Rats & Mice are rodents that like the same kind of food as people. They invade our homes and contaminate our food, chew electrical wires, shred paper and ruin fabric. Paper and fabric are used as nesting materials. They also transmit diseases such as typhus and bubonic plague. Mice & rats cause salmonella food poisoning and some mice (deer mice) carry the Hantavirus, which is responsible for some human deaths. Always take precautions when removing rodent droppings and urine.
Mice Facts:
- Mice are capable of being transported for long periods of time in closed containers, such as boxes, barrels or crates.
- Many fires of "unknown cause" may have been caused by mice chewing through electrical wiring.
- In six months one pair of mice can eat about four pounds of food and produce some 18,000 fecal droppings.
- Mice are not blind but have bad vision and cannot see clearly beyond about six inches.
- They are excellent climbers and can run up almost any roughened wall without breaking stride.
- They can swim but prefer not to. More than once, a live mouse has been flushed down a toilet and has resurfaced a minute later.
- They can jump a vertical distance of 12 inches from the floor onto an elevated flat surface.
- They can jump a height of eight feet to the floor without injury.
- They can run horizontally along pipes, wires and ropes.
Rat Facts:
- Rats memorize specific pathways and use the same routes habitually.
- Rats can get in your home through an opening about the size of a quarter.
- Rats damage structures, chew wiring and can cause electrical fires.
- Rats eat and urinate on human and animal food and carry many diseases.
- Thousands of rat bites are reported each year in the U.S. alone and many are suspected to go unreported.
- Accidental poisonings occur among humans and pets from poorly planned efforts to poison rats.
- Rats rely predominately on smell, taste, touch, and hearing as opposed to vision. They move around mainly in the dark using their long sensitive whiskers and the guard hairs on their body to guide them.
- Rats are cautious,and if their food is in an exposed area where it cannot be consumed quickly, they usually carry or drag it to a hiding place.
- Rats have an excellent sense of taste, enabling them to detect certain compounds including rat poisons, at extremely low concentrations very quickly.
- Rats are omnivorous, eating nearly any type of food, including dead and dying members of their own species.
More than 20 rodent species are native to the United States, however, only 3 are pests and should be controlled. These are the House Mouse, the Norway Rat and the Roof Rat.
The House Mouse (mus musculus): A cute tiny rodent that weighs less than 30 g (1 ounce), with a light grey to dark brown body that is less than 10 cm (4 inches) long, not including the hairless tail. Their undersides are lighter. They have a pointed nose and large ears. The House Mouse usually moves indoors when outside temperatures drop or they find a source of food. They nest in dark, covered areas using fabric, paper etc. Females produce 6 to 10 litters per year, with an average of 6 to 8 young that live about 1 year. They eat small amounts of anything but prefer grains and seeds and they don't need water. Their droppings are dark brown pellets about 6 mm (¼ inch) long.
The Norway Rat (rattus norvegicus): Also known as the sewer rat or the brown rat. Their heavy, thick body can grow to be 20 to 25 cm (10 inches) long with a tail that is a little shorter. They can weigh 500 g (1 lb), have a rounded nose and small ears. They prefer wet conditions and make their nests at ground level, in crawl spaces and burrows in the ground.
The Roof Rat (rattus rattus): Also known as the black rat or the ship rat. They are smaller than the Norway rat with slender bodies that are 15 to 20 cm long with a tail that is longer. White or grey bellied, they have a pointed nose and large ears. They nest in trees, attics and walls.
These two species of rats have 4 to 7 litters per year of 6 to 12 young each. They eat a lot and need water to drink. Their droppings are dark oval pellets, 15 to 20 mm (½ to ¾ inch) long.
