Mouse Control and Mouse Removal in Phoenix

Mice don't need much of a gap. A worn garage door seal, a loose weep screed or a hole where a pipe goes through the stucco is plenty. Once they're in, they head straight for the pantry and the warm spot behind the fridge.

In Phoenix it's mostly about water. Mice hang around laundry rooms, water heaters, dishwashers, AC condensate lines and the outdoor faucet that's been dripping since spring. In the worst of the summer they want shade and moisture, and a hard monsoon rain can send them into the garage.

Rice-sized droppings in the pantry

Mouse droppings are small, about the size of a grain of rice. Find them in a kitchen drawer and it's almost never a rat. Roof rat droppings run closer to half an inch with pointed ends. The other giveaways are easy to miss until you know to look.

• Chewed cereal boxes, rice bags or pet food bags
• Shredded paper or fabric tucked behind an appliance
• Scratching inside the walls or under cabinets at night
• A musty smell in the garage or the storage closet
• Tiny tracks in the dust along the garage floor

Where mice get into a slab-and-stucco house

Most Valley homes sit on a slab with stucco walls, so mice aren't coming up through a crawl space. They come in at the edges. Maricopa County Vector Control suggests checking near water heaters, washers and dryers, dishwashers and under sinks. The tech will check those, then go outside and walk the base of the walls, the garage door seals, the dryer vent and the spots where AC lines and plumbing go through the stucco.

Traps go along the walls and behind appliances, or inside covered boxes kids and pets can't get into. Sealing is what keeps it from happening again: steel wool, metal mesh, door sweeps and sealant, depending on the gap. The rodent exclusion page lists the gaps that come up most. Most mouse jobs include at least one follow-up to check traps. Don't be surprised if the garage turns out to be the real problem and the kitchen is just where they go to eat. Price depends on how many rooms show signs, how many gaps need closing and how many follow-ups it takes, and the company quotes it.

• Worn garage door bottom seals and side seals
• Gaps where plumbing, gas or AC lines pass through stucco
• Openings at the base of the wall where stucco meets the slab
• Dryer vents and roof vents with no screen
• The door from the garage into the laundry room

Mice in Maryvale, rats in Arcadia, and houses with both

Small droppings in a drawer usually mean mice. Bigger droppings in the attic, noise overhead or hollow citrus outside mean roof rats. Plenty of older neighborhoods get both. In Maryvale and central Glendale, 1950s and 1960s houses have worn seals at ground level and fruit trees out back. Rentals near ASU in Tempe get a run of mouse calls every August and May when everybody moves.

While you wait for the visit, put pantry food and pet food in hard plastic or glass, wipe up crumbs before bed, fix the drips and keep the door between the garage and the house shut. If mice left droppings in cabinets or the garage, wet them with disinfectant, wear gloves and never sweep or vacuum them dry. Bigger messes are covered under rodent cleanup.

Related: Rodent Exclusion, Attic & Insulation Cleanup, Commercial Rodent Control

Serving Arcadia, Ahwatukee Foothills, North Central & Sunnyslope, Encanto & Willo, Maryvale, Paradise Valley Village & Desert Ridge, Scottsdale, Tempe, Glendale, Mesa.