- Mice
and Rats
-
- Often times, while
evicting squirrels from a house we find signs of mice in the house.
The common house mouse can enter homes and be incredibly annoying.
Mice can enter holes similar in size to that of bats, however unlike
bats, mice can and do chew and gnaw holes where they want to go.
Therefore, excluding mice can be tough if they are determined to
enter a residence. Most exclusions can provide temporary relief, but
we have found that trapping to reduce the population coupled with
exclusion and long term population management, mice and rat numbers
can be reduced or eliminated in some situations. Long term
management may include yearly trapping and limited use of bird
feeders to the times of years when birds could actually use
supplemental feed.
- Norway rats are a more
common outdoors where agricultural activities are present. Grains
and feeds for animals, coupled with equipment and sheds/barns
provide ideal environments for rats to fill their bellies and
reproduce. Norway rats are incredibly smart and learn very fast.
When rats show up in a yard, it is often noticeable. Their droppings
are about ¾ inch long, and resemble a small banana pellet.
Often the rats are spotted during the day. If pets and agricultural
animals are not around, and it can be determined that the rats are
in the home, we often recommend the homeowner use a bait/poison
product to drop the populations down. A problem with poison baits is
the possibility of a mouse/rat entering the house and dying in the
wall void. This situation would be best avoided. Maine Wildlife
Exclusion Services is not certified with a Maine Pesticide
Applicator License, and therefore poison baits would be at the
discretion, and use, of the homeowner.
- Trapping for rats is
done in lethal traps in covered boxes. The process of trapping rats
and mice is often time consuming, but it can be effective for
dropping populations to more manageable levels at which time the
homeowner or business can continue trapping as a matter of
population management.
- Removing tall grasses,
old buildings, rock piles, etc that could provide cover and shelter
as well as any grains, birdseed, or other food source for rats and
mice will help control population explosions.
|
click photos to enlarge
Out of sight, out of mind.
|
Maine Wildlife 
