Mice and how to prevent and treat them.

There are Six different species of mice in the UK with the house mouse being the most common. The house mouse can get though a gap that is 5mm (roughly the size of the end of a pen). They can enter properties though air bricks or under doors around your house if they are not proofed properly.

Mouse Facts.

• Require 3-4 g of food a day

• Gets water from food

• Gestation period approximately 21 days

• Sexually mature in 5-8 weeks

• Weaning period approximately 21 days

• Average litter 5-8

• Cosmopolitan and widespread. Highly adaptive and able to survive in a wide range of habitats.  

• Average size- weight 15 g (can reach 25 g)

• Body length 70-90 mm

• Tail length 50-70 mm

• Large ears and pointed muzzle giving a triangular shaped head. 

• Droppings are a small spindle shape between 3-7 mm long in a scattered pattern. the house mouse can do up to 80 droppings per day as well as being incontinent.

Mice have very poor eye sight and find their way around by smelling where other mice have been or using heat from pipes around the house. They will also normally stay close to walls so that they know half their body is safe from predators.

It’s a legal obligation to control mice as they carry diseases. 

If you have air bricks around the bottom of your house then cover them with mesh so the building can still breath but mice can’t get though it. 

If there is a gap under an external door fit a draft excluder as this can help prevent mice gaining access into your home.

 Any holes you can find that are 5mm or bigger proof them with wire wool and then seal over the top so they can’t push it out.

If you have had a mouse issue clean up after the issue has been resolved by removing droppings and cleaning with strong smelling cleaner (lavender or lemon scented products are great for this).

Don’t leave packets of food in low cupboards and if you can keep part used products in containers this also helps.

If you do all the above it will help prevent you getting an issue back in the future.

We treat all our rodent issues with traps as there are many laws around what bait can used on different kinds of mice and also some are protected. Another good reason for using traps is it has a much lower impact on the environment, with studies showing that traces of poison have been found in birds of prey, barn owls and other wildlife after they have eaten mice that have been poisoned in people’s houses. 

If you would like to know more or book a treatment in Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and the surrounding areas of Kent then please get in contact with us at Kent Pest Management.

Website: www.kentpestmanagement.co.uk

Email: info@kentpestmanagement.co.uk

Phone: 07307691897

Facebook: @kentpestmanagement

LinkedIn: Kent Pest Management

Twitter: @PestKent