside eventually? P. B., Bedford, MA

If you were a mouse in the middle of a Northeast winter and had found your way into a warm, dry place, with food no less, would you go back outside? Chances are that any mice that found their way into your garage will eventually find their way into your house instead.

CHECK YOUR GARAGE DOOR GASKETS

Garage doors are probably the prime entry point for mice. Stand inside your garage with the door closed and lights off on a sunny day. Looking at your closed garage door you will see plenty of light leaks along the edges, in the corners where the rubber threshold at the bottom meets the side walls, and maybe even under the worn bottom rubber gasket. Where you see light gaps, mice see opportunity. Suffice it to say, garage doors rarely seal tightly; gaskets and seals wear out and need replacing. See Maintain Your Garage Door to Keep Mice Out.

If the existing gaps around the garage door are not adequate, mice can easily chew through the rubber gaskets to enlarge an opening. Once inside the garage, mice will find plenty of hiding and nesting places. Garages are rarely neat and clean with no clutter. There are always boxes and piles of stored household goods, and maybe even old newspapers for nest material.

YOUR GARAGE FEEDS MICE, TOO

Mice are attracted to garages in fall and winter not only for the warmth and shelter but also because they find food there. What food? you say. Pets are often fed in the garage, especially in winter. There may be a bowl of food where mice can help themselves or maybe a big bag of dry pet food sitting in the corner. If not pet food, there may be litter boxes (yes, mice will eat cat poop). Garages also store birdseed or grass seed, both mouse favorites. Maybe your household garbage or recycling sits in the garage until time to move it curbside.

GARAGE MICE MIGHT GET EVEN MORE FRIENDLY

Unfortunately, garages are usually just the first stop for mice looking to get inside your house. From the garage, they can follow pipe, electrical, or cable runs that enter wall voids, they can get into the house through laundry drains or furnace ducts, they may find an attic access or other ways to enter the attic ceiling space. Once they get into the walls, mice pretty much have the run of your house.

If you’ve seen droppings, nest material, gnaw marks, or other evidence of mice in your garage, give Colonial Pest a call. Let our technicians take care of those mice before they can move into your wall voids or into your living spaces. We also do rodent exclusion (mouse-proofing) so we are equipped to find and seal those openings that mice use to get inside. Give Colonial a call today before those garage mice make your home their home!

For more on keeping insects and rodents in their place, see How to Keep Pests Out of Your Garage.