The House Mouse
Face it. If they didn’t eat your food, spread disease and gnaw away at the foundation of your house, the Mus musculus would be pretty cute. The thing is, unless you catch one scurrying across the floor, you may never know that these critters are slowly destroying your way-of-life.
If you see any droppings or find a bag of flour has been chewed into, you have a problem. You might smell something musky or come across an area where there’s a tuft of shredded stuff. That’s a sign of an infestation.
Just to let you know what you’re seeking, a house mouse is brown or gray with Dumbo-like big ears and beady-little eyes. They’re between 5-to-8 inches long from nose to tip of their tail.
How about some suggestions as to how to be proactive when it comes to house mice:
• If you have a pet, put away any of their food that hasn’t been eaten.
• Fruit trees in the yard? Bag and dispose of any fruit that’s dropped from the trees.
• All food stuffs like bird seed, pet food, etc. should be put in a thick plastic or metal container.
• Do an inspection inside and outside your house. Look for holes, large cracks and the like. When you find any openings, plug them.
• Grass seed should be in sealed containers.
• Make sure that the area where you store your trash cans is off-the-ground. Get a platform that’s at least a foot-high.
If any of the receptacles have holes in them, replace.
When you realize that these vermin can give birth to up-to 60 babies a year, failure to nip this problem quickly will lead to an overwhelming population of the house mouse. They only live for about a year, but their rate of replacement replenishes the colony exponentially.
Assuming that you have a problem, take a look at how you might be able to cut back on the city of house mice that’s bubbling in-between your walls. We’re going to use the old fashioned wooden traps that you can purchase virtually anywhere.
Purchase a couple of traps for every room. If you have pets, you’ll want to bait the traps where the wanted animals can’t reach them. Use nuts, chocolate or the ever-popular cheese as a lure. Place the snap traps with the baited trigger-end right up against the wall. Placing it there is in the traffic flow for the critters; they run against the wall.
Also, set your traps under large appliances, furniture, sinks and in closets.
Once you’ve captured a dead mouse, don some plastic or rubber gloves. Pluck it from the trap, put it in a plastic bag and toss it outside in the garbage can.
You can always reuse an old trap. Just make sure that whenever you handle one, you totally disinfect your hands. Wash them first with the gloves on. Then remove the gloves and wash them again.
If you have a super-infestation, call us! Our technicians are committed to providing our customers with the most effective pest control services in Birmingham to help protect your home and health.