Everything You Should Know About House Mice In Raleigh

House Mice Are Mobile Animals

These rodents can get into unexpected places. A house mouse can jump 13 inches straight up and four feet horizontally! If provided a bumpy surface, it can climb like Spiderman. These mice can work their way up through the downspouts on your gutters and climb up and down through wall voids. When these animals get in your home, they’re going to be able to get into almost every inch of it. This makes it difficult to keep them out of places you don’t want them to be, and it makes trapping and removing them a challenge.

A House Mouse Has Strong Teeth

The incisors of a little house mouse can chew through sheetrock, wood, and other building materials. If one of these little pests is determined to get into a location you don’t want it to, you will have a hard time keeping it out. A house mouse can gnaw right through a baseboard and use a tiny hole the size of a dime to go in and out of your pantry or kitchen.

It’s Nearly Impossible To Make House Mice Leave

There are currently no known populations of wild house mice in the world. These animals get into man-made structures and stay permanently, even if there isn’t a single morsel of food to feed on. Buildings offer house mice a safe place to live, and they have a preference for living near humans. So if you’re hoping to convince a house mouse to leave on its own, you’re going to be disappointed.

You Might Think Mice Can See In The Dark

Mice are nocturnal animals that will move about in your home while you’re sleeping—assuming you sleep at night. They are adept at moving about, even in the pitch dark. It isn’t because they can see in the dark. Mice use their whiskers to feel their way. This is one of the reasons why they run along baseboards. If you intend to capture mice with traps, you need to keep this behavior in mind. You’ll have more success with traps that are positioned next to walls or in gaps that a mouse might go into.

House Mice Reproduce Quickly

In one year, a female house mouse can produce between 32 and 56 pups. Each of her offspring will grow to sexual maturity in as little as four weeks. That means that every two months, several female mice can emerge from litters and begin the process of creating 32 to 56 pups. It doesn’t take long for a structure to become filled with mice.

House Mice Are Destructive

There are many ways a mouse can cause damage within your Raleigh home. Here are just a few of them:

• They chew on building materials.
• They chew on food packages and contaminate the foods inside.
• They chew on stored furniture.
• They gnaw on wiring and gas lines, which can lead to a house fire.
• They rip up wallpaper, sheetrock, clothing, fabrics, insulation, and other items to gather materials for their nests.
• They leave their feces and urine everywhere they explore. This can damage property and cause health concerns.

It Is Helpful To Restrict Food Sources

One way to deter house mice is to remove food options. You can do this directly by storing your food in sealed containers. You can do it indirectly by deep cleaning your home and by properly securing all organic matter in covered trash receptacles.

It Is Difficult To Trap A House Mouse

Some Raleigh residents attempt to capture mice with traps. In many cases, no mice are caught. In some cases, a few mice are caught, but only a small percentage of the population is culled. In all cases, mice are difficult and laborious to trap.

Professional House Mouse Control

When a licensed pest management professional works to control mice, a multi-pronged strategy is used. This strategy includes pest maintenance methods, along with carefully selected mouse control products. When these methods and products are administered by a trained and experienced pest control technician, mice can be controlled, and the treatment can be effectively monitored to ensure that no mice remain in your home.