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Mice climbing downspouts? #6631315
10/02/19 07:58 PM
10/02/19 07:58 PM
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 335
Northern Minnesota
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webfootwhacker Offline OP
trapper
webfootwhacker  Offline OP
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 335
Northern Minnesota
Is there a consensus on whether or not Mice climb downspouts to gain access to a roof? Do you think they can climb a gas fireplace galvanized pipe? Trying to determine if the noise inside a gas fireplace pipe and a mouse in the house are connected. I’m leaning that the noise in the pipe was a bat and that the mouse is unrelated. What do you guys think?

Last edited by webfootwhacker; 10/02/19 08:40 PM.
Re: Mice climbing downspouts? [Re: webfootwhacker] #6631482
10/02/19 10:19 PM
10/02/19 10:19 PM
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 734
Schenectady, NY
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EatenByLimestone Offline
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EatenByLimestone  Offline
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Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 734
Schenectady, NY
I doubt that they can climb a galvanized pipe, but have heard of other remarkable feats such as them climbing vinyl siding that I have a hard time believing. Supposedly there's a video of them climbing the siding.

We do have a video of them running around on a roof.

Re: Mice climbing downspouts? [Re: EatenByLimestone] #6631693
10/03/19 08:00 AM
10/03/19 08:00 AM
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 48
Eastern Iowa
Joe Taylor Offline
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Joe Taylor  Offline
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Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 48
Eastern Iowa
So as to not fall victim to hearsay:
1. I’ve personally watched a mouse zigzagging in all directions on a smooth concrete wall.
2. I was shown a video of a mouse triggering a WiFi doorbell when its tail swung through the view of the motion sensor as it sat on top of the doorbell. The doorbell was mounted on a wall with brick siding.
Neither of these will be surprising to most here, but it is confirmation of their abilities on two surface types. In both of the above cases, the material was porous enough for a mouse to easily grab and walk vertically. The smooth concrete wall really surprised me because it felt smooth to the touch.

I’m highly confident that a mouse could not climb the outside face of a downspout. I’ve looked at the tapering gap between vinyl siding and a downspout and have wondered if a mouse could navigate it. My conclusion has always been ‘no,’ and I’ve never had to go back and exclude a downspout because mice keep getting in after all other exclusion work was completed. In other words, I have plenty of customers who are mouse-free and I did not exclude their downspouts. This isn’t proof, but it is a large sample size that would seem to deny that mice scale the siding/downspout gaps.


Joe Taylor
Paw Control Wildlife Solutions | pawcontrol.com
Re: Mice climbing downspouts? [Re: webfootwhacker] #6632245
10/03/19 10:56 PM
10/03/19 10:56 PM
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 335
Northern Minnesota
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webfootwhacker Offline OP
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webfootwhacker  Offline OP
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 335
Northern Minnesota
Everything was quiet last night. So either the mouse came out the vent in the gas fireplace (and was killed by the client) which means it got on the roof and up the stovepipe and down into the air intake. Or, it was something else that died in there and the mouse is unrelated. I took the cap off and looked down the pipe, but there is an elbow so I couldn’t see the bottom. A bit of a mystery but a screen on the pipe will solve it either way.

Re: Mice climbing downspouts? [Re: webfootwhacker] #6632484
10/04/19 09:39 AM
10/04/19 09:39 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,590
SW Pa
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Bob Jameson Offline
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Bob Jameson  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,590
SW Pa
Mice can make entry and climb some things that if you didnt see it yourself you probably wouldnt have thought they could do it.

They can use their backs to press against an area to help support their footing while climbing as you can in some situations.. I do believe they can climb the interior of a drain spout along the seam to the gutter which gives them access to the roof and eventual access to the attic which you know the rest of the story after that happens. Many gutters are lined to a degree with debris sticks, leaves, seeds etc. which further helps to assist their ability to climb obviously.

I have seen mice on power lines overhead near a structure which leaves me to believe they came up a power pole which are easily navigated due to their rough surface or entered the line to cross from the house to another building.

