How do you find a mouse nest?

To find a mouse nest you need to look for signs of nesting activity and follow them to dark, warm, quiet, and hidden locations close to food sources. Mouse nests are typically built from soft, shredded materials like paper, fabric, insulation, cotton, and dried plant material, formed into a small ball about four to six inches across. Common nest locations include inside wall cavities, in attics and crawl spaces among insulation, behind and under kitchen appliances like stoves and refrigerators where warmth is available, inside kitchen cabinets and pantries, under and inside box springs and dressers, inside storage boxes, in garages and sheds, and in cluttered closets. Signs that lead you to a nest include large concentrations of small dark droppings, a strong musty ammonia-like urine smell, gnaw marks, shredded nesting material scattered nearby, scratching and scurrying noises at night, and narrow runways along baseboards with grease marks. To search, wear gloves and an N95 mask, use a flashlight, check along walls and behind appliances, inspect boxes and fabric piles, and look for holes the size of a dime. Nests are often within 10 to 30 feet of food. Once found, do not disturb dry droppings without spraying with bleach solution first to avoid inhaling pathogens like hantavirus.