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Mice are much smaller than rats, but they can still do a lot of damage. They
destroy food, books, furniture and even appliances with their gnawing, urine and
droppings. Worse, mice in the home have been linked to a number of human
diseases, including asthma. Because of their small size, they can fit through
crevices as small as 5mm wide, making them hard to control.
Mouse Traps –How to Set
1. Pull the bow (the spring loaded part) back, holding it down with the thumb of
one hand.
2. With your other hand, take the locking bar -the short metal strip on the end
that is attached to the back of the trap) and lay it in the centre of the
spring. Make sure that the curved or cupped part faces downward.
3. Lay the bait. Use peanut butter or fresh bread squashed down onto the metal
and sprinkle some chocolate powder. Tie on with cotton so that the mouse has to
tug on it.
4. Slowly release your grip on the bow, the force of which should hold the
locking bar inside that little box on the pedal. The trap is now set.
House Mouse Evidence
You might not see the mice, but you can probably hear them after dark, as mice
are often more active at night. Don't be surprised if your pets paw at walls and
cabinets where mice are hiding.
Watch for mouse droppings and nests in storage areas, such as garages and
subfloors. Nests are usually made of materials like bits of cloth or shredded
paper. Or you can check for mouse tracks by dusting suspected areas with a light
coating of unscented talcum powder or mason's chalk dust. Wait a day and then
shine a torch across the area. If you notice small tracks in the powder, then
you'll know that mice have been there.
Mouse Control
To get rid of mice in your home, follow the three basic steps below:
1. Proper Sanitation - A clean uncluttered home will make it hard for mice to
find hiding places and food. Actually, mice can live on crumbs! Keep food and
garbage in mouse-proof containers (metal or heavy-duty plastic with tight
fitting lids), or in mouse-proof cabinets (including the refrigerator).
2. Mouse-Proofing - Don't let mice get in! Seal all openings - like cracks and
spaces around vents, wires and pipes - with sheet metal, concrete. Screen
necessary openings, like fans and chimneys with 10mm wire mesh. Doors and
windows should be screened with tight-fitting metal screens. Seal or cover all
openings, since mice can jump 150mm high, run up the sides of buildings and
cross cables and wires.
3. Bait with Poisons – Use a Professional Pest Control Company such as
Redback
Environmental Pest Management Pty. Ltd. Call us on 1800 357 692 or email us at
angela@bestpest.com.au
We use poisoned baits that contain anticoagulants, such as Bromadiolone:
Bromadiolone
does not occur naturally. It is used as a rodenticide in urban and farm rodent
control and acts by disrupting the normal blood clotting mechanisms causing an
increased tendency to bleed. The rodenticidal properties of bromadiolone were
reported in 1976. It is a second generation anticoagulant that is effective
against rats and mice, including those resistant to first generation
anticoagulants.
It is used in the form of ready-to-use baits of low concentration containing
0.005% bromadiolone. are the most effective, least toxic mouse poisons for home
use. Continuous feedings for at least six to ten days are needed. First, read
all label instructions completely, and follow them carefully. Watch out for
children and pets! Make sure the baits are clearly marked and place them in a
secluded and secure area that is attractive to mice -- such as in cabinets,
behind appliances, under boards, boxes, pipes or cans -- and where they are also
protected from rain and snow. Remove baits when all mouse activity stops or
after one month of use, whichever comes first. Follow label directions when
disposing of all poisons!
Removing Mice - Get rid of the mice you already have! Trapping is effective, and
generally safer than using poison. Also, poisoned mice often die in
hard-to-reach places causing a very unpleasant odour. When cleaning up any dead
rodents or their droppings, be sure to:
- Wear rubber gloves
- Make a disinfectant by mixing detergent plus 1 1/2 cups of bleach for each 4
litres of water.
- Using a spray bottle of disinfectant, thoroughly spray dead rodents, traps,
droppings and the areas where you found them.
- Do not sweep or vacuum mouse droppings in your home until you have wet the
affected area with detergent, bleach and water. Dry sweeping or vacuuming might
put dust containing viruses into the air.
- Place the sprayed rodent and/or droppings in a plastic bag and seal it. Then
place the bag into a second bag, seal and dispose of with the trash.
