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5 Signs You Have Mice in Your Walls

mouse

Do You Notice These Signs?

Mice are not bad, but mice in your home are! Not only do they spread disease, but they can cause major damages to your home’s infrastructure. Here are 5 definite signs that you have a mice infestation in your home:

1. Droppings

Mice urinate and defecate continuously throughout the day, leaving behind droppings wherever they travel.

Mice produce anywhere from 50-75 droppings per day. Homeowners who find themselves suffering from a mouse infestation will find mice feces in cabinets, below appliances and anywhere else the mice have traveled.

The feces are typically black in color and shaped like pellets with pointed ends. Their urine can also leave stains and nasty odors, a clear sign of their presence.

2. Sounds

Mice are most often heard in the mornings and at night when the house is quiet. You can hear their scratching and scurry through your ceilings and walls, and possibly even vents.

Sometimes seemingly amplified, the sounds produced by mice are often mistaken for much larger animals like raccoons and squirrels.

To check if the noise you hear is, in fact, a mouse, tap your hand on the wall where you hear the noise. In most cases, the noises will stop temporarily only to begin again shortly after.

3. Tunnels

For their size, mice have incredibly powerful teeth capable of chewing through food packaging, plastic, wood – even electrical wires, which can create serious fire hazards.

They might live in your walls, but prefer to nest in warm areas like your attic or near appliances that produce heat, including stoves, dishwashers, furnaces and water heaters.

They will create circular holes and tunnels, about 1 inch in diameter to access food and form openings to travel. Keep an eye out for these golf ball sized holes in your insulation as an indication of mouse tunneling.

4. Food Paths

As we mentioned above, mice chew their way around the house. They also chew their way into your food. Homeowners with mice infestations will often find holes in the bottom of dog food, bird seed, and pantry containers. At times, the chewing pattern shows obvious teeth marks.

You might find an abundance of crumbs, empty seed hulls, and other debris around your pantry or near the mouse-nesting site. If you do, then it is time to throw out that food and get an inspection to prevent any disease.

5. Clothes Holes

Mice create their nests by shredding and gathering fibrous materials like paper, cushions, insulation, and sometimes your newest jacket.

If you notice shredded fabric or other materials, especially in dark corners and seldom-used areas, chances are good that mice have taken up residence.

If you suspect that your home has a mouse infestation, schedule a service with our pest control specialists and we will be happy to help. Of course, we don’t want to worry you, but you should be aware of the potential danger a mouse infestation can bring to your home.

5 Signs You Have Mice in Your Walls

Bedbug inspection

How to Know if Your Hotel Has Bedbugs

Upon entering a hotel room, do you typically reach for the tiny toiletries, take a leap onto the bed, or perhaps start by inspecting for bed bugs? Knowing what to look for is essential. Anticimex Carolinas Service Manager Christian Tweed has shared valuable insights on identifying bed bugs in your hotel room and preventing them from hitching a ride back home with you. And if bed bugs do become an unexpected part of your vacation, remember that Clark’s Pest Control is here to assist!



Q&A with a Pest Professional


How do bed bugs get inside hotels?


Bed bugs are primarily hitchhiking insects as opposed to foraging ones, meaning that they get carried around on people’s clothes and belongings. Someone with an active infestation in their home can easily bring bed bugs to their hotel, but they can also be picked up during travel (airplanes, taxis, and rideshare services) and brought to a hotel room.


What do people misunderstand about bed bugs in hotels?


From a probability standpoint, all hotels will deal with bed bugs at some point in time. If you think about a bed bug’s method of travel, there’s literally nothing a hotel can do to stop them from being carried in. What I have realized is that luxury hotels are more likely to have an aggressive response to dealing with a bed bug case once it’s identified as they tend to have a higher quality of service and a reputation to protect. While this isn’t always the case, it has been my experience more often than not.

Got bedbugs? Call Clark’s at 866-781-4991 today!

What do you recommend travelers do when they get to their room to check for bed bugs?


Most hotel headboards hang directly on the wall. I start my inspection here before even looking at the bed itself. I have found bed bugs, their exoskeletons, and the telltale black stains they leave behind around the edges of or in the crevices of headboards. If the headboard looks clean, move on to looking over the pillowcases and comforter for any signs or stains. You can dig into the bedding as deep as you want here, but I encourage people to look over the top layer of things at the very least.


What are some lesser-known signs of bed bugs in your hotel room?


The specifics of the black stains they leave behind, which as gross as it sounds, are just digested blood as that’s all that bed bugs feed on. If the stains are on a hard surface, they will be small dots as if left behind by an ink pen and will smear into a brownish gray when moisture is applied. If they’re on fabric, they will usually bleed along the fibers making a small diamond, square or X shape.


If there are bed bugs in your hotel room, can they travel home with you?


They absolutely can, however this is easy to prevent. While staying in a hotel, keep as much of your clothing and luggage off the beds as possible. Storing suitcases in the bathroom might sound odd, but it’s an effective method of prevention.

Don’t tackle bedbugs yourself, call Clark’s at 866-781-4991!

What should you do with your suitcase if you suspect your hotel has bed bugs?


When arriving home from a trip, leave your luggage in the garage or on a porch and bring your clothes in one load of laundry at a time. If the clothes are dirty, wash them like you normally would, if they’re clean then run them through the dryer for at least forty-five minutes. Once your suitcase is empty, vacuum over it meticulously (don’t forget to empty the vacuum when you’re done), or if you’re in the right climate, expose it to heat for a few days by placing it in your vehicle (parked in the sun) or for a few weeks in your attic.


The Clark’s Solution


If you brought bed bugs back to you home, Clark’s is here to help. Our Bedbug Control service is designed to eliminate bedbugs and create a safe, comfortable environment.


A Clark’s Pest Professional will do an inspection and recommend a plan of attack to get rid of bed bugs now and prevent them from hatching in the future. Call Clark’s at 866-781-4991 today for more information.



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