Do you want to know where mice hide inside your home?
Setting out traps effectively can be a challenge if you do not know where the mice live and their most common routes across your property.
We know mice are nocturnal, but where do they go during the day to sleep?
Plus, if you can figure out where mice are nesting, you may be able to destroy their nests, which can help you to disrupt their lives and make your home a less hospitable environment.
So, where do mice go during the day? Let’s take a look at some of the most common locations in and around your house.
Where Do Mice Hide Around Your Yard?
First, let’s talk about where rodents may be hiding around the exterior of your house.
1. Debris Piles and Yard Waste
Do you have piles of old branches, twigs, and other debris in your yard?
Mice love to hide in these piles of organic matter. Not only does it make an easy nest, but is often an excellent source of food, where they can forage for weed seeds, tree nuts, or berries.
You can make your yard less appealing to rodents by keeping your yard free of yard waste.
Try to make a habit of bagging weeds and yard clippings during your yard cleanup. Bundle twigs and branches with twine for easy transport on your next trip to the recycle center.
2. Rock Piles
Like piles of brush and twigs, piles of rocks are also an easy hiding place for rodents. These, too, you can try clearing away.
If you cannot remove rocks, keep the piles small and away from the house and garage. You don’t want to leave hiding places anywhere near the perimeter of your house.
To make your backyard and garden less habitable for mice, see our full article on keeping mice out of your yard.
3. Cavities in Trees
Do you have trees in your yard that have cavities in them? Sometimes, rodents also hide in these spaces.
The deer mouse and dormouse, in particular, may make their nest in trees. Their longer tail helps provide balance when climbing and scurrying along the tree branches.
4. In Vehicles
You should make a habit of routinely checking your vehicles for rodents. Parked cars are especially vulnerable if you have nearby vegetation or a detached garage.
But, even if you drive those vehicles regularly, you might be missing mice hiding in the back seat or the trunk.
If you store a lot of items in your cars, you may make them more tempting to mice. So, consider cleaning out the trunk and backseat.
If you do find mice in your car or RV, follow this guide to keep mice out of your vehicle.
Where Do Mice Hide Inside Your Home?
We’ve gone over where mice may hide around your house. But where do mice make nests inside? Let’s explore some possible locations.
5. The Attic
We tend to neglect our attics, which often have extra furniture, boxes, clothes, and other items. These characteristics make them attractive hideouts for rodents searching for a quiet place to live and breed.
The attic is a favorite place for mice to make their nests since it is quiet and holds plenty of nesting material. If you hear strange noises in the evening coming from upstairs or find little food piles in an unexpected corner, you may want to follow this guide to keep mice out of your attic.
6. Crawl Spaces
Crawl spaces tend to appeal to mice for the same reasons as attics. We rarely check on what is going on in our crawl spaces unless there is a problem.
Since they are out of the way and easier to access for mice or rodents, they make an ideal spot for mice to live and breed without notice.
7. In The Walls
The interiors of your walls are some of the safest places for rodents because neither you nor household pets can reach them there.
So, there is a good chance that mice are hiding inside your walls if you cannot seem to find them anywhere else, but you know you have a rodent problem.
Sealing up little cracks and holes in your walls might help to prevent this issue in the future.
8. Vents And Ducts
Just as walls offer a safe haven for mice, vents and ducts do likewise. They can be good nesting areas, and they also offer private highways through your home.
9. Storage Boxes
You may have old cardboard storage boxes in your attic, crawlspaces, and possibly in other rooms of your house. Whether these are full or empty, they can be very enticing to mice.
Sometimes they might shred them for nesting materials. Other times, they might simply burrow inside them, turning their contents into nesting materials instead.
10. Cabinets
Mice like to hide behind our kitchen and garage cabinets or sometimes even inside them. If you have cabinets that you do not use often, these are the most likely candidates for mice to invade.
If mice can get inside your garage, you may want to get use solid mouse-proof cabinets made of metal or steel, rather than plywood or particleboard that mice can easily chew through.
11. In And Behind Furniture
Mice do not like to hang out in the open, much less live there. So, just as cabinets and boxes make for good hiding places, so do some furnishings.
Rodents may be behind furniture, or even inside of it!
You like to lounge around on your sofa to watch TV, but did you know a mouse could be lounging around inside it right next to you taking a nap?
Try pulling up the cushions to check for damage. And check for nearby droppings or other signs of mice.
12. In Closets
Your closets could be prime real estate for mice as well, especially if you have a lot of clutter and there are some corners that you do not access all that often.
There has never been a better time for a clearout!
13. Behind Appliances
If you have mice in the kitchen, they could be hiding in the vents behind some of your appliances. The oven, refrigerator, and dishwasher are all favorite hiding places for mice and other rodents.
These spaces are especially appealing because you do not think to check them and because they are right next door to food.
14. Insulation
What makes the perfect nesting material for mice? Insulation! Don’t be surprised if your mice are making their homes inside insulation anywhere in your house.
Summary
Now you know some of the most common places where mice may hide in and around your home.
Check for droppings and signs of damage as you investigate these areas.
If you spot evidence of mice, you may have discovered their hiding places. Use this information to help you set traps and search for nests.
We recommend setting multiple traps.
In fact, you should set out more than you think you will need on the first night, as that is the night you are likely to catch the largest number of mice. Good luck!
