Rodents can carry a wide variety of diseases transmissible to humans. Learn how to get rid of mice FAST using proven, organic and natural control strategies.

Rodents can carry a wide variety of diseases transmissible to humans. If you suspect you have mice in your home, don’t worry, there are many ways you can not only prevent but get rid of mice in your home.

House mice (Mus musculus) are the most common rodents in people’s homes. In fact, they have lived with humans so long they have trouble surviving without us. Originally from Asia, house mice have traveled with humans all over the world.

House mice cause more money in damages to food and buildings than any other rodent.

In this article, learn how to get rid of mice along with the methods you can use to keep them away to begin with.

What Do Mice Look Like?

House mice are small and only weigh 1/2 ounce. They are 5-7 inches, including 3-4 inches of tail. Their brown to gray fur acts as camouflage. The ears are large for the size of the mouse and the eyes are black.

Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) occasionally enter homes. They are gray on top and white on the bottom. They also have a much longer, mostly hairless tail.

Mice can jump up to 12 inches from a flat surface and can run up rough vertical surfaces, such as wood. They can follow a cable or wire into the house by running on top of it acrobat style. Mice are good climbers, too. They can squeeze through a hole as small as 1/4 inch in diameter.

Mice have amazingly sensitive hearing, smell, touch, and taste. They do not have great eyesight but the keenness of their other senses makes up for that.

Lifecycle of a House Mouse

Mice become sexually mature at 6-10 weeks. Females have from 5-10 litters, each of 5-6 pups, in one year. Each of the female pups repeats having this many litters.

Even though the house mouse only lives 9-12 months, one fertile female can cause a whole mouse infestation in no time.

Dangers of these pests

Mice are very dangerous. They eat and foul a great deal of grain and other food each year. They prefer cereal grains but will eat many other things if available.

Direct Diseases Mice Carry

Mice leave urine and feces everywhere they go and also on the food they eat. They leave crumbs everywhere with traces of them. Their bodily by-products, along with the hair mice shed, carry a number of serious illnesses.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), these include leptospirosis, lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM), tularemia, and salmonellosis. The most common disease mice carry is salmonellosis or food poisoning.

Indirect Disease Transmission

It isn’t just the mice that are a problem. A number of diseases are spread by the fleas and ticks that live on the mouse. These parasites can bite people, pets, and livestock and spread diseases to them.

We have all heard of the bubonic plague that rat fleas spread. Mice don’t spread that, but a mite on them causes Rickettsioses.

This is similar to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and can range from mild to life-threatening.

Property Destruction

Mice must gnaw continually to keep their incisors from growing too much. They can gnaw through a number of things, including wood, drywall, insulation, plastic, rubber, vinyl, and insulating foam.

Mice also gnaw on electrical wires and can cause a fire by short-circuiting one. Mice shred paper or fabric to use to make a nest in a quiet, hidden place.