Do Mice Like Light

Mice are nocturnal creatures. If you have pet mice you will hear them running around while you are trying to sleep. Which is why you should always have their cage somewhere that will not disturb you.

A lot of people want to know if mice like light because they have them in their homes and want to get rid of them. So they want to know when they are active. What they can do to make them show themselves. Or how they will react at certain times of the day.

The short answer is that mice are more active at night. But don’t mind light and will do what they need to during the day.

Mice Use Night-Time and Daylight to Their Advantage

As already mentioned, mice are nocturnal animals. They use light and dark to help them know when it’s time to sleep, forage, look for mates, and all the other things they do.

This has been observed with pet mice, or mice kept in laboratories. They also tailor their habits around when they are exposed to light, or kept in darkness. Their patterns can be disrupted with artificial light too, it’s not just natural light.

Mice have their biological clocks synchronised with the light and dark times. This can be tied back to their evolution and their need to learn how to survive. Surviving at night is a lot easier than in the daytime.

Catching Mice in the Daytime

A lot of people who have mice in their home notice their presence through droppings and items being chewed. They rarely see the mice running around, and it comes as a shock to most when they do.

This is because mice spend most of the day sleeping or hiding. As discussed above, they do this as it’s much better for their survival. I’m sure you will agree, as if you saw them in the day you would catch them easier.

They also have good hearing and a sense for vibrations. So if you are moving around, the mouse is more likely to stay in hiding. Some of the many reasons why it’s hard to catch a mouse.

Your best bet to catch them will be at night. Which is why people use traps while they are sleeping. Mice will come out when it’s dark and they get a feeling that there isn’t a lot of movement happening.

Can You Use Light to Scare Mice Away

Taking into account all of the above information you may think that you can use light to keep mice away from your home. It’s not as simple as that however, as their biological clocks are still in motion.

If you have a particular room that you want to keep the mice out of, keeping a light on isn’t going to do this effectively. Mice will still enter the room during the night.

It will make them easier to spot, and they will be aware of the light and be a little more cautious. But this is one method to make it easier to spot them.

Anyone with mice in their home will tell you that as soon as they turn a light on the mice run off as fast as they can. So you can use light to make the mice feel more comfortable. Then try and catch them when they are letting their guard down a little.