Okay. So you go to bed and hear a little scritch-scratching inside the wall above your head. What’s the big deal? It’s just a sweet, harmless little mouse bedding down for the night. No problem, right? Then you start noticing a few tiny brown pellets in the back of your silverware drawer. Still no worries. What harm is there in having one little mouse? Maybe you even see a mouse run along the baseboard in your kitchen and you think, “Poor little critter. He’s just trying to make it through winter. When it warms up outside, he’ll go back to where he belongs.” Here are a few things you should know about that cute little “harmless” mouse.
Scratching inside your walls: If you are hearing scratching, scampering, chewing, and bumping noises inside your walls, these are noises you should not ignore, especially if it is a cute little mouse. Mice are rodents. And, rodents have a set of incisors that never stop growing. Since these teeth never stop growing, mice never stop chewing. They will chew on plastic, wood, insulation, items stored in your attic, and anything else they feel like chewing on. But, what you should be most worried about them chewing is the wiring inside your walls. While a house fire is sure to get rid of your mouse infestation, it is likely to get rid of everything else in your house as well.
Mouse droppings in the back of your silverware drawer: If you are seeing droppings, be assured that that mouse, or those mice, are making their way all over your kitchen and pantry surfaces looking for food. When they do this, they track all sorts of bacteria wherever they go. Rodents will forage outside in garbage, sewers, and other filthy places, then make their way inside. Some of the diseases mice are linked to include hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, lassa fever, plague, rat-bite fever, salmonellosis, tularemia, and leptospirosis. None of these are pleasant and some can even result in death. Rodents can also bring secondary pests into your home, such as mites, lice, fleas or ticks. And, these can come with their own set of diseases.
One Little Mouse Running Across The Floor: If you actually see “one little mouse” in your house, it is very likely that there are lots more of these furry critters inside your walls or attic spaces. Mice are timid creatures that typically stay hidden. But, when populations grow and food sources become more scarce, they will be forced to take greater risks.
The moral of the story is: mice don’t just go away on their own when the weather warms up. They will stick around in your nice warm home where they can find easy access to food and safe harborage. And, they will multiply, chew everything in sight, and possibly spread illness and disease.
Don’t let mice go untreated. If you think you might have mice, reach out to the pest professionals here at Spencer Pest Services right away. Mice may be cute, but they are definitely not harmless.