Finding mice and rat droppings is disgusting and dangerous. You need to follow safety procedures to avoid getting sick when you handle mouse or rat feces.
First, never sweep or vacuum mice and rat droppings because it can put viruses or bacteria into the air. Next, you need to determine if you have a rodent infestation or not. After you have eliminated the chances of the creatures returning, spray the droppings with a healthy portion of disinfectant and let it sit for five minutes. Then, wearing rubber gloves, clean up the droppings and put them in a sealed trash can. Next, clean the area again. Finally, clean your hands and change your clothes.
Always use caution when dealing with mice and rat droppings. For a more detailed explanation of how to be as safe as possible while handling rodent feces, read the rest of this article.
You may also be interested in reading these two related articles “How To Trap Rats In Your Home” and “How To Get Rid Of Gophers“.
What To Do If You Find Mice/Rat Droppings?
Before cleaning up the droppings, check to see if you have an infestation or if a random rodent made a mess. To do this, search your home and property for other evidence of mice and rats.
You might have a rodent infestation even if you never see any animals. The signs of a problem are:
- Droppings near food packages, in drawers or cupboards and under the sink.
- Nesting materials like shredded paper, dried plant matter or fabric.
- Chew marks and holes on food packaging.
- Holes dug through floors and walls, creating entry points into the house.
- Stale odors from hidden areas.
- Scratching or squeaking noises from inside walls, the attic, or below the house.
If You Find A Rodent Infestation:
First, you must stop the infestation before handling or cleaning up rodent droppings. If you don’t halt the infestation, you’ll end up putting yourself at risk of cleaning up rat or mouse feces again.
Overall, the best course of action is to get rid of all rodents, then work on cleaning up their mess. You can trap rats and mice in your house with baited traps.
Besides eliminating the rodents, you also need to prevent them from returning. Some measures you can take to stop mice and rats from coming back to your house are:
- Eliminate sources of water like leaking pipes and poor drainage.
- Seal garbage cans, yard waste and food containers.
- Patch up any gaps, holes or cracks in the foundation, siding and eaves of your house.
Cleaning and Safe Handling Of Mice or Rat Droppings
If you don’t have a rodent infestation or have stopped it, you can work on cleaning up. In all cases, it’s critical to use safety techniques when handling mice or rat droppings.
Choose A Disinfectant Cleaner For Rodent Droppings
First, you must select the right disinfectant cleaner for the job. You can buy one at the store or make one yourself.
If you purchase a cleaner from the store, check that it has the word “disinfectant” on the label. It must be able to kill bacteria and viruses.
Make a homemade cleaner by combining one part of chlorine bleach with nine of water in a container. The bleach solution should be mixed at the same time you’re going to use it to guarantee potency.
Steps For Cleaning Mice and Rat Droppings
Starting off, the goal of cleaning mice and rat droppings is to kill any microorganisms and stop them from becoming airborne. Accomplish that by following these steps:
- Ventilate the area for an hour by opening windows and doors, or turning on a fan.
- Put on protective plastic or rubber gloves.
- Spray or soak the area where you have seen droppings or other signs of rodents with your disinfectant cleaning solution.
- Let the solution sit and work for at least five minutes.
- Wipe up the rodent droppings and other messes with paper towels.
- Dispose of the paper towels in a covered garbage container that you empty regularly.
- Clean the area again:
- Clean hard surfaces, including countertops, floors, cabinets and drawers, with your usual methods plus a disinfectant cleaner.
- You may have to clean with a commercial steam cleaner for carpets and upholstery.
- Leave your hands gloved and wash them with warm water and disinfectant soap, or throw the gloves away with the droppings.
- Wash your bare hands with warm water and soap or use an alcohol-based hand cleaner.
Should You Wear A Mask Around Mouse/Rat Droppings?
The CDC only recommends wearing a mask around mice or rat droppings if you frequently work near them or are cleaning a heavy infestation. In other words, if you follow the handling guidelines above, you don’t have to wear a mask.
