In the world we live in there’s always a pecking order. Unfortunately there are always some individuals finding themselves at the bottom of that pecking order. In the animal kingdom, we find that rodents are often at the bottom of the food chain. Specifically mice are a food source for almost every predator on the planet. So mice need to figure out a way to protect themselves from predators. Often the best way to do this is to find shelter. So how do mice find their way into your house? In most cases, they’ll find small cracks and crevices in the foundation and walls in order to enter your home. Let’s take a look at mice in detail.
MICE AND SMALL SPACES
Mice have a unique ability to squeeze their body down into a very small space. They can squeeze in the spaces as tiny as the size of a dime. Essentially if they can get their head through a hole, then their body can be worked through. They do this by having a very flexible rib cage and skeleton. This also gives them the ability to jump quite high, fall from large distances and be somewhat resilient to bone breakage from falls or attacks. This is a definite advantage for the mouse. Your Broken Arrow exterminator will have more information.
In addition to being able to find small spaces to be able to get into, mice reproduce very rapidly. This helps to keep the species alive by bolstering their numbers. In essence they rely upon predators to keep their numbers under control. But no matter how many mice predators eat, they’re constantly re-filling and replenishing their populations. In any case, homeowners and business owners will try to use traps in order to keep mice at bay. This can be very ineffective because if you see one mouse there’s probably 20 more hidden in the wall or the attic or some other place. Killing one mouse doesn’t do anything when it comes to limiting their numbers.
MICE AND THEIR YOUNG
Mice, like many mammals carry their young. They take about one month to go from mating to birth. And just after to birth, the female can actually become pregnant a second time right after the they birth their first litter. By doing this a female mouse can stay pregnant for long periods of time producing many generations of rodents. The litters are large as well. They can have as many as 12 baby mice at one time. That means that mice can have 10 to 12 litters every year totalling over a hundred mice. You do the math and that’s a lot of mice very quickly.
Mice love to build her nest hidden away and with soft materials. In the wild, they’ll use leaves or dirt or anything that they can find to create a nest out of. Often we find rodents nesting in attics and amongst the fluffy insulation up there. Especially in the winter months, this can be very warm even though the outside is so cold. Your Broken Arrow pest control company can help with mice in the attic.
GETTING IN
Mice often find their way into the attics starting by getting into the garage. It’s impossible to fully seal a large garage door, and mice find their way in through that big garage door. Once they’re inside the garage, they can usually get to the hot water heater which is often in a small room in the garage and work their way through the hole in the ceiling to the attic. Hot water heaters especially gas ones will often have piping that goes up through the ceiling into the attic space. Also many times attics have vents on the outside of the building. This it can also be an entry point for rodents to get into these spaces.
Mice do not see very well. Their vision is weak at best. But what rodents do well is they can smell very well and they can feel very well. Their sense of smell gives them the ability to find food and detect danger. They will often use their sense of feeling for direction. Their whiskers can detect all sorts of things around them. When they run they usually run along the wall because they can feel the wall with their whiskers. These rodents are also very fast especially for their size. If you’ve ever seen a mouse in your house you know that they can get across the room very quickly.
CATS AND OTHER PREDATORS
Many people believe that if you have a mouse then maybe you should get a cat in order to stop the mice. While cats are very good at catching mice, they usually do not catch enough of them to stop an infestation. Often cats are already being fed by their owners store-bought food. So cats don’t have a necessity to hunt and kill rodents. They may find one and play with it for a little while and eventually kill it, but this is not their primary food source and therefore not a priority for cats.
Dogs also will often follow mice around and try to catch them. Certain dogs and dog breeds are very good at catching rodents. But again, since these animals are fed by us they don’t have a need to catch very many mice and usually can’t catch enough to be able to illuminate a mouse infestation in your home or business. Call a reputable Tulsa exterminator for help.
DEALING WITH MICE IN YOUR HOME
If you’re dealing with an infestation of mice or any other pests, it’s time to call your Tulsa pest control company to come in and help you to take care of the problem. These specialists know what they’re doing. Here at TermMax Pest Control we’re experts when it comes to mice or rats. We serve as the greater Tulsa area including Coweta, Claremore, Broken Arrow, Sand Springs, Sapulpa, Bixby, Jenks, Owasso, Prattville, Claremore, Catoosa, Turley and much more. Call today for a free estimate. We’re here to help!