Are These Mouse Droppings? Mouse Identification Advice for Ely

This is the part people find genuinely difficult, partly because throwing food away feels wasteful and partly because nobody tells them where the line is. The line is reasonably clear.

Throw Away

• Anything in packaging that has been gnawed, however small the hole. Small neat holes are the mouse signature
• Anything in card, paper or plastic film in an affected cupboard, whether or not you can see damage — cereal, pasta, rice, flour, sugar, dried goods
• Loose or opened items in the cupboard: an open bag of anything, a part-used packet, a box with a folded-over liner
• Anything with droppings on or in it
• Fresh produce stored in the affected area
• Pet food from an opened bag that has been reached
• Cardboard storage in the affected area, which absorbs and holds contamination

Usually Safe to Keep, After Washing

• Tins, unless the label is damaged and you cannot identify the contents
• Glass jars with intact seals
• Sealed hard plastic containers with a proper lid
• Bottles, washed
• Vacuum-sealed items, where the seal is genuinely intact

Wash the outside of anything you keep, and check it properly in daylight rather than in the cupboard.

Then Clean the Cupboard Properly

1. Empty it completely and sort as above.
2. Wear gloves, and cover any cuts on your hands.
3. Damp everything down with a disinfectant solution before wiping. Do not sweep or vacuum dry — that throws dried material into the air.
4. Wipe out with disposable cloths and double-bag the waste.
5. Disinfect the surfaces, including the underside of shelves and the back corners.
6. Leave it open to dry and air.
7. Wash your hands thoroughly and bin the gloves.

And Then Store Differently

This is the part that stops it happening twice. Dry goods in sealed hard containers with proper lids — not the bags they came in, and not clip-top boxes with a gap at the corner. It is also the single most effective thing you can do about mice while you wait for a treatment, because it removes the reason the cupboard is worth visiting.

One Thing Not to Do

Do not clear every affected area in the property before anybody has looked. Clean the food cupboard, obviously — that is hygiene. Leave the droppings in the loft, behind the appliances and under the units, because the distribution is what tells a technician where the activity actually runs.