Just How Small Of A Space Can A Mouse Get Into?

Mice are small creatures, and everybody has a pretty good idea of their general size. Even if you’ve never seen a mouse in real life, they appear in enough documentaries and YouTube videos to give everyone a pretty good idea of how big they are. Jerry, from the Tom And Jerry cartoons, is a bit exaggerated in size, for the sake of visual interaction with Tom, but you get the idea.

Mouse Hole Size

Because mice are furry and rounded in appearance, we might guess that the size of the hole they can get through must be bout the size of the mouse itself. Again, referencing the cartoon example, mouse holes are always shown as roughly mouse-sized. They are also always shown as a nice rounded shape. But experiments carried out with typical house mice show that adolescent mice can squeeze through a hole the size of a ballpoint pen, and adults can get through a hole the size of a dime. If the skull fits through, the whole mouse fits through.

Mouse Hole Shape

See that gap in the baseboard? The one that starts off really narrow, but gradually widens out to just about three-quarters of an inch at one spot? That’s a typical mouse passageway. Even if mice chew through wood or drywall barriers, they don’t make nice arched doorways. The openings are usually irregular in shape. They will enlarge a small opening just enough to squeeze through, and once inside your walls, can start doing real damage, such as chewing on wires.

Behind The Fridge

Your refrigerator is pushed right up against the wall. You know this because you pushed it there yourself. But that tiny space created by the baseboard can be a typical location for a mouse nest. An inch of space behind a fridge provides warmth from the appliance motor, plus convenient proximity to dropped crumbs.

House mice can occupy the smallest of spaces, and hide where you wouldn’t think it was possible. Calling Mice Mob Exterminators is your best course of action since we know every typical nook and cranny where mice might be living. Let out professionals take care of those gaps and passageways, and say goodbye to your unwanted guests.