Mouse Control & Exterminator Services

Mouse populations in the greater Seattle/Puget Sound region

Mice in the Greater Seattle/Puget Sound region are of three significant species:

The House Mouse — This specie of mice was brought over by European settlers and are now well established.  They are found in homes and farms throughout the area.
The Deer Mouse — A native specie that can be found throughout western Washington.  It is especially found in suburban to rural settling.

Both the House mouse and the Deer mouse are extremely adapted to the northeast climate and conditions.  Although mice are significantly smaller than rats they make up for their small size with their quick proliferation and large populations.  A dozen mice is a small number and can wreck havoc on a home or others building.  Deer mice can carry Hantavirus and as a consequence, a rare human fatality is known to have occurred.

Why Mice are such a nasty problem

Humans have a naturally disgust for mice.  We’ve lived with them for thousands of years and associated them with crop destruction, food contamination, filth, and destruction of property.  The following are some of the specific reasons why mice are such significant pests here in the greater Seattle/Puget Sound region:

• House mice aren’t natural to the Puget Sound basin, they are an invasive species competing with other, native species.
• Mice come in numbers so they rival rats in terms of damage to homes.  They cause significant damage to attic and crawlspace insulation. And the cost to repair mouse-damaged insulation in such tight spaces costs thousands of dollars to remove and replace.
• Mice damage other structural items of homes, chewing and gnawing on many items. 
• Mice easily access inside homes — With tiny, extremely flexible bodies each mouse can squeeze their bodies through holes the size of a dime or through pencil-width cracks!  
• Mouse infestations are commonly found within cars, stored RVs and boats. Mice gnaw on upholstery and auto wiring resulting in costly repairs.
• Deer Mice, very wide spread in the Greater Seattle-Tacoma and Puget Sound region, are known carries of Hantavirus.  This disease has nearly a 50% mortality rate in humans and has caused severe illness and a rare death or two in recent decades. 
• Both House and Deer mice can climb vertically up most types of house siding and other surfaces.  A mouse is also capable of balancing across thin branches or wiring to find their way onto house roofs, often with easy access to attic spaces.

Mice-Damaged Insulation

Mice enter attics, crawl spaces and even voids in walls and between floors.  When they do they do they love the insulation they find—it’s a perfect next material.  We should be thanked for providing them with such perfectly protected shelter and the warmth of ample nest material.  Rodents, and mice in particular, tunnel through insulation, compress it and fully contaminate it.  This leaves the insulation with highly compromised, and very low R-value—it no longer properly insulates your home.  This also leaves your insulation, which is just inches from your living space, filthy and disgusting.  Removing and replacing contaminated and damaged insulation in such tight spaces is a dirty job, demanding a high price. 

Car, Truck, RV and Boat Damaged Caused by Mice

Mice can get though tiny openings and vehicles are safely enclosed spaces for them to nest.  Mice can carry bits of grass and other material to make their nests, however, autos and RVs also have sound-proofing insulation and seat padding which are perfect for nesting.  Also, some of the newer “organic plastics” used to insulate wiring are particularly attractive—even edible—to all rodents, including mice.