MICE=Filthy Germ Spreaders
Spring is here and the mice are busy looking for places to raise their families. Mice have bothered homeowners for centuries. They leave feces and urine everywhere, carry diseases and chew holes in things like electrical wires and insulation.
Mice make eating their favorite past time. They eat 15-20 times per day. They are omnivorous, which means that they eat both meats and plants. Mice actually prefer fruit, grains and seeds but the common house mouse in fact will eat just about anything they can find. Mice have a travel range of up to 30 feet and prefer to build nests in the warmest parts of a structure such as areas near furnaces and hot water heaters.
People tend to hear mice busily scratching and rummaging in the middle of the night because they are nocturnal creatures. If your home is infested with mice you will probably find chewed up paper, insulation and books around the house. This is what they are building their nests with. Nesting means one thing-babies are on the way. Baby mice can become pregnant by the time they are 4-6 weeks old. Female mice can give birth to up to 10 litters of 5-6 mice in just one year. If you see one mouse in your home, there are probably lots more living in the surrounding area, including wall voids, attics, garages, crawl spaces and along the exterior of the perimeter.
Once nightfall happens, mice get busy running across your counters, invading your cupboards, and rummaging through your food. Mice easily get into spaces you thought were safe because they can compress themselves to get through tiny holes the size of a pencil.
Mice carry bacteria like salmonella, parasites like fleas, diseases and viruses, all of which are easily transmitted to humans. Salmonella can be viable on mouse feces for up to 86 days. Deer mice carry the deadly disease Hantavirus.
Effective control of mice requires, modifying the habitat, cleaning and exclusion. Mice like shelter so make sure you maintain trees, flowers and vegetation around the home. Keep them trimmed so they are away from the foundation of the house. By not trimming them, mice will have access to the upper levels of your home. Eliminate the food sources that are attractive to mice. Store garbage in trash cans with lids, keep bird seed and other animal food in sealed containers and don’t leave pet food out when your pets aren’t eating. Mouse resistant construction is also a key element in control. Mice compress themselves so gaps that are larger than 3/16 of an inch are a viable entry point and will need to be filled.
When mice have established themselves in your home, some form of reduction in population will generally become necessary. This will include trapping and/or toxicants.
Mice are filthy germ spreading rodents that carry disease, reduce the insulation value in a home and chew electrical wiring that can lead to electrical fires. If this isn’t enough to convince you that control and prevention should be a priority, just remember that mice are urinating and dropping feces the entire time they are traveling.
Call Xtreme Weed & Pest Solutions and we will help you with all of your rodent control so those nasty mice don't make your home their home.
