Outbuildings as the first stop
A mouse looking for shelter rarely goes straight for the house. Around Kew and Ham, where larger detached properties often have a garage, a garden store or a summer house standing apart from the main building, mice tend to establish there first, feeding on stored bird seed or garden supplies before finding a way into the house itself.
Signs to look for
Droppings the size of a grain of rice along a skirting board, a gnawed corner on stored food, and scratching in a wall cavity after dark are the usual first signs. A greasy smear low down on a regularly used route marks out where mice have been travelling.
Richmond's Georgian townhouses
In the Georgian townhouses of Richmond itself, cellars and the gaps around old floorboards give mice a network to move through unseen, often turning up in a kitchen some distance from where they first entered the building.
Whitton's suburban semis and terraces
In Whitton's quieter streets of semis and terraced housing, the usual route is more straightforward: a gap around kitchen pipework or a worn threshold at the back door.
What to do this week
- Move dry food, pet food and bird seed into containers with a properly sealing lid
- Check any garage, shed or outbuilding for droppings as well as the house itself
- Pull the cooker or fridge out if you safely can, and clear what's built up behind it
- Note where signs appear, and whether they return after cleaning
- Keep an eye on cables and pipes behind appliances for fresh gnawing
Closing the gaps afterwards
Once activity has stopped, check the join between any outbuilding and the main house as well as the usual kitchen gaps, since that's often the route mice used all along. Building work is a good time to do this, since under-floor gaps are far easier to reach while it's already open.
Booking mouse control in Richmond upon Thames
Mouse control anywhere in Richmond upon Thames is £190 for a flat and £240 for a house, and because around Twickenham, where riverside houses and terraces close to the Thames, mentioning that when you book mouse control points us towards the likely route in, with the rest of the detail on the Richmond upon Thames mouse control page.
