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Topics Covered
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Know Your Opposition Infectious Disease Carriers What are their habits? What do they eat? Where they live and hide? Think like a mouse Prevention and control methods
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 Carry 35 infectious diseases

Can cause allergy attacks Contaminate food Damage Property Live Mouse or Carcass

attract parasites Rats bite humans if threatened Babies in cribs are at risk rats are known to feed on spilled milk. Serious property damage such as fires can occur if those chewed wires cause a spark.

Mice and rats can be a problem in urban, suburban and rural areas.
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Mice (and rodents) carry various infectious diseases as well a parasites:

Salmonella Hanta virus Pulmonary Syndrome Rickettsial pox Lymphocytic chiriomeningutus Lestospirosis Rat bite fever Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis

Tapeworms Ringworms Lyme Disease Swine dysentery Babesiosis Murine Typhus Cutaneous Leishmaniasis
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 Lymphocytic Chiriomeningutus

Relapsing Fever Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Sylva tic Typhus Western Equine Encephalitis

LCMV serious diseasepregnant women Mice feces/urine can trigger asthma attacks Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever Powassan Encephalitis Scrub Typhus Rickesetta California Serogroup Viruses

Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal

Syndrome Lassa Fever Plague South American Arena-viruses Tularemia Colorado Tick Fever
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You have to survey areas for evidence.

Urine in ceiling panel

Droppings

It doesnt matter what they eat, gnaw or chew, all excrement looks the same. Materials used for nesting: paper, books, wood, upholstery, scraps They also gnaw plastic, cinder blocks, soft metals such as lead and aluminum, and wiring which could cause a fire hazard. They get into food or feed stuffs and urinate and excrement into it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/diff_sky/

Have no visual of the rodent? The best way to find out if you have rats or mice is to first rule out rats. Then again, what if you have both?

Surveying correctly leads to success in control and elimination

Identify correct locations for repairs breaches entry ways Accurate trap and or bait placement After identification: repair holes and damage, then trap or bait

simultaneously.
Mouse carcass

Sometimes people find carcasses, and think its an old problem. But the more evidence you have the more likely you may have to act
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leedman/

Rat carcasses

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mugley/

All rodents are gnawing animals. Gnaw to wear down their teeth Gnaw on wood, wire, and thing they want to pass or use for nesting. Very active at night or in dark spaces Population multiplies quickly They often travel the same paths close to walls
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 Rats are usually found burrowing

outdoors preferring secluded areas. However, if there is a food source they will come inside structures.
Once inside they tend to travel

There are two most common types of rats: Roof rats which nest in high places-found in the south and also along the west coast Norway rats live in burrows in ground and are found through out the United States

further than mice for food or water but according to authorities they will stay within 100 feet of their burrow.
Unlike mice, rats need to drink

water daily.
One rat is too many, take

action at the sight of one.

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Facts dont aid in the identification, but good to know:

Mice need very little water to surviveThis homeowner probably checked the toilet for months after their discovery. Take action IMMEDIATLEY IF YOU SEE JUST ONE MOUSE OR THINK YOU HEAR IT. Unlike rats, mice stay close to their nests, in fact
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eraphernalia_vintage/

Looks like this mouse (right) was really thirsty!

many nests are less than 35 feet away from

where they are traveling.

House Mouse or Brown rat pup?

Mice are prolific fast breeders

one couple can become an almost instant infestation.

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Mice need a hole the size of a dime to enter, rats a quarter,

But mice have been know to get through holes 1/4 inch as well.

Rats have almost human like "hands" and digits, where mice have more delicate feet and toes

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/erapher nalia_vintage

http://www.flickr.com/photos/twoshortplanks/

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 Sightings often at night Noise scratching and running in the walls or ceiling Gnaw marks Nests Mice nest in walls, stored fabric, cars, boxes, pantries, the
ceiling, almost anyplace there is a food source they have easy access to.

