Despite their tiny stature, mice will eat 15-20 times a day, resulting in 40-100 droppings per day, which alone can make anyone disgusted finding their tiny pellets around their food supply. Mice are extraordinary climbers, jumpers, and swimmers. Mice can live for two years domestically, but in the wild, most mice average about five months as they are prey animals to snakes, foxes, cats and so on. Mice are more likely to invade homes from October through February to escape the cold weather and to find food and water that is scarcer in the winter months. However, mice can invade homes any time of year. Where some may argue that mice look cute and cuddly, wild mice are can carry as many as 200 human pathogens. By two months of age, females are capable of reproducing and can produce litters 6-10 times a year. If you have mice in your home or business, having a professional from Animal Pest Management is essential. Today we at Animal Pest Management would like to discuss the mice in Southern California, which include the most common; house mice and deer mice.
House Mice Diseases & Damage
House mice are second only to humans as the most populous mammal in urban areas. Mice are not only disease riddled pests that can transmit viruses, diseases, and bacteria, but they can destroy structures, utility lines, personal possessions, insulation, and contaminate your food supply. House mice are among the most common pest in most areas of the world and can multiply quickly; house mice females can have up to 150 babies a year. House mice are very adaptable to their environment, but they prefer the luxuries and safety of indoor living in structures. Not only will they transmit the various pathogens and destroy your home, their urine can trigger allergies, especially in children as their immune systems are still developing. Through bite wounds and contaminating the food and water with their waste is typically how the pathogens are transmitted to people. Additionally, mice are hosts for fleas, ticks, and mites, spreading the diseases and viruses they carry as well.
House Mouse Identification
House mice range in color from light brown to black and average about two inches long. Their diet mostly consists of plants, but they will meat and dairy products when available. Though they drink water, they actually require little of it. To acquire nutrients produced by bacteria in their guts, they will eat their own droppings.
Deer Mice Habitat
Because their fur resembles deer fur, these mice are so named deer mice. They tend to stick to the open grasslands, brushy country, cliffs, forests, pasturelands, and croplands but will venture into structures for food, water and to escape extreme weather or predators. Should they find their way inside buildings, they tend to dwell in undisturbed places, such as attic spaces or behind walls.
Deer Mice Identification
These mice will 5-8 inches long (including their tail) and range from brown to dark brown in color. Their diet mostly consists of seeds, small fruits, berries, beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, and fungus under the ground; they do favor insects whenever they can be found. Preferring the outdoors, deer mice will burrow in hollow tree logs or even in piles of garbage. Deer mice are nocturnal but if their need is great can be active during the day.
What Diseases Do Deer Mouse Droppings Carry?
Like house mice, deer mice have carry dangerous pathogens in addition to the destruction they can cause, but they particularly are a threat as they can potentially spread Hantavirus, which can be fatal. It is spread by breathing the fumes released in their urine and touching infected mice.
Rodent Inspections, Control, Removal & More in San Bernardino, Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside & San Diego Counties, California
Preventative maintenance includes avoiding leaving any food out, keeping food packaged in paper, flimsy plastic, and cardboard stored in pest-approved sealed containers. Take out the garbage frequently and ensure both indoor and outdoor trash bins are cleaned with warm soapy water periodically and pest-proof lids are kept tightly closed. Ensure weather stripping is installed and in good condition, patch up any cracks or holes in the structure as mice only need a space about the size of a dime to squeeze through. Should you see or suspect mice have intruded into your Southern California home, call Animal Pest Control today and let our specialists eliminate the rodent infestation.