Re: Mice climbing downspouts? [Re: Bob Jameson] #6632886
10/04/19 09:36 PM
10/04/19 09:36 PM
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 48
Eastern Iowa
Joe Taylor Offline
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Joe Taylor  Offline
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Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 48
Eastern Iowa
Originally Posted by Bob Jameson
I do believe they can climb the interior of a drain spout along the seam to the gutter which gives them access to the roof and eventual access to the attic which you know the rest of the story after that happens.

Bob, I’m intrigued to hear more about how you arrived at this conclusion. Is based on some direct observations? On indirect observations that were stitched together? On mice continuing to get into a building until the downspout bottoms were excluded?

I’d love to know more!


Joe Taylor
Paw Control Wildlife Solutions | pawcontrol.com
Re: Mice climbing downspouts? [Re: webfootwhacker] #6632922
10/04/19 10:23 PM
10/04/19 10:23 PM
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 7,236
West Michigan
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Getting There Offline
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Getting There  Offline
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 7,236
West Michigan
I would not put anything past a mouse! JMO


To Old
U.S. Army 60-63 SGT.
Re: Mice climbing downspouts? [Re: webfootwhacker] #6634300
10/06/19 08:35 PM
10/06/19 08:35 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,590
SW Pa
B
Bob Jameson Offline
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Bob Jameson  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,590
SW Pa
I have spent many years on ladders and have observed many mice running the roof lines, in gutters, run down into corner gutter drops once startled by my presence not to return while I was working there. I have seen them run in and out of dormer corners that were being treated for squirrels or bats. I assumed thru these observations that they have found some way to navigate the drops in some cases. I have also seen black rat snakes doing the same thing over the years.

Re: Mice climbing downspouts? [Re: webfootwhacker] #6634417
10/06/19 10:48 PM
10/06/19 10:48 PM
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 335
Northern Minnesota
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webfootwhacker Offline OP
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webfootwhacker  Offline OP
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 335
Northern Minnesota
Thanks for the thoughts. On a related note: will 1/2” x 1/2” GAW wire mesh reliably exclude mice?

Re: Mice climbing downspouts? [Re: webfootwhacker] #6635783
10/08/19 11:38 PM
10/08/19 11:38 PM
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 734
Schenectady, NY
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EatenByLimestone Offline
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EatenByLimestone  Offline
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Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 734
Schenectady, NY
We never trusted 1/2" for mice, or bats. Go with 1/4". Call backs suck.

Re: Mice climbing downspouts? [Re: webfootwhacker] #6636970
10/10/19 07:25 PM
10/10/19 07:25 PM
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 335
Northern Minnesota
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webfootwhacker Offline OP
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webfootwhacker  Offline OP
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 335
Northern Minnesota
That’s kind of what I thought. Might keep our most but not all. I buried this stuff in sand and then covered in washed rock. I wasn’t sure 1/4” would hold up long term in this application. I guess I’ll find out.

Re: Mice climbing downspouts? [Re: webfootwhacker] #6637023
10/10/19 08:20 PM
10/10/19 08:20 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,590
SW Pa
B
Bob Jameson Offline
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Bob Jameson  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,590
SW Pa
1/4 inch vinyl coated wire will last many years under ground and at ground level.

Re: Mice climbing downspouts? [Re: webfootwhacker] #6669846
11/19/19 11:54 AM
11/19/19 11:54 AM
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 1,934
SE WI
DuxDawg Offline
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DuxDawg  Offline
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 1,934
SE WI
I've watched chipmunks, red and grey squirrels climb up the inside of downspouts. Don't doubt that mice could, just haven't caught 'em at it yet.

If a rodent's skull can fit through an opening, the rest of it can too.


"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
-Edmund Burke
"We are fast approaching... rule by brute force."
-Ayn Rand
Re: Mice climbing downspouts? [Re: webfootwhacker] #6700701
12/21/19 01:36 AM
12/21/19 01:36 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,476
Central IA
TRapper Offline
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TRapper  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,476
Central IA
I have my pesticide license and I inform customer I can seal up a home and slow mice down but will not warranty a mouse seal up...they know that going in. The bait boxes on outside really help also by keeping mice finding food outside and killing them there

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