Get rid of mice
This time of year is when rodents like mice and rats seek shelter in places like your home or business. We can stop them!
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Mice control services
You've probably seen them before. They are tiny, some might even think they’re cute, but if you find one in your home they could be a real problem. They’re mice.
Mice are one of the most common pests in the world and are found just about everywhere. They’re rodents, and can be very destructive when they infest your property. Prodigious breeders, a couple of mice can quickly turn into dozens., It won’t take long for mice to scurrying behind the fridge, walls, around the baseboards and getting into the furniture. Mice can chew their way through fabric and get into cupboards and drawers to find food. In short, they are a nuisance.
Mice damage property, leave a mess wherever they decide to nest, and are even known to spread diseases such as the hantavirus and salmonella (food poisoning). They also carry fleas and ticks that can spread diseases like Lyme Disease, Colorado Tick Fever and more. Not to mention the droppings they leave behind, a disgusting common sign of a mouse infestation.
Western Exterminator has been the expert in mouse control solutions for homes and businesses for decades. Since our founding in 1921, one of the first things we specialized in was mouse control solutions. We will get rid of a mouse infestation and offer mouse prevention solutions to stop them from coming back.
Western Exterminator mouse control professionals can help. If you think you have mice, contact us online or call 800-937-8398 for an appointment.
Mouse problems for homeowners
Mice can get inside homes to get warm and to build nests in hiding places that provides them with easy access to food. That's what makes them so hard to get rid of and why a professional is usually needed. Mice breed fast and it won’t take long for multiple areas of infestation to spread around the home. Since mice can hide in the smallest of spaces, finding all of their hiding places can be very difficult and requires specialized tools and training.
Mice sneak out at night, when they think they will not be seen, and will devour food in cupboards, drawers, pantries and around kitchens. They chew through plastic to eat loaves of bread and their teeth are strong enough to chew through plastic and wood. Mice can use areas behind kitchen cabinets and drawers to get from one place to another and may be hard to notice until a full on mouse infestation has taken hold.
Color of a deer mouse
Bi-colored, like Shamu. Only smaller. They have a white belly and throat, and are pale gray/buff to deep red/brown above. Young deer mice are gray above with white below.
Deer mice are common in rural areas of western US, from Mexico to the Yukon and Northwest territories of Canada. In eastern U.S., from Hudson Bay to Pennsylvania, southern Appalachians, Arkansas, and Texas.
Outside, they either move in or make their own home in burrows. Their favorite pieces of real estate are tree hollows, old fence posts, log piles, and abandoned nests and burrows. Inside, they live in wall voids, corners, small places in basements and attics, storage boxes, and stuffed furniture. Their home range is a roomy ½ – 3 acres, with up to 10-15 deer mice per acre in summer.
Their urine and faeces have been associated with hantavirus, so it is necessary that any such evidence is cleaned up and their presence on your property is prevented.
Color of a house mouse
Varied: usually light brown or dusty gray on top, with a light gray or cream belly.
The house mouse can typically be described to have smooth fur, pointed nose, small eyes, large ears with some hair; short and broad feet; dark, hairless, scaly tail. They are extremely nearsighted and could probably use a tiny pair of mouse spectacles. They can only see clearly 6 inches in front of them. Also, they're color-blind. On the other hand, they are natural athletes. They can climb, run up rough walls and along pipes, ropes, and wires, jump 12 inches high and down from 8 feet, and can sometimes swim.
House mice are thought to have originated from Central Asia and made their home in Israel 2,000 years ago, but of course, now they are everywhere. These critters love dark, secluded places with plenty of privacy and comfort to nest in and make nests of paper, fabric, insulation, packing materials and cotton.
House mice love seeds and sweet liquids. They feed mainly at dawn and dusk. They absorb moisture from food, but will also drink water, especially when bulking up their diet with protein.