Burrows- mostly outside rats-but can invade structures Droppings in drawers, pantry, behind things

Holes to 1 inch and sometime larger

Rub marks along walls -rodents running along the same path for
months leave oils from their bodies on the floorboards or edges of walls
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Pests help identify rodent infestations. Rodent bait, made of grains, is often left behind in walls, leaving grain pests to feed off of it. The grain pests are immune from the posion
Blow Fly Evidence of shiny blue and green flies signify old trash or dead animals. Flies lay eggs in the rot. Beetles feed on stored grain, however, they must be identified to be useful indictors. Indian Meal Moths - found in stored products. The presence of them signifies an infestation in the grain or in the pantry
Indian Meal Moth Grain Beetle Hide Beetle

Found near carcasses and trash

Found near grain or bait stored in walls

Moth larvae feed from the grain that mice have brought into their nests.
Hide beetles feed on dried carcasses or dead insects

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Precautions and Considerations

When using poisons, mice often die in a corridor of the walls or ceilings. Should this occur , the homeowner will smell a stench that can last for days. Ripping that wall down to rid the odor is costly.

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Professional exterminators recommend 2 to 3 traps per mouse.

How many mice you have is questionable.

Traps are not 100% successful and require resetting

until the job is complete. If not done right, the mice will steal the food and not activate the trap.

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The intended solution provided by more expensive humane traps many times are not realized. The captured mouse suffers for hours and is found dead by the homeowner who was trying to avoid a painful death for the mouse. If the homeowner finds the humane trap shortly after the mouse is caught, they then have to find a place to set the mouse free.

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What is an effective distance to set the mouse free so it does not find its way back to your home?

Or a neighbors home?

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Trapping and Bait Methods

http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilt/

While mouse traps are similar to rat traps, there are many varieties and they

are not interchangeable.

There are literally dozens of rodent trap devices; mouse traps, in particular

will be more light weight than rat traps.

If you are going to handle the extermination yourself, you must first decide

if you can stomach the idea of killing an animal.

For many people, this is not an acceptable method for them personally.

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There are Humane traps for those that wish not to violently kill the mouse, but, in many

cases the mice or rats in the traps do die, a long painful death- that the homeowner was trying to avoid with the snap traps.

Glue traps, yet another method, can be harmful to pets and other wildlife if not regularly monitored.

Many people would rather catch the mouse or rat and set it free outside. But this is also not a resolution that will rid you of the infestation.

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Last Points
You can choose to call an IPM pro or exterminator but a good reference would be helpful. Home dwellers may be able do it yourself for smaller infestations analyze the situation buy only what you need properly get rid of any further rodent damage and hazards Keep an eye out for possible breaches 20
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 Apartment renters or other multi housing units Your building manager may already have a solution

that they use for all tenants.

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Photo via Flickr by just1page

There is not a single answer. As you have learned

it depends on they type of rodent you think exists on the premises; mice or rats.
How you handle it depends on the type of

establishment you are tying to exterminate.

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Remember
First find out: Rat or mouse? How many? Where? Then use solutions that provide: Most effective prevention and control Compatibility with people, pets, and other control measures Limit rodents access to food Recall their feeding habits when setting traps and bait Put traps in those paths and areas Use bait similar to what they were feeding on

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Flickr pictures are noted individually,http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarihuella/ and additionally combined here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/audreyjm5

29/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/leedman/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/mugley/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/just1page/2 http://www.flickr.com/photos/twoshortpl 617716131/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/eraphernal anks/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/eraphernal ia_vintage/3397748739/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/uherrman ia_vintage/ n/2918269078/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/diff_sky/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilt/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/x1brett/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/rileyroxx/ Lawrence http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_cressl http://www.fotopedia.com/items/vYkSo W6BM38-_k8MX0m9300 er/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/genista/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougbecke Images are sharealike licesnse rs/ Information from US http://www.flickr.com/photos/pfsullivan_ Government Resources 1056/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/anemonep Rewritten in its entirety by rojectors/ Thebestmousetrap.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/pjb2332/
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