Mouse Control in San Antonio, Texas
Mice don't get as much attention in San Antonio as rats do, but they get into plenty of houses. The house mouse is small and gray-brown with big ears. The droppings look like dark grains of rice, and you'll find them in the back of a kitchen drawer, under the sink or along the garage wall.
Our winters are short, so there isn't one big fall rush like you'd see up north. What we get instead is a steady trickle all year, with bumps when a strong cold front blows through or heavy rain floods the low spots in the yard. Mice in a garage full of boxes can go unnoticed for months.
Weep Holes, Garage Doors and Other Ways In
Most San Antonio houses have brick or stone veneer, and the bottom row has weep holes. Those are the small open joints that let water drain out from behind the brick. They're supposed to be open, but a mouse can use one to get into the wall cavity. The fix is a weep hole insert or screen that lets water out and keeps mice out. Never fill them with mortar.
Other common spots are worn garage door seals, the gap where the dryer vent leaves the wall, and the hole where the AC line set and condensate line go through the brick. A mouse needs very little room, so a tech looks at everything low and close to the ground. Rodent exclusion covers the sealing side.
- Weep holes along the bottom course of brick
- Garage door corners and the bottom seal
- Dryer vents with a flap that doesn't close
- Pipe and wire holes under sinks and behind the stove
Mouse or Rat?
Size of the droppings is the quickest answer. Mouse droppings are about a quarter inch long. Rat droppings run closer to half an inch or more. Noise helps too. Mice sound light and quick, rats sound heavier. If you're finding big droppings in the attic, read up on roof rats instead.
Noise in the attic tonight? Talk to someone who handles San Antonio rodents.
Call (210) 955-2948
A Typical Mouse Job
The tech walks the outside of the house low to the ground, then checks the kitchen, the laundry area, the garage and any closet with a water heater or furnace. Snap traps go along walls where the droppings are. Any bait goes in locked stations where kids and pets can't reach it. Most companies come back after a week or two to check the traps and see if mice are still getting in.
If you rent, tell your landlord. Sealing the building is usually their job, and in an apartment complex mice move between units through shared walls and pipe chases. For larger buildings, see commercial rodent control.
Questions From Callers
How do I clean up mouse droppings?
Put on gloves, spray the droppings with a disinfectant until they're wet, give it a few minutes to soak, then pick them up with paper towels and throw it all away. Don't sweep or vacuum them dry.
Should I block the weep holes?
No. They let water drain from behind the brick. Use weep hole screens or inserts made for the job.
We take calls from Alamo Heights, Olmos Park and Terrell Hills, Stone Oak, Timberwood Park, Leon Valley, Castle Hills and Shavano Park, Medical Center, Windcrest, Live Oak and Universal City, Leon Springs and Fair Oaks Ranch, Beacon Hill and Five Points, South Side and the Missions.