Mice

We all have a strange association with mice and rats. If you look at our culture you quickly find we rarely love them in our homes  but love them in our media and have all grown up to love Mickey and Minie and some of us even remember Mighty Mouse. Our cartoons with cats vs.mouse , (Tom  & Jerry comes quickly to my mind)we seem to always root for that cute and cuddly mouse and never the house cat intended to keep them out of our home.walk through the aisles of a toy store and count all the toys intended to give our young children.

Put a rat or a mouse in the same home and we have housewives in particular demanding something be done immediately to irradicate them from our homes. My point is simple we all have a love & hate relationship with them and I doubt that imprint in our society will ever change. As a child we may have wanted a pet mouse(my own mom disallowed a hamster) and as a adult we understand our parents sentiment today that mice don't ever belong in a home as a pet or not.

We don't like mice because they get to our food long before we do. They tear open boxes of grains and soil them and create a situation of getting our families sick from disease usually by the urine and feces they leave behind. Mice destroy far more food then they consume  and infact eat less then 3 oz of food a day each. They tear up our matresses, upholstery and pillows to make bedding for their nests and left unchecked in a short time their population in our homes quickly explodes.

Mice carry several diseases like tapeworm, ringworm, leptospirosis, salmonella and even rat bite fever. salmonella is quite common and other microbial related food poisons. We get these either through being bit by a mouse or eating food they have contaminated. Leptospirosis although rare is spread by urine and can cause kidney and liver damage and "rat bite fever" even rarer.

There are nearly over 250 different species of mice in North America many of them are not native and have been introduced by man either through transport or commerce. The house mouse, white footed mouse and the deer mouse are the most common. Don't let the name house mouse fool you since they generally are found in larger abundance out in the woods and near grain producing farms yet it is one of the most common mice found in homes. The house mouse will breed spring and fall yet indoors breed year long. Compare the mouse to rabbits another rodent, they are more prolific and have as much as eight litters a year as long as food and a warm place to live exists-our homes.

They have litters that consist of 5-6 mice born hairless and blind but quickly grow hair in days and have all their hair in about one week. They are weaned in their third week and are sexually mature in 6-7 weeks.

Rats

Rats unlike mice in our society never have had a good name and the term "dirty rat" is indicative of our hate for them and our dislike to have them around us or in our homes.

The Norway Rat is our first and most commonly hated rat and was introduced from the old world about the time of the American Revolution. Another common breed especially in the South Eastern US is the roof rat which is associated with the plague & not the Norway rat. The roof rat keeps its nest up high and usually will live up in a attic or up high while the Norway rat another climber will tend to dig burrows and live at the ground floor or even lower.

Rats in general carry the following diseases: trichonosis,and the other diseases I mentioned in my paragraph on mice and disease. Rats find our sewers, trash cans, livestock buildings, silos, basements and our homes for a nice place to take refuge and raise their young. Mice and rats are nocturnal and can be living amongst us with out ever being noticed however, they leave feces and most house wives quickly pick up on rat problems in the first few days.

Eliminating Mice and Rats

Both of them chew and need to to keep their teeth sharp. The electrical wires in a home will quickly have the plastic cloating stripped off of them and the chances of elertical house fires increase. If you find lots of fresh droppings its a good sign you have either lots of mice or rats. The difference in feces will basically be their siz grain, mice about the size of rice and rats around 1/4 inch in size. If you  begin seeing rats during the daylight it is a good sign the population is large enough that the hungier rats or mice or foraging for food not found during their nocturnal hours.

You can ask a wildlife control professional with Anytime Animal Control, to inspect your home identify their entrances and make modifications to a property to correct their re-appearance. Over grown trees or shrubs that touch the house eaves are the most common occurance and need to become corrected. Most mature homes have mature tree and shrub growth and years of detioration to quickly allow them to gain entrance in your home.

Entrances will need to be closed with things that mice and rats don't chew through like concrete, galvanized sheet metal, hardward ware cloth, and copper wool. Things like steel wool rust quickly and spray foam can be quickly chewed and allow re-entry. Rats can jump nearly four feet horizontally from a tree onto your home and mice can jump about 18 inches all of them can gain entrance to holes smaller then 1/4 of an inch. All cover vents require to be inspected and if necessary rescreened to prevent re-entry. All of the home needs to be inspected, garage door seals, door jams, and every where water, gas, electic, or cable enter your home or business. Anything made of wood can be chewed away and give them re-entry.

Anytime Animal Control has trained professionals equipped and ready to handle all your rat and mice concerns. Give us a call ask for our inspection and ask us to trap them rats and mice ourt of your home. Call us now at 1-800-714-8727.