Mouse Traps in Sydney Australia
Wood-based snap traps are inexpensive and work well. Put a sheet of newspaper
under the trap and place them anywhere you think mice are living. Be careful to
keep traps out of the reach of children and pets! Setting traps in pairs works
best. Set traps at right angles to the wall, with the trigger end touching the
wall. Put them about 6 to 10 feet apart, since mice tend to travel very short
distances. Mice tend not to cross large open spaces.
Enlarge the traps by attaching a 50mm square of cardboard to each trigger, or
you can buy the expanded trigger model of trap. Foods that attract mice --
crunchy peanut butter, freshly-fried bacon, fruit, nuts, or lollies -- can be
fastened securely to the trigger of each trap with thread. When the mouse takes
the bait, the trap will spring.
Check traps daily. If nothing happens in a couple of days, move the traps to a
new location. Mice are not afraid of new things or bothered by the smell of
humans or dead mice on traps.
If you have many mice, you might have to use a multi-catch mouse trap or a glue
board. You can purchase these in most hardware stores. Again, check traps every
day.
House Mouse-Identification and Range: The house mouse (Mus musculus) is a small,
slender rodent that has a slightly pointed nose; small, black, somewhat
protruding eyes; large, scantily haired ears, and a nearly hairless tail with
obvious scale rings. They are generally grayish-brown with a grey or buff belly.
Similar mice include the white-footed mice and jumping mice( which have a white
belly), and harvest mice (which have grooved upper incisor teeth.) A very
adaptable species, the house mouse often lives in close association with humans
and therefore is termed one of the "commensal" rodents along with Norway and
roof rats. Following their arrival on colonists’ ships, house mice spread across
Australia and now are found in every state including coastal areas of Sydney.
Habitat: House mice live in and around homes, farms, commercial establishments,
as well as in open fields and agricultural lands. The onset of cold weather each
fall in temperate regions is said to cause mice to move into structures in
search of shelter and food.
Food Habits: House mice eat many types of food but prefer seeds and grain. They
are not hesitant to sample new foods and are considered "nibblers," sampling
many kinds of items that may exist in their environment. Foods high in fat,
protein, or sugar may be preferred even when grain and seed also are present.
Such items include bacon, chocolate lollies, butter and nuts. A single mouse
eats small amounts but because of their habit of nibbling on many foods and
discarding partially eaten items, mice destroy considerably more food than they
consume. Unlike Norway and roof rats, they can get by with little or no free
water, although they readily drink water when it is available. They obtain their
water needs from the food they eat. An absence of liquid water or food of
adequate moisture content in their environment may reduce their breeding
potential.
General Biology, Reproduction, and Behavior: House mice are mainly nocturnal,
although at some locations considerable daytime activity may be seen. Seeing
mice during daylight hours does not necessarily mean there is a high population
present, although this usually is true for rats Mice have poor eyesight, relying
more on their hearing and their excellent senses of smell, taste and touch. They
are considered essentially colour-blind.
House mice can dig and may burrow into the ground in fields or around structures
when other shelter is not readily available. Nesting may occur here or in any
sheltered location. Nests are constructed of fibrous materials and generally
have the appearance of a "ball" of material loosely woven together. Litters of 5
or 6 young are born 19 to 21 days after mating, although females that conceive
while still nursing may have a slightly longer gestation period. Newborn mice
are naked and their eyes are closed. They grow rapidly and after 2 w3eeks they
are covered with hair and their eyes and ears are open. They begin to make short
excursions from the nest and eat solid food at 3 weeks. Weaning soon follows,
and mice are sexually mature as early as 6 to 10 weeks old.
Mice may breed year-round and a female may have 5 to 10 litters per year. Mouse
populations can therefore grow rapidly under good conditions, although breeding
and survival of young slow markedly when population densities become high.
During its daily activities, a mouse normally travels an area averaging 10
metres in diameter, seldom travelling further than this to obtain food or water.
Mice constantly explore and learn about their environment, memorizing the
locations of pathways, obstacles, food and water, shelter and other elements in
their domain. They quickly detect new objects in their environment, but they do
not fear novel objects as do rats. This behaviour should be remembered if faced
with a large population of mice in a residential, industrial or agricultural
setting. Proper placements of mouse bait is a must if you are to have a
successful baiting program.
