Mice may seem small and harmless, but they can do a whole lot of damage to your home. They sneak into your homes for the warmth and the food. They have their babies and before you know it, you have a full-blown infestation.
They do not stop at your furniture and appliances. Instead, they take the liberty of eating up your food as well. It’s exactly like having a new roommate who uses stuff, eats your food, and drinks the milk from the carton. The difference is that these rodents have no reason to be there and that they contaminate the food. They bring in another set of problems with them. These include lice and diseases you do not want in your home.
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Signs You May Have Mice in Your Home
Mice can easily grow in numbers, but they can just as easily stay hidden for a long time. Some common signs that you need to look out for are scratching sounds and a weird smell. If you wake up in the morning and find soap has what looks like scratch marks, that is a definite sign you need to pick up on. Those are actually not scratch marks, but the mouse or even a rat has been gnawing at the surface. You will also begin to notice scratch or bite marks anywhere. Other signs include droppings, grease marks, urine pillars.
Mice are nocturnal animals. So, it is possible that you may not see a mouse until they have spread throughout your house. These small rodents have the habit of constantly gnawing, which can cause great damage to your property. The items they damage may include furnishings and equipment. If they find a way to get in, mice can have their litter inside your washing machine, and before you know it, they will be gnawing at the wires inside, and you may have a hefty repair bill on your hands.
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How Often Do Mice Reproduce?
Mice are breeding machines. They have a gestating period of 19 to 21 days. A female mouse gets pregnant about 5 to 10 times each year and can give birth to a litter of 3 to 14 pups. On average, the litter size ranges from 6 to 8 pups. On average, you are looking at least 32 to 56 pups each year from one female mouse.
The mice reproduce each year, and the mother can mate immediately after giving birth. So you could be looking at a new litter within 25 days. To make matters even more complicated, the female baby mouse is capable of reproduction at 6 weeks. So, they can start producing pups of their own and have about 10 litters of their own per year.
In a theoretical situation, two mice that sneak into your home could give birth to 60 in a year. Of these new mice, about 21 to 30 are female mice capable of having their babies within a month, which can theoretically lead to 5,082 mice in just one year. One mathematician calculated it to be 5 million mice per year, that is if it were a perfect world for mice.
How Long Do Mice Live?
The average lifespan of a mouse is about 12 months in the outdoors. But when they take refuge in your house, they can live up to 2 or even 3 years. You may be thinking that you can wait for the mouse to die on its own but what about its babies and the babies of their babies? The rate at which these breeding machines multiply is almost unbelievable. In the wild, they are an important part of the food chain. Many large birds feed on them to sustain their existence, just like mice feed on insects to sustain theirs. In a way, they are maintaining balance, but inside your home, they are only bringing disease and destruction so if you are in the Houston area and need our services make sure tocontact us online or give us a call today.
What to Do If You Suspect a Mouse Infestation
If you see the initial signs of an infestation and are not sure what it is, do not leave it to chance. Schedule a rodent inspection from the experts at Preventive Pest Control immediately. Our team has the proper training and experience to find the signs and suggest the right course of action for you. Remember, these mice usually come in through small holes and cracks.If you have a problem with mice and want to take care of the issue before it gets out of hand, contact Preventive Pest Control immediately.
Give us a call at (713) 955-7405 or fill out our online contact form to request service anywhere in the Houston area.