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D&T Pest and Termite Control, Inc


Mice
Mouse is the common name for any small member of three families of rodents; large species of one of the families to which mice belong are known as rats (see RAT). The word mouse has no exact meaning in classification systems. Mice are numerous throughout most of the world, but for convenience they are often grouped as the Eurasian mice and the American mice. Fields and human habitations serve as homes for these animals. Mice, like rats, consume large quantities of food and spread diseases.

The common house mouse is the most frequently observed species and is the ancestor of the white mice that are raised for scientific experimentation. In its wild state the house mouse is slightly less than 17 cm (less than 6.5 in) long including the tail, which is slightly more than 8 cm (more than 3 in) long; domestic mice, because of better nutrition, are often considerably larger. The house mouse is yellowish-gray above, sometimes streaked with black, and lighter gray beneath. It breeds every 10 to 17 weeks throughout the year, producing five to ten young in a litter.

Norway Rats

NORWAY RATS: The Norway rat is larger and more aggressive than the Roof Rat.

APPEARANCE: As an adult the Norway Rat can weigh between 12-16 oz. with a body length of 6-8 inches long. The nose is blunt with small ears, and small eyes. The fur is shaggy and coarse with variation in colors. The tail is shorter than the head and body combined, and scaly.

NORWAY RAT INSPECTION: The droppings are 1/4 to 1/2 inch in length, capsule shaped, with blunt ends. They are usually a shiny black, but may vary according to their diets.

Norway rats and Roof Rats will leave a hind foot track of about 3/4-1 inch where a mouse's track measure's 3/8 of an inch or less. Rats will also drag their tails, leaving a mark between their feet tracks. Unscented baby powder or flour, lightly sprinkled can help you determine tracks and their runways as they cross suspected areas. Gnawing holes from rats are about 2 inches or more in diameter. They have rough edges. They prefer to gnaw on wood, but can damage electrical wiring. Rat burrows can be found along foundations, or beneath rubbish and shubbery. If the burrow is active it usually clear of vegetation. Rat runways are smooth and well packed. Indoors, these runways are free of dust and dirt.

DIET: They prefer foods with a high protein or carbohydrate content, but will eat almost any type of food. They need water to survive, unlike mice.

HABITS AND BIOLOGY: The young rats reach sexual maturity in 2-3 months, females average 4-7litters a year, with 8-12 pups per litter. Adults live about a year. They live in colonies. The Norway rat generally prefers to live in underground tunnels. On farms, they will be near a food source: barns, granaries, livestock buildings, and silos. In the cities, they will be in the ground if there is available space, but have been known to live entirely inside buildings. Rats will seek food outside, but many times will come inside at night to forage for food and return to their burrows. Needing a water source, they can obtain water from toilets, sinks, rain puddles, or condensation from utility pipes. Their nesting burrows on the outside are often along the foundation of walls. As the rat family

grows, more burrows are built, resulting in a network of underground tunnels. Inside, the Norway Rat commonly nest on the lower levels, but if the population is too large, they may be found in the attic and ceiling areas. Their nests are built from soft material like paper or grass chewed into small pieces. Rats will climb if necessary to enter a building, the Norway Rat is an excellent swimmer. Rats are suspicious of changes in the environment or new foods, for this reason it may take a couple of days for traps or poison baits to take. Rats are nocturnal, with their peak activity at dusk or before dawn. When the population is large or they are disturbed or hungry, you can see activity during the day.

Roof Rat

ROOF RAT APPEARANCE: The Roof Rat is smaller and more slender than the bigger Norway Rat. The adults weigh about 5-9 ounces,7-10 inches long. The tail is longer than the head and body combined. They have large ears and a pointed nose. The fur is smooth, as opposed to the Norway rat with it's shaggy fur. RAT ROOF

INSPECTION: Refer to the section on Norway Rat inspection. Much would be the same except the droppings are spindle shaped instead of capsule shaped and the droppings reach about 1/4 inch in size. The tail markings and hind feet markings are the same. Runways for Roof Rats are difficult to determine.

DIET: They prefer seeds, nuts, fresh vegetables and fruits, but will eat meat and grain products.

HABITS AND BIOLOGY: They become sexually mature in 2-3 months, with 4-6 litters per year, 4-8 pups per litter. The Roof Rat is a climber, commonly nesting in areas above the ground: trees, vines, attics, ceiling voids, or in voids along the roof line. These rats enter your home much like squirrels. As their population grows they will nest in underground burrows.

ORDER RODENTIA : Family Muridae : Rattus rattus (Linnaeus)

DESCRIPTION. A blackish (or brownish), medium-sized, slender rat with long, naked, scaly tail; tail usually longer than head and body but not always so. External measurements average: total length, 370 mm; tail, 190 mm; hind foot, 36 mm. Weight, up to 200 g.

HABITS: Roof rats are largely commensals and live in close association with man. They seldom become established as feral animals as do the Norway rats; however, in Lavaca County they have been found throughout the county, in the towns, and on the farms. They inhabited grocery and drug stores, warehouses, feed stores, and poultry houses and were very common in cotton gins and associated grain warehouses. On the farms they lived in barns and corncribs. They

may live near the ground, but usually they frequent the attics, rafters, and crossbeams of the buildings. They make typical runways along pipes, beams or wires, up and down the studding, or along the horizontal ceiling joists, often leaving a dark-colored layer of grease and dirt to mark their travelways. Like the Norway rat, the roof rat is largely nocturnal and only where populations are relatively high does one see them frequently in the daytime. There is some indication that the larger and more aggressive Norway rat is supplanting the roof rat in many parts of the United States. In the southern United States, however, the roof rat is by far the more common of the two.

They accept a wide variety of food items, including grains, meats, and almost any item that has nutritive value.

Roof rats breed throughout the year, with two peaks of production — in February and March and again in May and June. The period of least activity is in July and August. The gestation period is approximately 21 days, and the number of young per litter averages almost seven. The young rats at birth are naked, blind, and nearly helpless. They mature rather rapidly, are weaned when about 3 weeks old, and are able to reproduce when approximately 3 months old.  Like the Norway rat, the roof rat is destructive to property and foodstuffs. Also, it plays an important part in the transmission of such human diseases as endemic typhus, ratbite fever, and bubonic plague.

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