What’s Chewing Holes in My Garage or Shed?

You go out to grab something from a storage bin and notice a hole chewed through the corner of a cardboard box, or there’s a gnawed spot on a bag of dog food, or you find little chew marks along the bottom of the door. Maybe you’ve found a few of these over time and just figured it was bugs or assumed it was nothing. But it’s starting to add up.

Is this definitely rodents?

Most likely, yes. Chewed holes in cardboard, plastic storage bins, bags of pet food or birdseed, and even wood trim around doors are classic signs of rats or mice. They’re not eating the cardboard or plastic for food, they’re either getting to something inside, like food, or using the material to soften it for a nest. Either way, once you start noticing a few of these in the same general area, that’s usually more than a one time thing.

Why a garage or shed in the first place?

Garages and sheds check a lot of boxes for rodents. They’re usually quieter and less disturbed than the inside of a house, there’s often stored food, whether that’s pet food, birdseed, or even forgotten pantry items, and there’s plenty of stuff to hide behind or nest inside, boxes, bins, old furniture, insulation if it’s an older shed. On top of that, garages and sheds tend to have more gaps around doors, vents, and where the structure meets the slab, which makes getting in pretty easy.

What’s actually getting chewed?

Cardboard boxes are an easy target since they’re soft and easy to tear into, especially if there’s anything edible inside, even just crumbs or packaging residue. Plastic storage bins can get gnawed at the corners or seams if something inside smells appealing. Bags of dog food, cat food, or birdseed are pretty much a guaranteed target if they’re stored in anything other than a hard sealed container. Wood, especially around door frames or shelving, can get chewed too, partly for nesting material and partly just because rodents need to gnaw to keep their teeth in check.

Could it be something other than rats or mice?

It’s possible, but less common. Squirrels can get into sheds and garages too, especially if there’s an opening near the roofline, and they tend to cause similar chewed up messes with stored items. Roaches and other bugs can damage some materials but they don’t typically chew through cardboard or plastic the way rodents do, so if you’re seeing actual gnaw marks with little tooth grooves, that’s pointing toward rats or mice pretty reliably.

Why does it seem to come and go?

A lot of garages and sheds aren’t visited every day, so activity can seem sporadic just because you’re not in there often enough to notice it happening. Rodents might be moving through and chewing on things regularly, but you only catch the results every week or two when you happen to need something from a certain shelf or bin. It’s less that the activity comes and goes and more that your visits do.

Does this mean they’re getting into the house too?

Not necessarily, but it’s worth thinking about. A garage that’s attached to the house often has a shared wall or shared attic space, so rodents getting comfortable in the garage can sometimes work their way into the rest of the house from there, especially if there’s any gap around the door between the garage and the house, or shared attic access. A detached shed is more separate, but it can still be close enough to the house that whatever’s living in there is also checking out your house for the same reasons.

What can you do in the meantime?

Switching pet food and birdseed into hard sealed containers, like metal or thick plastic bins with locking lids, takes away one of the bigger draws pretty quickly. Moving stored boxes off the floor and away from walls can also help, since rodents tend to travel along edges and like having things to hide behind. Neither of these stops them from being in there, but it can reduce what’s keeping them coming back regularly.

What does it take to actually deal with this?

Figuring out where they’re getting into the garage or shed in the first place is the real key, whether that’s a gap under the door, a vent, a spot where the slab and wall don’t quite meet, or something at roof level. Once that’s sealed and any nesting material or active rodents are dealt with, the chewing tends to stop pretty quickly since there’s no longer anywhere for them to settle in.

If you’re finding chewed up boxes, bags, or bins out there and want to know what’s actually going on, our garage and shed rodent inspection can find where they’re getting in and take care of what’s already made itself at home.