Mice Doing Dirty Laundry in Dayton, NJ
Challenge
I was sent to a homeowner in Dayton, NJ that came across something interesting in her laundry room, mice droppings! Once I arrived I began my inspection in the laundry room that was on the second floor and low and behold I immediately noticed some mice droppings behind the dryer. You need to be extremely careful when cleaning up mouse feces because it contains the hantavirus. Hantavirus is one of the greatest health concerns associated with mouse droppings. The virus lives inside mice feces and when disturbed can become airborne and the Hantavirus causes a rare but serious lung disease called Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome or HPS. HPS is a serious disease that causes a victims lungs to fill with fluid, develop flu-like symptoms and even die (over 40% of people who conduct the disease sadly die). So always use caution when cleaning up mice feces!
Solution
Checking all the possible entry points, and water supply lines, I noticed there were some small gaps behind the escushion plates, enough room for mice to squeeze through. Mice only need a one-quarter inch of space to pass through. As I continued my inspection to the basement areas, I found a discharge PVC pipe going through the wall that also had a gap around it. I sealed both openings with copper mesh and placed rodent bait stations on the sill plate throughout the basement. I used copper mesh because mice hate the taste of it and it gets stuck in their teeth which makes it harder for them to chew and move. Mice would no longer be an issue for this family. While I was conducting my inspection in the laundry room, I thought I heard a bird chirping. So I went outside and noticed the dryer vent outside had no cover. The homeowners had no idea it was missing! I told them it would be no problem for me to replace it. While I was installing the dryer vent cover, I noticed some birds trying to get in. I had to make sure they had not already built a nest in the dryer vent pipe, so I quickly secured the vent cover and did a full inspection throughout the home to make sure there weren’t any nests — luckily there wasn’t. The homeowners were extremely happy and thanked me for replacing the vent cover and solving their mice issue.
