Expert: George Manning - 5/28/2009

Question
In my pantry I have wire shelves.  There are no holes in the walls anywhere around the shelves or in the pantry for that matter.  I took everything away from the base of the shelves--plus the shelves them selves are 3 ft off the floor.   The walls are just regular painted sheet rock walls ,no texture .  I took everything off the shelves inspected the items and then restocked the items on the shelves...  Still I find mice droppings on the shelves and the food cans boxes etc....

How the heck are they getting up there?  I even shook all the boxes to make sure they are not hiding inside a box of cereal or somthing!

Please advise..

Thanks

Mark

Answer
If this is a repeat situation, you may find body stain where repeated travel to and from the shelves will highlight a mouse travel route.  Often, mice may be nesting above a ceiling where they are housed near a lower floor food site.  Should you have anything hanging, or a mop or broom handle stored in a corner of the pantry,these could be climbing opportunities for mice.

Finally, with a chronic condition such as you are indicating,I would recommend a complete inspection of attic, dropped ceilings, canned recessed lighting, and go for a complete kill of these creatures.

If after an inspection, you find mouse harborages, place an ample amount of anticoagulant bait near the mouse havens.

You could, too, remove all other storage, and place a significant amount of mouse bait where the mice are leaving their "calling cards".

I hope I've been useful to you.  Contact me again, and I'll attempt to be more specific through further information from you.

Best regards Mark,

George Manning,
Consulting Entomologist
www.pestproblemssolved.com