Ask anyone who has opened a box of holiday decorations after a year in the basement and found it shredded. The mouse that did it was not hunting for the decorations. It was looking for a soft place to nest, and the box was the best one in the house.
What makes storage attractive.
Mice look for cover, something soft and something to eat. Cardboard boxes pushed against a wall supply the first two, with dark gaps between them and paper to shred. Put an open sack of birdseed or kibble nearby and the third is covered as well.
Material by material.
| Stored item. | Why animals like it. | Better arrangement. |
|---|---|---|
| Cardboard boxes. | Shreddable, makes good bedding. | Plastic bins with snap lids. |
| Fabric, clothing and bedding. | Soft, warm. | Sealed bins or vacuum bags, on shelves. |
| Paper, magazines and files. | Bedding. | Plastic file bins, or recycle. |
| Pet food and seed. | Food. | Metal bins with lids. |
| Wood scraps. | Cover when stacked on the floor. | Stack on a rack, away from the wall. |
Plastic is not perfect, since a determined animal can chew through thin lids. But a tight, rigid bin on a shelf is much less appealing than a loose pile on the floor.
Floor space and the wall line.
- Leave about a foot between stored items and the wall, so you can see the baseboard and the sill.
- Keep the floor clear where you can; shelving is better than stacks.
- Keep a path to the furnace, the water heater and the electrical panel.
- Avoid piling things against the foundation wall, where animals enter.
A clear wall line also helps a technician. When droppings, rub marks and gnawing are visible, the route is easy to read. When everything is hidden, the walk-through takes longer.
A simple weekend plan.
- Saturday: pull stored items away from the walls and look behind them with a flashlight.
- Sort into keep, recycle and discard piles.
- Sunday: move what you keep into lidded bins and onto shelves.
- Wipe the floor and shelving with a damp cloth.
- Set a reminder to check again in a month.
Spot droppings? Put the broom down. Use the dampening method in the CDC guide linked at the foot of this page, wearing gloves and letting fresh air in.
What is open today depends on earlier bookings, so the quickest way to learn is to ring.
(551) 274-5838Signs that animals have been there.
Look for shredded material in the corner of a box, small pellets on the lid or the floor beneath, gnawed edges on cardboard and a faint ammonia smell. If you see more than one of those signs in the same area, it is more than a stray visit. Book a basement and garage check.
Furnaces, water heaters and warm corners.
Warm appliances attract animals in cold months. Check behind and beneath the furnace, the water heater and any dehumidifier. Make sure the area is clear of paper or fabric, and that the floor around pipe entries is sealed. A pipe opening behind a furnace is an easy route into the wall.
Chest units and spare refrigerators.
A spare refrigerator or chest cooler in the basement or garage keeps warm and hums softly. The motor area is a favorite hiding place. Pull the unit out once a year, vacuum the coils using a damp wipe rather than dry sweeping, and look for droppings underneath.
When storage is not the problem.
If you tidy and the signs persist, the animals have a way in. That calls for a walk-through to locate it. Storage changes help, but they cannot fix a gap. Combined with sealing, they leave a basement that is far less welcoming.
What health agencies advise
Patient wet work stops particles from getting into your lungs.
- Sweeping is the habit to drop first: dried droppings crumble, and the powder is easy to inhale.
- Let outdoor air flow through the space for a half hour, then come back with gloves and spray.
- Single-use gloves suit this job as long as you wash well after taking them off.
- Saturate droppings and stains with household disinfectant, or with bleach diluted as its label directs, then leave it alone for roughly five minutes.
- After the wiping is finished, mop or sponge the floor and counters with disinfectant too.
- We do not diagnose illness. Anyone who feels sick after exposure should see a clinician.
Pages behind this advice
Open the pages below to read the full guidance.
- CDC procedure for handling rodent waste: Where the cleanup order used on our pages comes from.
- Rodenticide restrictions, per the EPA: The reasons for rules on rodent poison sales that protect children, pets and wildlife.