Why Do I Hear Mice in My Snohomish House Every Fall?

Snohomish sits beside the river floodplain and open farm ground, and that is where a lot of field mice and Norway rats spend the summer. Harvest and the first high water push them toward the nearest dry shelter. If your house has a gap at the sill, a crawl space vent or a roofline opening, it is the nearest shelter.

Can You Seal an Old Snohomish House Without Harming the Original Trim?

Yes. Most of the work on an older house happens at the foundation, the sill, the vents and the roofline, not on the decorative trim. If an opening sits behind original woodwork, we show you before we touch it and talk through the options.

Do You Treat Barns and Shops Outside Town?

We can. Outbuildings with feed, hay or stored equipment are often where the rodents actually live, so we look at the whole property, place stations around the outbuildings as well as the house, and seal what can be sealed.

How Quickly Can Someone Come Out to Snohomish?

Someone is out within 48 hours, and you get a text about 30 minutes before the truck arrives. We are based in Lake Stevens, about 15 minutes away. If you can tell us where you hear the noise and when, we plan the visit around it.

Do You Use Poison Inside the House?

Inside the house we trap rather than bait, so you are not left with an animal that dies inside a wall. Outside, any bait goes in locked, tamper-resistant stations, and we walk you through where each one goes before we set it.

How Much Does Rodent Control Cost in Snohomish?

It depends mostly on how many ways in the property has and how much sealing it needs, so we quote after we have looked at the roofline, the crawl space, the garage and any outbuildings. You have the number before any work starts.

Brick and wood-front buildings along the 900 block of First Street in downtown Snohomish, WA, with parked cars and a street tree on a clear spring day

Snohomish rat and mouse exterminator

Rodent Control in Snohomish, WA

If something started scratching in the wall once the rain came back, you are in good company. Snohomish sits between the river floodplain and the farm fields, and every fall the mice and rats living out there start looking for a dry building. We find how they are getting into yours, close it, and clear out the ones already inside.

Call now (425) 332-6566

5.0 from 64 Google reviews. Based in Lake Stevens, about 15 minutes away.

Free Snohomish Rodent Control Quote

Step 1 of 2

Photo: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0

Why Snohomish, why fall

How Rodents Leave the Fields and Reach Snohomish Houses

Rodent control in Snohomish is shaped by the ground around town. The valley south and west floods in the wet season, and the farm fields along the river hold a lot of field mice and Norway rats. Here is how that turns into a sound in your ceiling.

A blue-gray farmhouse with dormers and a wraparound porch, two horses in the pasture in front and a wooded hillside behind, seen from the Centennial Trail near Snohomish, WA — A farmhouse, pasture and wooded hillside seen from the Centennial Trail near Snohomish: the barn, the stored feed and the house are all one property to a rodent. Photo: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Harvest

When the fields on the valley floor are worked and the cover comes down, the field mice and Norway rats that spent the summer there need somewhere else to be.
First High Water

The land south and west of town floods in the wet season. Rodents move to higher, drier ground, and the edge of town is the nearest shelter.
The Nearest Building

That is a barn or a shop first, and then the house next to it. Homes on the edge of town and out toward Machias are the first to hear it.
Winter

Flood season keeps them holed up in crawl spaces and attics, which is why a house that is not sealed by September tends to hear them through December.

Where we look first

A Snohomish Rat Exterminator Starts Where the Property Starts

A 1895 house on Avenue A and a barn out toward Machias have almost nothing in common, and the plan changes with each. The job begins with working out which kind of property you have.

Victorian, Craftsman, bungalow

Historic District Homes

Balloon framing and lath-and-plaster walls leave open channels inside the house. A mouse that gets in at the sill can travel from the crawl space to the attic without crossing a room, so we seal the outside first and then work the wall voids.

Later subdivisions, north side

Newer Homes Toward Blackmans Lake and Bickford

Tighter construction and cleaner crawl spaces, but fresh landscape beds against the foundation and gaps around utility lines. The entry is usually small, and it is usually findable in one visit.

Out toward the valley and Machias

Acreage and Farm Property

The population often lives in the barn, the shop or the stored hay, and the house is the next stop. We look at the whole property rather than only the building that called.

A red 1895 house on Avenue A in Snohomish, WA, with white shutters, a gambrel roofline, a bay window and a birch tree in the front yard — An 1895 house on Avenue A. Houses this age have a hundred years of settling in the framing, which is where mice find their way in. Photo: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0.

What the visit looks like

What Happens When You Call Us About Mice in Snohomish

Someone is out within 48 hours, and you get a text about 30 minutes before the truck arrives. We ask what you have heard and where, then walk the outside of the property: the sill and foundation, the vents, the roofline, the garage and any shed or barn.

You leave knowing which rodent it is, every way in we found, and what it will take to close them, in plain words and with a price. Sealing comes first, using materials sized to each gap, because trapping inside a house that is still open only makes room for the next mouse.

Then we trap inside the house and place locked, tamper-resistant stations outside, and come back to check and clear them. Brian holds WSDA applicator license #112338, and you are welcome to look it up. The full approach is on our rodent control service page.