Mice nests are made up of multiple females sharing the same nest with their own broods. Which can get pretty crowded – pregnancy takes 18-21 days, with 5-8 per litter, 8 litters per year, and 30-35 weaned per year. As a female can have a litter every 40-50 days, there may be more than one litter in the nest at a time. House mice are very social; related males and females are compatible, while unrelated males are aggressive and mature house mice are aggressive toward any and all strangers.
The dangers with house mice lies in what they can gnaw through. Besides making holes through your favorite slippers, a house mouse will eat and contaminate stored food, and transmit disease through droppings, urine, bites, as well as direct contact, or contact with cats, fleas and mites.
Color of a white-footed mouse
Not surprisingly, the feet are white. So is the belly. Upper parts are grayish to reddish-brown. The tail is the same two colors. The young have gray upper parts and white bellies.
White-footed mice are typically found in Eastern U.S. from mid-Maine south to North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama; west to Montana, Colorado, and Arizona.
These form nests in hidden places, such as old bird or squirrel nests, burrows, logs, tree stumps or buildings. Soiled nests are abandoned. Its home range is 1/2 to 1-1/2 acres, with 4-12 mice per acre. These mice sometimes stay in the nest, but in cold weather, they may enter homes, garages, sheds and stored vehicles.
White-footed mice feed on seeds, nuts, fruit, beetles, caterpillars and other insects and are nocturnal creatures, active all year. Females begin to breed at 10-11 weeks of age, and have 2-4 litters per year, with 2-6 young per litter. Pregnancy is about 3 weeks long. Life span is 2-3 years in the wild, 5 or more in captivity.
Being structural pests, these mice can cause damage to rural, outbuilding, shed-type buildings and in suburban homes near woods. They damage furnishings and stored food. They are also carriers of Hantavirus, which is transmitted by inhalation of dust contaminated with urine and droppings of infected mice.
Mouse control tips
Mice target homes and businesses because they provide easy access to the conditions they need to survive. This includes shelter, warmth, nesting materials and food. It usually takes a professional trained to spot even the smallest signs of mouse activity. However, there are things you can do around your property to prevent a mouse infestation in the first place. Here are some mouse control tips:
- Remove debris - mice like to hide in piles of leaves, grass, wood and other natural elements that can end up piled up against the side of your home, garage or other structures around your property. Mice have horrible eyesight and they stick close to walls and like to be hidden, so removing their hiding places prevents them from getting close to structures and either looking for a way inside or chewing their way inside.
- Seal up holes - the tiniest hole is all that is needed for a mouse to get inside your home. Their skeletons are such that mice can use an opening as tiny as the width of a pencil to crawl inside. That means even the tiniest space, crack or crevice that leads from the outside into your home can provide access for mice. Once a couple of mice get in and find a place to build a nest, they can start breeding and soon you will have an infestation.
- Seal up food - mice are usually looking for food and they are opportunists. If you pull out a loaf of bread and find a hole in one end that drills right through the loaf, then you know you have mice. Putting food in sealed containers that they cannot access will block off that food and stop them from finding your home as an attractive place to build a nest.
As far as using baits or traps, that is best left to a discussion with a mouse control professional. Each mouse control method involves risks to pests and family members and a lot depends on the infestation and the situation around your home. So, if you find mice around your home, be sure to call Western Exterminator quickly.
Western Exterminator mouse treatments
For decades Western Exterminator has been helping homes and businesses get rid of mice. Our mouse control specialists will inspect your property, whether it's commercial or residential, to find the places where mice hide, remove the rodents and their nests, but also find out how they are getting in and why they find that property so attractive. Our specialists are experts in knowing how to spot the ways mice get inside the house and in which crevices they are hiding. Just missing a couple of mice in the house can create a brand new infestation if you don’t know where to look or how to spot them.
Western Exterminator specialists will discuss the mouse treatment options with you. We provide methods to get rid of mice throughout the building or home and then offer you ways to prevent future mouse infestations.
Contact Western Exterminator for mouse removal and prevention
Contact your local Western Exterminator office so you don’t have to worry about mice anymore. We will remove the mice that are there and help you make sure they don't come back. Contact us online or call 888-674-4059 today.
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