If you follow the handling guidelines above, you don’t have to wear a mask.
Conversely, masks might make you feel safer handling mouse or rat droppings, and that’s a good reason to wear one. In the end, the choice to wear a mask or not is up to you.
How To Tell Mice Droppings From Rat Droppings
As a rule, its good to know what critter’s droppings you’re dealing with. Luckily, there are several ways to tell mice droppings from rat droppings that you can use.
Mice droppings have a few unique characteristics, including:
- 1/8 to 1/4 inch long
- Appears crunchy
- Shaped like a rice grain
- Tapered at one of both ends
- Found in larger bunches
On the other hand, rat droppings have their telltale signs, such as:
- 1/2 to 3/4 inch long
- Smooth appearance
- Pointed at both ends
- Shaped like a sausage
- Found spread out and in smaller numbers
Where To Look For Rodent Droppings
For the most part, if you discover mice or rat droppings in one area of your home, there could be more elsewhere. Therefore, you should inspect your house to find other places that need cleaning.
First, check near food sources like your kitchen cabinets, pantries and refrigerator. Moving from there, check places that a mouse or rat might like to hide, such as:
- Under and behind furniture
- Under appliances
- In the attic
- In the garage
- Inside crawlspaces
- Inside drawers or cupboards
Mice or rat droppings could be hidden in places that are difficult to access. You might need to remove vents, flooring or parts of walls to locate them.
Diseases Spread by Mice and Rat Droppings
Unfortunately, there are several diseases spread by coming into contact with mice or rat droppings. Furthermore, knowing about them should help to motivate you to take precautions while handling rodent feces.
The diseases spread by mice and rat droppings include:
- Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome – This is a sometimes fatal respirtory virus caused by breathing contaminated air. Hantavirus is why you should never sweep or vacuum dry rodent poop.
- Leptospirosis – A bacterial infection that could infect you or your pet after contacting water, food or soil containing rodent urine.
- Lymphocytic choriomeningitis – This brain disease is caused by an open wound touching rodent droppings or urine.
- Rat-bite fever – A bacterial infection caused by contacting rodents carrying the disease, their droppings, or contaminated water.
- Salmonellosis – an infection you can get by eating food or drinking water contaminated by rat feces.
These illnesses are all serious and are the reason you need to be careful when handling rodent droppings. That said, if you feel fever, fatigue or muscle pain after contacting mice or rat feces, see a doctor and get their opinion on your situation.
What To Do If You Touched Mouse/Rat Droppings?
If you accidentally touch mouse or rat poop, clean yourself as quickly as possible. Avoid touching your face or any open cuts or scrapes.
Start by washing your hands in warm water. Then, take a shower and clean your entire body. Next, use gloves to put your clothes in a bucket of disinfectant cleaner.
Symptoms of rodent-borne diseases might appear after a few days or up to eight weeks later. Moreover, monitor your health for that time period and see a doctor if you have any cold or flu-like symptoms.
How Long Do Rodent Droppings Remain Infectious?
In most cases, rodent droppings stop being infectious after five days. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell how long feces has been sitting. Therefore, it’s always best to use every precaution around it.
For example, Hantavirus can survive for two to three days at room temperature. But it could be less if exposed to sunlight and longer in freezing temperatures.
Overall, this information adds up to uncertainty about how long rodent droppings remain infectious. To be safe, treat rodent droppings as dangerous and clean them up with care.
What If You Find Dead Mice or Rats?
In case you find dead mice or rats, the same safety precautions must be taken as when you find droppings. An added danger from carcasses is that they could have fleas or scabies.
Basically, follow all of the steps from handling mice or rat droppings. In addition to the other method, you must place the carcass in a plastic bag and seal it, then put the sealed bag in another plastic bag before throwing it in the trash.
Again, be sure to clean your body after you have disposed of the dead mice and rats. Additionally, you can reuse a mouse or rat trap by soaking it in a disinfectant cleaning solution for five minutes, then washing it off with water.