Before we get there

Three Things to Do While You Wait for Your Appointment

Move the food. Bring pet food and bird seed inside at night, and store hay, grain and feed in sturdy containers with tight lids. On acreage, spilled feed is what keeps a population through the winter.

Clear the foundation. Pull firewood and lumber away from the walls and off the ground. The state health department suggests keeping them at least 12 inches up and clear of the house.

Write down the noise. Note where you hear it and what time. A scratching that runs along one wall at night tells us a lot before we open a crawl space. Our guide to telling mice from rats by sound explains how.

If you find droppings, do not sweep or vacuum them. Deer mice are the main carriers of hantavirus in Washington, and the Washington State Department of Health explains how to clean up without stirring up the dust. For the garage, see how to keep mice out of the garage, and for the bigger picture, why rats get into Snohomish County homes every fall.

5.0 from 64 Google reviews

What Customers Say About Our Rodent Control

Read all 64 reviews

"We were in need of immediate local service, since I woke up hearing scratching in my wall. I knew it wasn't good. I am super thankful for the care and concern that was given to me by the owner (who's amazing by the way), very knowledgeable, honest and very fair price. So much so that I dropped Orkin and signed up with these guys due to the low price I got quoted. When the tech showed up, he put me at ease, very knowledgeable young man, and answered all my questions and concerns. By that same night one of the traps that was laid down had caught the little bugger in my wall. I'm thankful for the quick reply and how quickly someone came out to help us. They even came back to retrieve the critter. I appreciate honesty, it's hard to come by these days. So thank you!"

CHELSIE SCHREINER · GOOGLE REVIEW →

"This company is fantastic. Not only did they come to treat my home within a day, but the service was super friendly, educational and reasonable. The owner spoke with me personally and took care of my rat issue swiftly and professionally. Just call them."

BRIANNE FIELD · GOOGLE REVIEW →

"I was having a problem with rats and mice. I called so many places. I live in Lake Stevens. Pure Guard worked with me. The price is low. They set me up quickly. Would highly recommend! Thank you."

SUN SHINE · LAKE STEVENS, WA · GOOGLE REVIEW →

"Brian stopped by to let us know about his eco-friendly pest control services, and we are happy to know we are supporting an eco- and family friendly small business. He is super knowledgeable and uses products that are safe for our pets and kids, and applies them so they won't interfere with our honey bees. We are also going to have chickens in the near future, so we are happy that they (and we) will be protected from rats too. We are fine with bugs being outside where they belong, but very glad we don't have to worry about them being inside!"

MELISSA DOERING · GOOGLE REVIEW →

"Reliable and effective. Very affordable pricing. Got rid of the rats and wasps!"

POE ALLAN · GOOGLE REVIEW →

Questions, answered

Snohomish Rodent Control Questions

Why Do I Hear Mice in My Snohomish House Every Fall?: Snohomish sits beside the river floodplain and open farm ground, and that is where a lot of field mice and Norway rats spend the summer. Harvest and the first high water push them toward the nearest dry shelter. If your house has a gap at the sill, a crawl space vent or a roofline opening, it is the nearest shelter.
Can You Seal an Old Snohomish House Without Harming the Original Trim?: Yes. Most of the work on an older house happens at the foundation, the sill, the vents and the roofline, not on the decorative trim. If an opening sits behind original woodwork, we show you before we touch it and talk through the options.
Do You Treat Barns and Shops Outside Town?: We can. Outbuildings with feed, hay or stored equipment are often where the rodents actually live, so we look at the whole property, place stations around the outbuildings as well as the house, and seal what can be sealed.
How Quickly Can Someone Come Out to Snohomish?: Someone is out within 48 hours, and you get a text about 30 minutes before the truck arrives. We are based in Lake Stevens, about 15 minutes away. If you can tell us where you hear the noise and when, we plan the visit around it.
Do You Use Poison Inside the House?: Inside the house we trap rather than bait, so you are not left with an animal that dies inside a wall. Outside, any bait goes in locked, tamper-resistant stations, and we walk you through where each one goes before we set it.
How Much Does Rodent Control Cost in Snohomish?: It depends mostly on how many ways in the property has and how much sealing it needs, so we quote after we have looked at the roofline, the crawl space, the garage and any outbuildings. You have the number before any work starts.

Free quote · Snohomish, WA

Get a free rodent control
quote in Snohomish.

Answer two quick questions below and we call or text back within one business day, usually sooner. Or skip the form and call the number here. A person picks up.

Your Free Snohomish Rodent Control Quote:

Step 1 of 2

No account needed. The form goes straight to our office.

What you are getting

48 hrs

Guaranteed to get someone out

Stinging-insect calls get priority.

15 min

From our base to Snohomish

A short drive south from our base in Lake Stevens.

100%

Warranty-backed

Pests come back inside the window, so do we. No charge.

#112338

WSDA applicator license

Checkable on the state lookup. Ask us for the link.

Rather talk to someone? (425) 332-6566

Need something other than mice or rats? See everything we do for pest control in Snohomish, from carpenter ants in century-old framing to crawl space work. Our nearest local rodent page is for rodent control in Everett.