House Mouse

The house mouse can squeeze through an opening the size of a dime.

Identification

• Mice are light to dark gray in color

• Weighs to 1 ounce or less

• Small, slender rodent with droppings that are rod shaped and inch in size or less

Environment

• The house mouse lives in and around homes, farms, and commercial establishments

• Generally maintain a territory 10 to 30 feet in size

• Move into structures in search of shelter and food each fall when temperatures start dropping

• Prefer foods high in fat, protein, or sugar

• Can subsist without a free water supply they obtain water from the foods they eat

Threats

• Teeth grow continuously

• Gnaw on many surfaces to wear them down can cause extensive damage
  Contamination

Treatment

• Difficult problems generally calls for the use of snap traps or glueboards
  Use traps in large numbers wherever you find droppings, food sources, and signs of gnawing

• Mouse traps should be placed perpendicular and close to the wall, behind furniture, and behind or to the side of large appliances

• A line or concentration of droppings is usually an indication of a rodent runway; mice repeatedly travel back and forth across the area, and this runway is an excellent location to place traps

• Look for openings in the wall behind stoves and under dishwashers or adjacent cabinets, these are frequently entrance points for rodents; traps placed to either side of the opening can give quick results

• Drop ceilings are also a very common area for rodent runways; In a drop ceiling, mice will travel along under ducts and near electrical lines as well as the walls

• Exclusion work on the exterior should be done with copper or steel wool, foam, and small wire mesh

• Can squeeze through an opening the size of a dime, so entrance points should be sealed thoroughly

• Proper weather stripping and exterior doors that close tightly will reduce both insect and rodent problems