Mice are easier to get rid of than rats, but only if you find the gap they're using. A house mouse can squeeze through an opening about the width of a pencil, so the usual way in is something small and overlooked: a gap under the garage door, a hole where the geyser pipe enters the wall, a loose kickplate under the kitchen units. Close that, trap what's inside, and the problem usually ends.
Mice in Centurion's townhouses and flats
Many Centurion homes are units in complexes, and mice love the way they're built. Kitchen units are often back-to-back with the neighbour's, the plumbing runs through shared ducts, and the garages open straight into the house. A mouse that finds dog food in one garage can be in three kitchens within a week.
Freestanding homes in the older suburbs see mice too, usually coming in from the garden via the garage, the laundry or a gap around the stove's gas pipe. In the estates on the edges of Centurion, field mice from the surrounding grassland test the houses when the veld dries out and the nights get cold.
Is it a mouse or a rat?
Droppings are the easiest clue. Mouse droppings are small, about the size of a grain of rice, pointed at the ends and scattered. Rat droppings are much bigger, closer to a raisin. Mice also leave a faint, stale smell in cupboards and tend to nibble small amounts from many items rather than eating one thing. If what you're finding is larger, our page on rat control in Centurion is more relevant.
Where mice hide indoors
- Behind and under the fridge, stove and dishwasher, where it's warm
- Inside the void behind kitchen kickplates
- In garage storage boxes, especially ones holding old fabric, paper or seed
- Inside the back of built-in cupboards and around the geyser
- In the ceiling near the warmest room in winter
How we clear mice
We start by finding the activity and the entry point, which often means pulling kickplates and checking behind appliances. Indoors we rely mainly on traps placed along the walls where mice run, because mice rarely cross the middle of a room. Outside and in garages, lockable bait stations deal with the mice coming in from the garden without putting bait where children or pets can reach it. Tracking powder in wall voids can help confirm routes in harder cases.
Then we show you the gaps. Most are cheap to close: steel wool and sealant around pipes, a brush strip under the garage door, mesh over air bricks, a fixed kickplate.
Garages, store rooms and stock
A lot of Centurion mouse problems start in the garage rather than the kitchen. Garages in complexes and estates tend to become store rooms: camping gear, school projects, bags of dog pellets, boxes of old clothes. That gives mice food, nesting material and quiet, all in one place, a short run from the internal door into the house. If you find shredded paper or fabric in a box, that's a nest. Clear the clutter onto shelves off the floor, move pet food into a sealed bin, and you'll often find the activity drops before we've set a single trap. Small businesses with storerooms and stock in cardboard cartons have the same issue on a bigger scale.
The thing people get wrong
Leaving food out to see whether the mice are gone. A bowl of pet food in the garage, a bag of bird seed on the shelf or a fruit bowl on the counter keeps mice fed while the traps sit untouched. For the duration of the treatment, store everything in sealed containers and pick pet bowls up at night.
A local tip
In Centurion complexes, mice often travel along the service ducts behind the kitchen. If your neighbour has mice too, tell the body corporate. Sealing the duct openings in each unit at the same time is far more effective than one owner doing it alone.
What does it cost?
A single home with a few mice is one of the simpler jobs we do; what you pay depends on how big the property is, how many traps and stations are used and whether a follow-up is needed. A whole complex or a food business costs more because it's quoted to the site. If you've seen one mouse once and found its gap, a couple of good snap traps may be enough.
Mice and cockroaches often share the same warm spots behind appliances, so if you're seeing both, look at our Centurion cockroach treatments as well. For the bigger picture, there's mouse control throughout Pretoria, our service for mice in Garsfontein, and the Centurion pest control overview.
We've been at this for 25 years and we're SAPCA registered. If mice are back in a treated area within three months, we'll come back. Ring 012 012 5526, or send us a photo of the droppings on WhatsApp and we'll confirm what you've got.
Questions we get asked
How did mice get into my second-floor flat?
Usually through service ducts, pipe openings or gaps around the plumbing, which run through every floor. Mice are good climbers and follow those routes easily.
Why haven't the mice touched my traps?
Often because there's easier food around, or the traps are in the open. Place them against walls along the routes mice use, and remove other food sources.
Can mice damage wiring?
Yes. Mice gnaw constantly to keep their teeth short, and cables in roofs, walls and appliances are common targets.
Do ultrasonic repellers work against mice?
Not reliably. Mice get used to them quickly. Finding and closing the entry point is what makes the difference.
Are mouse droppings dangerous?
They can carry bacteria, so don't sweep them dry. Wear gloves, dampen them with disinfectant, then wipe up and wash the area.
How long before the mice are gone?
In a typical home, activity usually drops off within a week or two once traps are set and the entry point is closed. Larger properties can take longer.