Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

January 25, 2007 issue

Mice Space

Say Hello to Your Little Friends

Story by Kathleen McFadden

At this time of year, just about anybody you ask has a mouse story. There’s the mouse that stuck its head out from under the dishwasher and calmly ate a dollop of peanut butter off a mousetrap without springing it while two humans watched in amazement. There’s the live mouse caught in a trap that calmly licked the remaining bait while staring at the human carrying it outside to let it go. There’s the mouse that sat in the middle of the living room for several minutes watching the human on the sofa while the family dog ambled by without giving the mouse a glance. And then there’s the mouse that somehow shorted out a television set.

When the weather gets cold, the field mice head for the house in search of warmth and food. Chances are, you’ve either seen them or their droppings lately. What you haven’t seen is their urine, and who knows where that is—on your silverware, your coffee cup, your plate? They may be cute, but mice aren’t good housemates because of their elimination habits and their destruction potential.

Local pest control companies report that they’re received loads of mouse-related calls recently. In fact, Andy Meyer of Appalachian Pest Control in Banner Elk reported that mouse business is most of his business these days. “That’s about all I’m doing,” he said.

Meyer uses an assortment of mouse eradication techniques, from poison to live traps, depending on the client’s preference.

Sealing the house is the first step in prevention. Meyer looks for dryers vented into crawl spaces, obvious holes where pipes and wiring enter a house and garage doors that don’t have a tight seal.

But mice can squeeze through impossibly small spaces—holes just 1/4-inch wide—and will chew through foam. “They can squeeze down to nothing,” Meyer said, and they’ll gnaw on wood, pipes, concrete, plastic, just about anything to keep their teeth filed down so they can eat. “They can chew holes in metal pipe,” he said, although coarse steel wool can act as a deterrent.

And Meyer exploded a longstanding mouse myth. “They don’t like cheese. That’s from the cartoons,” he laughed.

Interestingly enough, Meyer said he has never found mice in local attics; they tend to stay lower.

Mice aren’t the brain trusts of the mammal world, but some, Meyer admitted, seem to be smarter than others—or luckier—in evading or outsmarting baited traps.

In terms of disease, Meyer said that raccoons, possums and squirrels pose a far greater risk. “Squirrels are about 90 percent worse than mice and rats for rabies,” he said.

Robin Morgan, Terminix office manager in Boone, said her office handles mouse problems year round, but the calls increase in the colder months. Eradication method options include bait stations and glue boards. “It’s a rodent. You want to eradicate it. Choose a method,” she said.

Closing gaps and holes is a necessity, she pointed out, and door sweeps are important to keep mice from visiting through the front door or getting in through the garage. Morgan advised checking around air conditioning units and under sinks, looking for foundation cracks and patching them with mortar, and sealing obvious interior holes with stainless steel wool.

Mice multiply quickly she said. “It only takes 45 days from the day it’s born to have more,” she explained, “so if you have any, you might need something done.”

Good trap bait includes peanut butter, pecan pie (for gourmet mice) and, surprisingly, string. “They use it for their nests; that’s why they like to get in insulation. I’ve found mice in sweaters,” Morgan said.

Do you have bird feeders? “They like birdseed and will take it all through your house,” she said.

Do you have a dog? “They like dog food and will horde it under cabinets. That food will start getting old and cause other problems,” Morgan explained.

The old standby mousetraps can be effective—unless your visitors are some of those smarter or luckier mice—but both Meyer and Morgan suggested that homeowners are better served by professionals.

“If you have a rodent problem, you need to take care of it,” Morgan said, “and you want somebody else’s eyes on it.”

 

 

Mouse Facts

Mice are fascinating creatures and are genetically similar to humans. The mouse genome project revealed that humans share 90 percent of their genes with mice, including the same set of genetic instructions for a tail, although human tails disappear before birth in most cases. Here are more interesting facts about mice.

• One pair of mice can produce 200 offspring in four months. Females can have 5 to 10 litters per year.

• Each mouse can contaminate ten times more food than it eats. They are not hesitant to eat new foods and will nibble many kinds of items.

• A mouse feeds 15 to 20 times per day, but consumes only about 3 grams of food per day, 8 pounds per year.

• For rodents, food includes not only all kinds of human and animal food, but also garbage, unfinished compost, animal feces, insects and plants.

• It is not uncommon to find mice living in close association with cats and dogs, relying on pet food as a main food source, even eating directly from pet food dishes.

• Mice normally travel an area averaging 10 to 30 feet in diameter and seldom venture farther to obtain food or water. A mouse can live its entire life in a very small area.

• Mice are attracted to traps baited with peanut butter, nutmeat, chocolate candy, dried fruit or bacon.

• They are mostly active during dusk or night and do not like bright lights.

• Mice are territorial and one dominant male usually lives together with several females and youngsters.

• Rodents shred paper, cardboard, fabric, rugs, plastic and similar materials to make their nests.

• Rodents thrive indoors in cluttered areas.

• There is no evidence that rodents respond to the ultrasonic sound waves or electromagnetic fields generated by electronic devices marketed to eliminate mice.