Do you feel frustrated with mice? Mice scurrying around your kitchen, making squeaking sounds, leaving poop around, and chewing boxes and cardboard make you berzerk? If you are, it might be of comfort to you to know that you are not alone in feeling this way. Every year, mice invade an estimated 21 million homes in the United States alone.
Admittedly, mice are cute and are even portrayed as heroes in so many books and movies. In real life, however, mice are not just a nuisance but are disease carriers as well. They also cause lots of damage to property and a big hole in your wallet.
Mice are attracted to the home because of three main reasons: to look for food, water, and shelter. Mice seem to know that where there are humans, there are food supplies, plenty of them! Houses can provide water, which they also need to survive. And of course, houses are warm and safe; their natural enemies are not there. They feel safe around humans because they think that they can outsmart them.
Once mice get inside a house, they will look for the darkest corners like air ducts, crawl spaces, and wall cavities. They can go up the walls and onto the ceilings, in their quest for food and the perfect area to nest. In this article, Go-Forth Home Services, the pest control company that has been helping you get rid of mice since 1959, is on a quest to rid every home in the Triangle area of these troublesome pests. Read on to find out more about it.
Overview of Mice
House mice are among the most common household pests—and are probably the most common mammals—in the United States.
Mice are small rodents that have their characteristic long snouts and scaly tails that are as long as their bodies. They have rounded ears and eyes, and a high breeding rate. Though some are being sold as pets, mice are known as pests more than anything else. Sometimes they are bought as food for other unusual pets like snakes. Mice are also common laboratory animals in that scientists experiment on during their research studies for biology and psychology. This is because mice have a similarly high degree of homology.
Mice are largely herbivores, meaning they consume mostly fruits, vegetables, or grains from plants. However, mice are highly adaptable, and in places near human dwellings, they consume almost all types of food. And it is not true that cheese is their favorite food, they will eat it only if there are no other choices. Mice eat between 15 to 20 times a day.
Mice are very athletic and have very flexible bodies. They can jump up to a foot in the air. That is why they can easily jump onto kitchen counters and dining tables to get food. And because their bodies are so flexible, they can squeeze through a hole the size of a nickel.
The two activities mice love to do are eating and breeding. Mice are sexually active by the time they get to five months old. They will give birth to new offspring every three weeks, producing from five to twelve offspring each time. This is why even if mice have plenty of natural enemies, their species remain extremely successful.
Since mice love to eat, they leave plenty of droppings behind. They leave behind 40 to 100 droppings each day. They also give off micro-droplets of urine in the air. Their droppings and urine can contaminate our food and water and can make us sick.
Social Life
Mice are very sociable creatures. They live together in a single nest where they sleep, eat, and play together. Scientists have observed dozens of facial expressions from mice. They exhibit a wide variety of emotions. They laugh when they play, and they get sad when they are alone. When one of them dies, they mourn for the loss.
Mice as Pests
Mice are more than just a mere nuisance that you can just brush off. There should be no tolerance for mice because of the damage they can cause.
Mice are transmitters of deadly diseases. Some of the diseases they are known to transmit include but are not limited to, leptospirosis, salmonella, and rat-bite fever. These diseases can be fatal if not treated immediately.
Mice have incisors that are constantly growing, and because of that, they need to constantly chew on anything to prevent it from growing. They will chew on boxes, cardboard, papers, furniture, and walls. They will even chew on gas pipes and electric cables, making them a fire hazard.
Business owners will get in big trouble if they are not careful, especially those in the restaurant and food manufacturing businesses. In today’s world where social media rules, a customer who discovers a mouse in a restaurant can easily take pictures of it and then instantly post them on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Soon, there will be uncontrollable damage to the business involved. People would talk negatively about it and would stop buying from them.
Having a mouse can also be a cause for closure by the city government. This stresses the fact that mice infestation can be dangerous and that all efforts must be made to prevent an infestation from happening.
Signs That You Have Mice at Home
Mice are nocturnal creatures, so you probably would not be able to see them during the day. They go out of their nests to forage for food at night. Their eyes are suitable for darkness and they cannot see well during the day. This is why we will have to rely on the clues that they leave behind.
Here are some of the signs that you have mice:
- Droppings - Mice eat a lot, so they leave their droppings a lot. Their droppings look like little brown pellets. If you see their droppings, it is time to act.
- Holes in food bags or cartons - Mice can detect food inside food bags or cartoons. If you see unusual holes in the packages, throw them away. Mice might have gotten to them first.
- Grease marks on the walls - Mice are not comfortable crawling out in the open. To travel between their nests and to their food source, they crawl next to walls. Over time, they leave marks on their greasy bodies.
- Food particles and candy wrappers are scattered in out-of-the-way areas.
- Gnaw marks on boxes, cardboard, packages, papers, gas pipes, and electric cables.
- Nests inside your home. Mice are always active inside homes. They will always chew out clothing fabric and cardboard as a material for their nests. They build nests in dark areas of the house, like inside cabinets, under furniture, or inside closets. You will find plenty of mice droppings near their nests.
- Scratching sounds inside walls.
What to Do When Mice Are Inside Walls
Because of their size and flexibility, mice can squeeze through holes that are the size of a nickel on the walls. While it would be nice to get rid of them using DIY methods, the best thing to do would be to call the professionals.
Once you call a professional pest control company, here is what they would do:
- Technicians would inspect all areas of your home to determine how mice were able to enter.
- After the inspection, they would formulate strategies on how to get rid of these pests. They should be able to work with you regarding this.
- After the procedure, the pros will seal all entry points to keep them out for good.
Mice Control
Once they are out, then the next step would be to keep them away through these preventive measures:
- Place your food inside sealed containers.
- Fix leaky pipes and faucets.
- Place a cover on your trash cans. Regularly dispose of your garbage properly.
- If you love animals, then you may consider getting a cat. Cats are good hunters of mice and can scare them away.
- Remove clutter like old boxes, piles of paper, and old cardboard. This will reduce the places they can hide.
- Wipe off drink spills and food debris.
If you have these unwanted pests in your home, be sure to contact the best mice control management in the Triad area, Go-Forth Home Services.
Go-Forth Home Services Is Simply the Best!
When the terrible mice are on the attack, protect yourself and your family by calling the best pest control company that is well-equipped to handle even the toughest of all pests. Go-Forth Home Services is a family-owned company that has been in operation since 1959.
We have expert licensed technicians with excellent experience in handling all types of pests, including roaches, mosquitoes, flies, bed bugs, poisonous spiders, rats, and weevils.
Go-Forth Home Services is accredited by the National Pest Management Association, which is an assurance that what you are getting is of excellent quality.