Mice

House mice can live and breed in houses, buildings and other structures such as garden sheds which give them protection from the cold and wet weather and provides them with the three essentials for survival - food, water and shelter. Although an abundant supply of food is preferable, house mice can survive on relatively poor diets, eating between 3 to 4 grams of food a day and can survive without access to free water, obtaining their daily needs from their food.

The ideal environments for house mice are buildings with dead spaces and harbourages free from disturbance and close to food and water. They are extremely good climbers, climbing walls, pipes, cavities and ducting. They have very hard front teeth that can penetrate materials such as concrete, lead and aluminium. This can result in expensive damage and even fires when electric cables are damaged.

House mice like to know the area where they live and will familiarise themselves with their home surroundings; in most cases activity will be restricted to a radius of up to 10 m. They use the same familiar pathways, producing smears by the continual rubbing of their fur against surfaces.

In urban areas, house mice are able to breed throughout the year producing between 5 and 10 litters each of about 4-8 young. They can live for more than two years, though the average life span is about 10 months.

House mice are inquisitive animals with sporadic and unpredictable feeding habits and will feed from numerous different sites each night rather than one or two sites close to their nest. They will feed on almost anything, but generally prefer cereal-based foods.

How to Prevent Infestations

• Don’t leave open food out in the kitchen overnight
• Ensure pet dishes are empty overnight
• Remove all food and waste spillages as they occur
• Empty food waste bins in the kitchen etc frequently
• Place food in rodent proof containers
• Empty bins regularly, ensure that spillages and refuse is not allowed to accumulate in the yard or garden
• Seal structural defects in the house to prevent mice gaining access to your home (mice can squeeze through gaps in excess of 5mm.)

If signs of infestation are noticed for example, fresh mouse droppings, gnawing marks, and/or smears, take immediate action to control the infestation.

If treating an infestation of mice yourself, don’t leave mouse bait down for extended periods – remove as soon as the infestation has been controlled. Alternatively you may choose to use mousetraps although be aware that sweet foods such as chocolate will be more successful that the use of cheese!

Please read the label and follow the instructions on any rodenticide you use and look specifically for any additional measures you may need to take in respect of children and animals.

Can I get them treated?

Cheshire East Council provides a service for controlling mice in domestic properties for a competitive charge. For details of this service and the costs involved please refer to our pest control home page.

Fully trained Pest Control Technicians will look at the infestation, and draw up a treatment programme which involves placing poison baits in the most appropriate locations. They will return to your home to make sure the treatment is successful. If you need our help, please use our contact details above to get in touch.

If a baiting programme is to be successful it is vitally important to maintain an uninterrupted supply of bait available for the mice. This can be achieved by ensuring that all revisit appointments made with Pest Control are kept. Do not interfere with or reposition any bait stations laid as part of a treatment programme and keep children and pets away from bait stations at all times.

Insect Drawings © Bayer 1964