Fall and Winter Mice: Sealing Ohio Homes Before the Freeze

Every fall, mice start pushing indoors as temperatures fall. A house mouse can squeeze through a gap the width of a pencil, and older Ohio homes have plenty of those, especially where utility lines enter the foundation.

The top entry points we find in the Miami Valley are gaps around dryer vents, gaps under garage door corners, weep holes in brick veneer, and cracks along the sill plate. Sealing these with steel wool and silicone or hardware cloth stops most traffic.

Trapping works when it's paired with exclusion. Snap traps along walls in low traffic areas catch active mice quickly, while sealing keeps new ones from replacing them. Rodenticides have a place outside in tamper resistant stations, but they aren't a substitute for closing the door.

If you hear scratching in the walls or find droppings in a pantry, don't wait. A single pair of mice can turn into dozens over a winter.