RODENTS

Mice

• Mice are capable of being transported for long periods of time in closed containers, such as boxes, barrels or crates.
• Many fires of "unknown cause" may have been caused by mice chewing through electrical wiring.
• In six months one pair of mice can eat about four pounds of food and produce some 18,000 fecal droppings.
• Mice are not blind but have bad vision and cannot see clearly beyond about six inches.
• They are excellent climbers and can run up almost any roughened wall without breaking stride.
• They can swim but prefer not to. More than once, a live mouse has been flushed down a toilet and has resurfaced a minute later.
• They can jump a vertical distance of 12 inches from the floor onto an elevated flat surface.
• They can jump a height of eight feet to the floor without injury.
• They can run horizontally along pipes, wires and ropes.

Mus Musculus
House mouse

Appearance
Small and slender, 3–4 inches long, with large ears, small eyes and pointed nose. The tail is as long as the head and body combined. The fur is light gray or light brown.

Habitat
They will normally make their nest within 10 to 30 feet from a food source. A house mice in a city environment may spend it's entire life in buildings. In rural and suburban settings, it may not only live inside, but be found outside near foundations, in the shrubbery, weeds, crawl spaces, basements, or in garages. They survive well on weeds, seeds, or insects, but when their food supply is shortened by the colder months they move inside nesting closer to a food supply. They make their nest from soft material like paper, insulation, or furniture stuffing. These nest are found in many places including: in walls, ceiling voids, storage boxes, drawers, under major appliances, or within the upholstery of furniture. Outside the nests are found in debris or in ground burrows.

Diet
Mice will eat almost anything, but prefer cereal grains, seeds, or sweet material. They require very little water, obtaining most of their water needs from their food. Mice while being "nibblers" eating many times at different places, they do have two main meal times...just before dawn and at dusk...they simply "snack" at other times at intervals or every 1-2 hours. They can eat about 10 to 15% of their body weight every day, the adults weighing about 5/8-1 oz.

Reproduction
If there are good living conditions (food, water, and shelter), they can multiply rapidly. They are sexually mature in two months, producing about 8 litters in a one year life time. Each litter has 4–7 pups.

Other info
Feed 15–20 times per day, carry many diseases, and can get through an opening as small as a new five pence piece. They are excellent climbers. Their droppings are about 2–5 mm long and rod shaped. They gnaw small, clean holes about 20–25 mm in diameter. Many times in kitchens you will find gnawing damage on the corner of boxes and paper, shredded for their nest. They will gnaw at bar soaps.