Know Your Enemy
Accurate identification of pests is as important as choosing the best preventive pest management available on the market today. Preventive Pest Control has compiled a list of most common pests to help you identify the problem.
House Mouse
(Mus musculus)
Characteristics
The house mouse is a small, long, and thin rodent that has large ears and black eyes. Their body can range to 5 to 7 inches long while their tail can be as long as 4 inches. They have small feet and small pointed head. These mice have poor eyesight and are color blind. They rely more on their senses, such as their sense of smell, touch, taste and sound to move around and find food.
Habitat
House mice can live almost anywhere. But, they prefer to live close to humans because of the availability of food. These pests can be seen around homes, commercial establishments, office buildings, and the likes and will set up their forage near their food sources.
Behavior
Just like any other type of rodents, the house mouse like to gnaw. They are great climbers and are fast runners. They can fit through doors and through holes the size of a dime easily.
They are nocturnal rodents and can be seen running around for food during night time. While they like to run around in search for food, they do not like to travel far from their shelter. they will commonly travel an average of 10 to 30 diameters away from their home, which is why they create harborage that is near their food and water. They can easily remember pathways and obstacles from their home to their food.
Food
The house mouse likes to try new food, but they prefer seeds and grains if they are available. They are great nibblers because they like to try new kinds of items that they can find in their habitat. They can also eat food such as chocolate, butter, bacon, and more. Since this pest loves to nibble and try out different foods, they easily destroy and contaminate more food that they can actually consume. They can live with less water since they get their water from the food that they eat.
Life Cycle
Sexual maturity for the house mouse happens after 5 to 8 weeks from birth. Their gestation only last for 19 days. After which, they will have a litter of about 4 to 7 pups. They can produce 5 to 8 litters per year, which can result to an infestation if they are left unchecked.
The young mice are born naked and blind and will need their mother for milk. After ten days, they will have their fur and will be able to see. On their fifth week, they are already mature and can have their own pups of their own.
Other Information and Tips
House mice are considered pests because of their ability to contaminate food meant for human consumption. They are also known to cause property damage and are capable to transmit different diseases.
To effectively control house mice, it is important to properly sanitize the home against them, and seal any possible entry points that could lead them to go inside. Also, the use of baits and traps are effective to eliminate their presence.
Photo: Mus Musculus by Davide, used under CC BY-SA 2.0 / resized from original