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Mice Infestation
Your home or business could be the ideal location to provide food and shelter for the common House mouse.
Once inside your property, mice prefer to keep hidden during the day. Identifying a potential mouse infestation through the signs of activity they leave behind is often a lot easier than trying to spot an actual mouse.
Getting professional treatment at the earliest sign of a mouse problem can greatly help to reduce the length of time needed to effectively control an infestation.
Contact Rentokil today for a free quote on targeted rodent control, using the latest technologies and innovation.
Signs of Mice Activity
Finding typical signs of mice, such as mouse droppings, could indicate an active infestation in your home or business.
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- Mouse Droppings: mice leave 50-80 droppings a night, which are small and dark (approx. 3 - 8 mm in length) and scattered randomly. Look for droppings particularly along walls, in cupboards or under sinks. Not only are mouse droppings unsightly to come across, but this is one way in which mice can spread diseases.
- Grease marks (smudges or smears): these are caused by mouse fur constantly brushing against walls, floors and skirting on regular routes. You may find dark smears around holes or around corners.
- Urine and urine pillars: mice urinate everywhere they go to keep track of the places they’ve been and as a way of leaving messages behind for other mice. In established or heavy infestations, body grease, combined with dirt and urine, builds up into small mounds, up to 4cm high and 1cm wide.
- Scratching noises: people often report hearing unusual scratching noises at night when mice are most active. Listen for noises between partition walls, under floorboards, in false ceilings, basements and lofts.
- Nests: mice use easy to shred materials, such as newspaper and fabrics, together with other soft materials to line their nest. Check lofts, suspended ceilings, cavity walls, under floorboards and behind fridges, under stoves and in airing cupboards. Nests will often contain young mice.
- Tracks (footprints): rodent tracks and tail marks can show up in dusty environments such as unused lofts and basements. To check for activity, sprinkle flour, talcum powder or china clay and check for fresh tracks the next day.
- Live or dead mice: spotting a mouse during the daytime can be an indication of a heavy mouse infestation.
- Strong smell: mice urinate frequently and their urine has a strong ammonia-like smell. The smell may be very strong near the main site of activity or in enclosed spaces. This smell can linger for a long time (even after an mouse infestation has been removed).
How mice get into your home or office
There are various ways in which a mouse can enter your home or business. Mice are agile and are capable of running and jumping at great lengths, as well as climbing almost any surface. Below are the most common ways that mice gain entry indoors:
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- Pipes and cable paths: If mice can’t fit through a hole, their sharp and strong teeth will equip them with the means to gnaw at a preferred point, until they are able to squeeze through (they can even gnaw through some metals!) Because many buildings and complexes are adjacent to each other, mice can easily travel between cables, telephone lines, ceilings, floors etc. Mice are also excellent swimmers, so they can also gain entry through drain pipes.
- Food pallets: Mice will inhabit areas where food and shelter is abundant, and for them, a food production plant is paradise! Once food gets transported and distributed, mice easily hitch a ride and arrive at the destination along with the food parcels.
- Via roofs: Since house mice can easily scale walls of 2m, this means that they can easily climb roofs and enter your premises.
- Via holes or gaps: Mice can enter through gaps in the basement, through unsealed holes around old or new pipe work, structural weaknesses such as damaged flooring and also through air vents.
The danger of mice on your property
Mice spread diseases
Mouse droppings and urine trails are one of the main causes of rodent-borne diseases. These harmful pathogens could be contracted via touch or sometimes they mix with dust, which if disturbed can be inhaled.
A number of different diseases can be contracted from mouse droppings and urine, such as the hantavirus. The hantavirus infects rodents, they become carriers of the disease and infect people via their droppings, saliva and urine. Other common viruses spread by mice are E. Coli, Lyme disease, Murine Typhus, Rickettsial Pox and Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis.
Mice cause damage
Because a mouse’s incisors continuously growing, they need to constantly gnaw on objects to wear them down. As mentioned earlier, mice also gnaw at specific points to gain entry to nesting areas or areas that contain food (which can be anything from wooden areas such as door frames or skirting boards to drain pipes and indoor plumbing!).
Mice also chew on wires and cables, leaving the rubber casing open, which can lead to short circuiting and fires; and even nibble at the wiring of your car, and this can lead to big financial burdens.
Worried About Mice In Your Home or Business?
You can take some practical steps now to deter mice in the first place and prevent a mouse infestation.
For an existing problem right now, you can rely on Rentokil to get rid of mice safely and effectively.
With 50 years of local experience in controlling mice, our certified technicians are local to you and can provide a fast and effective solution to your mouse problem.
Have you spotted any of the above signs such as mouse droppings? Please call us on +27875502498 for an effective solution to a mice infestation in your home or business.
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