Why would you not want rodents such as mice and rats in your home?They carry diseases. Plague, trichinosis, murine typhus, salmonella's, handovers, rat bite fever and dysentery. They do structural damage. Roof rats will gnaw on plastic, lead and wood. They also contaminate our food. Rodents consume or contaminate enough food to feed 200 million people each year.
Rodents have poor vision but learn to recognize shapes. Their touch and smell are very acute and there hearing is very good. They have a good sense of taste and very good physical abilities.
Mice are very fast and can move at about 12 feet per second and can jump up to 2 feet. They are also excellent climbers. Rodents can climb up pipes, wires and ropes. Mice can jump a foot straight up and fall 8 feet without getting hurt. Mice can also survive and thrive at 14 degrees Fahrenheit.
Rats are not very good runners but are very good climbers. Rats can climb a 1 ½ inch pipe, jump and can fall 200 feet without being hurt. Both rats and mice are very capable swimmers. The house mouse has a feeding range of about 10 to 30 feet and eats 1/10 oz per day - 20 to 30 times per night. They are very curious creatures and will explore
new objects. Mice can obtain water from their food supply.
Mice reach their sexual maturity in 6 weeks and their gestation period is 19 days. They average 5-6 per litter.
Some differences between the Norway rat and roof rat.
The Norway rat has a hairy thick body and small eyes. The ears are small and nose blunt. They Norway rat lives in colonies and prefer to burrow. They eat about 10 oz of food daily. They are neo phobic - will stay away from new objects for up to two weeks.
The roof rat has a light slender body and large eyes. Their ears are large and they prefer to climb. They like fruits, nuts and vegetables.
Traps for mice should be set about 10 feet apart and for rats about 20 feet apart. Snap traps work best with rats. Glue boards are not very effective for rats but may work on mice. Remember, rats are neo phobic. It can take up to two weeks for a rat to enter trap. If you use a bait it can also take two weeks for a rat to take a bait and up to 4 to 8 days for the rat to die with a multi-dose bait.
The author of this article has been in the pest control industry for 14 years and has treated many homes for rats and mice and other insect pests. Visit his website, subscribe to his newsletter and receive a free insect identification guide.
Infobreaks Solutions
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