Are mice dangerous?
It’s mid-October and the cooler nights mean that mice might be trying to get into your business, office or home. Sentinel Pest Control (SPC) helps you learn about mice. Are they dangerous? Are there health risks to sharing your environment with mice?
Mice like rats are a problem when they get inside. They look for food and steal what they find, they chew wires, walls, and furniture. Mice are not the cute little innocent rodent that they appear. They are dirty, disease carrying troublemakers. Evicting them is important, the sooner the better.
If you have seen signs of mice around your business, you should contact Sentinel Pest Control right away. They can stop an infestation before it starts. SPC offers the best mouse control solution for your needs and gives advice on how to keep mice away.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), mice spread numerous diseases. Such diseases are spread to humans directly and indirectly. In addition to causing food poisoning, diseases they can transmit include: Rat-Bite Fever, murine typhus, leptospirosis, trichinosis, plague, and more. When in your walls or cupboards they urinate and defecate leaving not just a mess but also a number of known pathogens that can be very serious and lead to health problems. In fact, mice can actually carry as many as 200 human pathogens!
In addition to causing health concerns they also destroy product in manufacturing and warehouse facilities causing millions of dollars of damage to Canadian businesses each year. As well, they like chewing wire insulation. Exposed wiring can cause shorts and that can result in electrical fires behind walls and in attics.
Here are a few things you may not know about mice.
- Mice have big appetites. Although mice have tiny stomachs, they eat between 15 and 20 times a day. Therefore, they often build their homes near food sources.
- They are mini gymnasts. Mice are good jumpers, climbers and swimmers. In fact, mice can jump 30 cm into the air, they can easily climb onto kitchen counters or cupboards to find food. To prevent mice and other pests from getting into your food, use hard plastic containers with tightly sealed lids.
- Mice can squeeze through openings as small as the size of a dime. Therefore, small openings invite them into your home. Prevent mice from coming inside by sealing any openings on the outside with a silicone or caulk.
- They do not usually live long. In the wild, mice usually only last about five months, largely due to predators like cats, snakes, and foxes. In a lab or as a pet, mice can live for up to two years.
- Mice are not potty-trained. One house mouse produces between 40 and 100 droppings per day? They also pee constantly while they walk.
- One mouse can turn into an infestation fast! A female mouse can give birth when two months old, and they are able to have to up to a dozen babies every three weeks. This means she could have as many as 150 offspring in a single year!
Contact Sentinel Pest Control
If you spot a mouse in your home, it is safe to assume there are more or there will be soon. It’s best to contact SPC before the infestation grows out of control. Sentinel Pest Control are mouse control specialists, knowing all the place’s mice might hide. They understand the risks and can spot even the smallest signs of mice around your commercial property. They have the training and experience to know what species of mice you have and where they might be getting in. Empowering you with knowledge, your SPC technician can design an effective method of removing the mice and preventing them from returning. Act quickly if you start seeing mice or signs of them on your property. Contact Sentinel Pest Control who will inspect your property for free and assess the size of the problem.
We Can Help
Sentinel Pest Control invites you to learn about mice common to Kitchener-Waterloo. We can help with controlling the House Mouse and Deer Mice. Call (226) 989-5157
House Mouse
The house mouse a pointed snout, large rounded ears, and a long and hairy tail. House mice have an adult body length (nose to base of tail) of 7.5–10 cm (3.0–3.9 in) and a tail length of 5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in). The weight is typically 40–45 g (1.4–1.6 oz). House mice thrive under a variety of conditions; they are found in and around homes and commercial structures, as well as in open fields and agricultural lands. While wild populations do exist to some extent, the house mouse has benefited from cohabitation with humans resulting in much larger populations in urban areas then in the wild.
Deer Mouse
The deer mouse is small in size, only 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm) long, not including the tail. They have large beady eyes and large ears giving them excellent sight and hearing. Their fur can vary in color, but all deer mice have a distinguishable white underside and white feet. Deer mice are nocturnal creatures who spend the day time in areas such as trees or burrows where they have nests made of plant material.
