PEI rodent calls surge 60% as mice, rats seek winter shelter in homes

As temperatures drop across Prince Edward Island, pest control companies are fielding calls about unwanted visitors at a pace they haven't seen in years. The phones are ringing steadily—nearly 60 percent more often than they were a year ago, and roughly triple the volume from 2017. Mice and rats are on the move, driven by the same instinct that has sent them indoors for centuries: the need to escape the cold.

Tanner Arsenault, who runs Red Sands Pest Control, explains what draws them in. A house offers everything a rodent needs as winter approaches—shelter from the elements, accessible food, water, and something else that makes homes particularly attractive: insulation. "When a mouse gets in or a rat gets in, the biggest thing is once they're in, there's highways in your walls that you don't realize," Arsenault says. The walls become a network of pathways, and the insulation itself becomes bedding material. As homeowners turn up their heat, they're essentially creating the exact conditions rodents are seeking.

Rob Gallant, who works with Atlantic Graduate Pest Management, has watched the problem intensify. He attributes the surge to multiple factors working in concert. Urban development has left vegetation around buildings that provides cover. Dumpsters and litter scattered across neighborhoods offer reliable food sources. Bird feeders, meant to attract cardinals and chickadees, also feed the mice and rats below. "If they can get that snout in, they can get the rest of that body in," Gallant observes. The barrier to entry is remarkably low.

Once inside, a small problem becomes a large one with startling speed. A single mouse produces roughly 120 droppings per day—enough to make an infestation unmistakable. More troubling is the reproductive timeline. A mouse's gestation period runs 19 to 21 days, meaning a handful of rodents can become dozens within weeks. What starts as a minor nuisance can spiral into a serious infestation before a homeowner fully grasps what's happening.

One shift Gallant has noticed is geographic. Rodent calls used to cluster in rural areas, where barns and open spaces provided natural habitat. Now the majority come from cities. "Rodents are adapting," he says. Urban environments, with their density of food sources and shelter, have become prime territory.

Attics are the most common entry point, Arsenault notes, because dead insects accumulate there and provide the nutrients rodents need to survive. But rodents can follow electrical lines and plumbing anywhere it runs through a structure. Prevention requires a multi-layered approach: keeping grass trimmed short to remove cover, decluttering spaces where rodents might nest, and sealing cracks and holes before they become highways. Bird feeders should be evaluated carefully—the food meant for birds becomes an advertisement for mice and rats.

If droppings are already visible, Gallant warns against simply sweeping them up. A damp rag or disinfectant spray is necessary to avoid spreading illness. Once the interior is cleared, the real work begins on the outside, where the focus shifts to preventing re-entry. It's a two-front battle: eliminate what's inside, then fortify against what's waiting outside. For homeowners on the island, the season ahead will test whether they can stay ahead of the rodents seeking warmth.