The House Mouse, and sometimes and the
Long-Tailed Field Mouse, seek the warmth
and shelter of buildings for nesting sites
and food. Their presence is usually detected
from their dark-coloured droppings or damage
to stored foods in the larder, packaging
or woodwork. Mice become sexually mature
in eight to ten weeks, and a pair may produce
eight litters each of 16 young, in a year.
Multiply those and you arrive at a horrifying
number of mice! They climb well can squeeze
through very small gaps. These nibbling
nuisances have a compulsive need to gnaw
in order to keep their incisor teeth worn
down to a constant length. Electric cables,
mice may seriously damage all water and
gas pipes, packaging and woodwork - many
instances of electrical fires and floods
have been attributed to them. They contaminate
far more food than they consume and they
are capable of carrying many diseases, particularly
food poisoning. The average mouse sheds
70 droppings in 24 hours and urinates frequently
to mark its territory. Mice are erratic,
sporadic feeders, nibbling at many sources
of food rather than taking repeated meals
from any one item. They do not need free
water to drink as they normally obtain sufficient
moisture from their food.
