Fix it
Are these mouse droppings?
Droppings are the most reliable rodent evidence you will get — mice leave dozens per night, in the places they travel. Size and shape identify the species, and freshness tells you whether the problem is current or history.
What it usually is
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Mouse droppings: rice-grain size with pointed ends
Three to six millimeters, dark, scattered along walls, in drawers and under sinks. Fresh ones are soft and near-black, drying gray and crumbly within days — the freshness test that dates the activity.
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Rat droppings: larger with blunt ends
Twelve millimeters and up, banana-shaped, fewer in number and concentrated along runways. Rats mean different traps, different caution, and faster escalation.
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Roach droppings imitating small rodents
Heavy roach activity leaves pepper-like specks and ridged pellets easily mistaken for tiny mouse droppings — ridges along the sides are the roach tell.
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The supporting evidence set
Gnaw marks with paired incisor grooves, greasy rub marks along baseboards, shredded nesting material, and scratching after dark corroborate what the droppings started.
What you can check yourself
Photograph droppings beside a coin for scale before cleaning. Clean up SAFELY: ventilate, gloves and mask, dampen with disinfectant first — never dry-sweep or vacuum rodent droppings. Re-check in 48 hours; new droppings mean active traffic. Seal food in hard containers and hunt entry gaps at pipes and the garage door seal.
When it’s a job for a pro
Recurring droppings mean an entry point you have not found; exclusion — sealing every gap over a quarter inch — is what ends rodent problems rather than managing them. Heavy or long-term contamination in insulation is remediation work with proper protection.
Trapping and exclusion visits typically run $150 to $500 depending on entry points found; attic contamination cleanup is quoted by extent. DIY sealing materials cost pocket change and prevent the return trip.
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