Will a mouse go near a sleeping human at night?

A mouse will generally try to avoid direct contact with a sleeping human, but it will go near a sleeping human at night if it is motivated by food, warmth, or a travel route, and this happens more often than people think in homes with significant infestations. Mice are nocturnal and most active when the house is quiet and dark, which coincides with when people are sleeping. They prefer to travel along walls and under furniture, and if your bed is against a wall or you have food crumbs, pet food, or trash in the bedroom, they may climb onto the bed frame, walk across the mattress, or explore nightstands. Most mice will avoid crawling directly over a person because the movement and body heat can startle them, but in heavy infestations or when people sleep on the floor, contact can occur. Mice are very light, so you may not feel them. While they rarely bite sleeping people unless they feel trapped, any contact can expose you to droppings, urine, and parasites. To reduce risk, keep food out of the bedroom, avoid eating in bed, store bedding off the floor, seal gaps around baseboards and pipes in the bedroom, and place traps along bedroom walls outside the immediate sleeping area to intercept them before they reach the bed.