Mice Facts - Diseases, Repellents and Traps

pirelli

I had a mouse in my house so I have done some research to see what is the most humanitarian and effective way to banish mice.
I am most concerend about the threat to human health from mice which is very real when you have mice. Please leave comments about any health problems you have had due to mice.


FACTS ABOUT MICE

Mice - Mice travel over their entire territory daily, investigating each change or new object that may be placed there.

Mice have poor vision, hence their activity patterns rely heavily on smell, taste, touch, and hearing.

Mice whiskers and hairs enable the mouse to travel in the dark, adjacent to walls in burrows.

Mice also have an excellent sense of balance, They can run up almost any vertical surface.

Mice are excellent jumpers, capable of leaping at least 12 inches vertically.

Mice are basically nocturnal in nature.

House mice breed throughout the year and can become pregnant within 48 hours of producing a litter.

There are usually about 6 mice to a litter and females may produce as many as ten litters (about 50 young) per year.

Most mice live anywhere from 15 to 18 months.

They commonly nest in insulation in attics, also in stoves and under refrigerators.

Mice do not travel far from their nest, about 12 to 20 feet.


HEALTH RISKS

Mice may eat or contaminate human food, carry ectoparasites such as mites and fleas into close human contact, cause allergies in sensitive individuals and be disease carriers.

Salmonellosis
Symptoms are usually gastrointestinal, including nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea with mucus. Headache, fatigue and rose spots are also possible
Encephalomyocarditis
Humans infected with this virus may have symptoms including fever, neck stiffness, lethargy, delirium, headaches, or vomiting
Leptospirosis
Leptospirosis may cause high fever, rash, severe headache, abdominal pain, and sloughing of the skin.

There is also a are lung disease but this is extremely rare and probably not even in irleand. Your lungs fill with fluid and you have diffculty breathing.

Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmonellosis
http://www.zoologix.com/primate/Datasheets/Encephalomyocarditis.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis

HOW TO REPEL MICE

Plant Mint plants along garden boundaries. Indoors at corners of walls. Mice hate strong odours such as Moth balls, peppermint, and bleach.

A mouse due to its retractable skelton can get through a hole the size of a pencil.You should block as many small holes with steel wool that a mouse could use to gain access to your house. They can climb almost any surface even upside down so Your attic is most likely where they can gain access. Moth balls might help but these only move the mice from one area to anotehr are.


A ultra sound device mimics the sounds of a dominate male mouse but another dominate mouse in search of food will not be put off and mice can grow accustomed to noise but it most likely does have some effect. It does definetly have a human placebo effect and makes you feel more secure so do get one and put it in the kitchen. Regular cleaining of your kitchen will also be effective.



Live mouse traps

What happens to mice after you release them:

Canadian Study
Between April 1996 and April 1998, we live trapped and released mice rather than snap trapping them. Before release the rodents were identified to species; were measured and assessed regarding general appearance and health, sexual preparedness, and presence of wounds; were bled for antibody tests; and were ear-tagged. Nineteen deer mice and one pinyon mouse (a P. truei, which did not return) were examined and tagged. At first, we simply released these animals approximately 50 m from the house, but when we realized that they were returning, we released them at increasing distances (50 m to 1,500 m) from the house; the distances were measured by pace counts by at least two investigators


One mouse returned after being released 500 m and 1,000 m, then 750 m, and 1,200 m from the house at consecutive daily trapping sessions of 3 days. Sometime within the subsequent 6 weeks, this mouse returned to the house from the 1,000-m release point and then from 750 m and 1,200 m away on consecutive days within our 3-day trapping period. Each of the mice returning to the house did so within 24 hours of release, two as few as 6 hours after release from 500 m and 750 m away. Nine mice were captured once; six of eight mice captured twice were captured at least once more; one was captured 10 times, one 7 times, one 6 times, one 4 times, and two 3 times. Equal numbers of male and female, adult and juvenile mice were captured in the house, but only adult mice (5 of 5) returned to the house. Returning deer mice maintained or gained weight between captures and grew in length at approximately the same rate as deer mice captured in the test grid.

Some rodents have been documented to move similar distances (e.g., 1,200 m), but they took more than 2 weeks to complete the trek (4). Homing ability, site fidelity, and navigational proficiency of rodents are well documented (5,6). Teferi and Millar (7) studied the homing ability of deer mice in Alberta, Canada;

50% of deer mice in that study returned to their home sites (a short-grass prairie habitat).

The mice traveled 650 m to 1,980 m (mean 1,500 m) and had to cross a river and pass optimal habitat patches to reach their home sites. Deer mice with previous homing experience were more successful in returning home (100%) than inexperienced mice (60%) and faster in doing so (8). Teferi and Millar (7) suggest that these deer mice were able to navigate in a direct route to their home sites. We released mice in locations where they had no direct route to the house; they had to follow a winding road, climb over rocky outcroppings nearly 17 m high, or otherwise surmount obstacles and dangers, such as predators (7).