Rodents

Commensal rodents constitute a majority of the rodent problems in both commercial and residential properties. Commensal rodents consist of the Norway Rat, the Roof Rat, and the notorious House Mouse. The word "commensal " means these rodents live off man and return nothing of worth. The only possible category where  they could be considered beneficial would be as garbage removal, and that is stretching it even for devoted animal activists.

These rodents are not native to the United States, they came from Europe with early explorers and settlers.  Once they discovered the "New World" they, like the early settlers,  multiplied and infested the entire continent. 

RODENT FACTS:
All species of commensal rodents carry and spread various diseases. They include salmonellosis,  plague, leptospirosis,  hantaviriruses, and  rickettsial pox.
    Rodents are often infested with fleas which they often share with those with whom they live.
    Rodents consume  and contaminate significant numbers of the worlds food supply every year.
    Rodents cause extensive damage to properties by gnawing on wood and wiring, often causing fires.
    Rodents cause some people to jump on chairs and scream, often falling and braking bones.

Mice

There are species of native mice that occasionally invade houses, but the house mouse (mus musculus) are the prominent species that invade houses and businesses.

The House Mouse is found throughout the United States. They are omnivores, feeding on cereal grains, seeds, fruits, vegetables, and meats. Seed is the preferred food. They eat at multiple sites eating small amounts at each site. (20-30 sites per day) Daily consumption is about 1/10 of an ounce leaving the balance contaminated.

Mice can be found in cultivated fields, woods, below ground, or on the top floor of the Empire State building. They are excellent climbers and are inquisitive. They explore their home turf daily and inspect any new object.

Mice are prolific breeders and under ideal conditions will breed year round. The female will have an average of eight litters per season with an average of six pups per litter. At five weeks old, the pups are capable of mating. It is not unusual for a female to be lactating her young and pregnant with a new litter.

Recently there have been numerous outbreaks of Hantavirus in the United States carried and spread by the house mouse. The virus is contacted by humans through inhalation of dust in contaminated rodent areas, usually where droppings and contaminated food tend to collect. If you have or have had a mouse infestation, always wear a respirator when cleaning the area.  Symptoms of Hantavirus are similar to the flu including fever of 101 +, chills, body ache, and troubled breathing.  It can be fatal, so if suspected see your doctor.

The House Mouse: Some interesting facts
-Mice are excellent climbers and can run up most any roughened surface without breaking stride.
-Mice can swim, and apparently hold their breath. Many have been reported being flushed only to reappear minutes later wet and hungry.
-Mice Do not have bladders. They will relieve themselves at will anywhere.
-Mice can jump a vertical distance of 12 inches.
-Mice can reproduce all year round. They can become impregnated while nursing and have a new litter every forty-fifty days or so. Usually six young per litter.
-In six months a pair of mice can devour up to four pounds of food and produce 18,000 fecal droppings.
-Mice can live up to 18 months, but usually average one year.
-Mice can enter a structure from a hole as small as 1/4 inch in diameter.
-Mice are disease carriers, and can transmit diseases by biting, infecting food with their droppings, infecting food with urine, indirectly by fleas, indirectly by dying in a water supply, or indirectly via the dog or cat. Diseases include: Salmonella bacteria, tape worms, Favus (which causes bald spots), Rickettsial pox (rash, mild fever, and enlarged lymph nodes), Black Plague (from fleas recently reported in Colorado in Prairie Dogs), and Hantavirsus (Flu like symptoms that can be fatal. Cases recently reported in Sacramento and Houston.)

For more on rodents go to Rats & Rodent Control. For Rodent Control Products, click here.