Why a Mouse in the House is a Dangerous Guest

Posted on 09.29.11 in Animal Control, New Jersey Pest Control, Rodents

Cartoon mice are funny. Mice in pet shops are adorable. The mice in your child’s classroom are fascinating. BUT a mouse in the house is an entirely different matter. The Disneyfication of these tiny rodents has lulled people into underestimating the threat mice pose when they seek winter shelter in and around New Jersey homes. Taking a “live and let live” or ”it’ll go away” attitude toward the sight of a mouse scampering into your garage or whisking under the dishwasher when you turn on the kitchen light puts you and your family at serious risk. A mouse in the house is a dangerous guest, NJ pest control professionals warn.

The scientific name for the common house mouse, Mus musculus, means “little thief,” an apt name for these small rodents that survive by stealing food. Every year, rodents destroy one-third of the world’s food supply and spread dangerous diseases that sicken or kill thousands of people.

Mice spread disease through their feces and urine which they dribble everywhere they go. A single mouse drops an estimated 25,000 rice-sized black fecal pellets a year, or about 70 per day. Their incontinence is purposeful, leaving a pheromone trail that other mice can follow into your home. Since house mice live in colonies of a single male and several females (and their offspring), hundreds of fecal pellets may be deposited in an infested New jersey home every day.

Mice carry dangerous pathogens in their feces and urine and harmful parasites on their bodies. Their presence in or near your home exposes you and your family to Salmonella, tapeworms, rat-bite fever, infectious jaundice, plague, murine typhus, Rickettsial pox and Hanta virus. Mice are sneaky and hard to eradicate. If you spy a mouse in or near your house, call a New Jersey pest control company immediately to evict your unwelcome guests.