Rodents
Rats and mice are, next to man, the most successful animals on earth in terms of
abundance and diversity. Man has unwittingly help their spread throughout the
word by exploration and his own success. However, they have in some
circumstances become his worst enemy.
Billions of dollars each year is lost by contamination of food by rodent
droppings, urine and hair. Rodents destroy much more food than they could
possibly eat, and their chewing habits have been responsible for causing fires.
They are so prodigious that within a year a rat can have between thirty and
eighty offspring, depending on the species -one pair could generate fifteen
thousand rats in their life span. Rats can squeeze through a hole the size of a
20 cent piece, fall 20 metres with no injury, tread water for 3 days, eat all
sorts of food and survive an atomic bomb test.
SPECIES
THE ROOF RAT
(Rattus rattus) or black rat/ship rat is the rat responsible for the Black
Plague and the death of millions of people from its flea. Its abilty to climb
spread it throughout the world by climbing ships hawsers. It likes to live in
trees and roofs of buildings.
THE NORWAY RAT
(Rattus norvegicus) or brown/sewer rat likes to burrow (unlike the roof rat) and
prefers to live near water and damp places. It has a thicker body, shorter tail
and smaller ears than the roof rat.
THE HOUSE MOUSE
(Mus domesticus) Mice are a much bigger economic problem than rats in Australia,
with population densities reaching 32,500 per hectare in plagues. They need much
less free water than rats, with a shorter gestation period and at forty-two
days, are at nearly half the breeding maturity of the Roof rat.
Mice are distinguished from young rats by smaller heads and feet, larger ears in
proportion, and much longer tail.
CONTROL: Baits -Since the 1940's warfarin, a chronic anti-coagulant has replaced
thallium, strychnine and arsenic as a poisonous bait. Since the last ten or so
years, rodents have become largely resistant to warfarin. Strains of rats can
survive a dose that is many times stronger only ten years ago. Some strains of
mice seem largely unaffected by it at all.
A major advance took place in the 70's with the discovery of brodifacoum and
bromadiolone, though resistance is starting to take place. It is worth noting
that the roof rat prefers moist foods (use liquid baits) and norway rats prefer
dry foods (use cereal baits)
Traps - snap boards and sticky traps should be used as a back-up for baits, or
for safety reasons. They should be placed just out from skirting boards, with
the bait facing inwards. My favourite is some cocoa sprinkled on some fresh
bread. Tie the bread onto the metal with some cotton thread. Tugging will set of
the trap.
Gassing - Is used in outdoor burrows, in ships and grain silos by the use of
fumigants.
Proofing - In pest control this means the blocking of entry points by physical
means such as bird wire, metal sheeting, steel wool or door seals.
Contact Dusts and Gels -Such as Bromatrol dust or Fentrol gel may be used once
it is established where the acitvity is situated. You can determine this by the
use of talc as a tracking dust.
Prevention -Good hygiene and limiting supply of food and water is the best for
preventing rodent infestations.
Rodents are repelled by the smell of mint, camphor and pint tar. Cats and dogs
(especially terrriers) are helpful for hunting small numbers of rodents in the
early breeding stages.
RODENT PROOFING
Doors, windows, screens and cracked concrete are easy access for rodents. Look
for openings near the top of buildings such as roof vents, eaves, overhangs and
roof top air conditioning units. Drainpipes need a screen on the bottom as well
as the top.
Rodent Proofing Materials:
- Hardware cloth - 19 gauge or heavier
- Perforated Metal - 24 gauge
- Sheet Metal (galvanised) -26 gauge or heavier
- Cement Mortar - 1:3 mixture or richer
A final word about mouse control....
The best way to control mice is to keep them out in the first place. Check your
home yearly to make sure it's still mouse-proof and keep your home and property
uncluttered. Don't expect your cat or dog to keep mice away. You have to take
the necessary steps to prevent mice from becoming a problem.
Are YOU concerned about Rodents (Rats and Mice)? Why not call us on
1800 357 692
or email us at angela@bestpest.com.au
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Article Courtesy of
Redback Pest Management Pty Ltd
www.redback-spider.com.au
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