Rodents can quickly damage property and spread disease or bacteria throughout your home. Mice and rats are some of the worst pests to have in your home or office and below, we take a look at how you can identify these uninvited guests, ensuring you are able to keep your home, family, tenants or business safe and free from pest disturbances.
Identifying Mice
Deer Mice
These rodents typically grow to be between 2 ¾ and 4 inches long with 2 to 5 inch tails
They usually have brownish-red fur and are bicolored with white bellies and white feet. They are also hairy and have bicolored tails that are light at the bottom and dark at the top
They live throughout North America and are usually spotted in woodland areas
These little rodents gravitate towards properties that are full of vegetation, wood piles and rock
Deer mice usually have 3 - 4 litters every year but can have up to 11. Each litter has between 1 - 9 babies.
These mice carry a variety of pathogens and are known to be the main carriers of Hantavirus.
House Mice
As the name suggests, house mice are the most common rodent found in homes across America
Adults are between 2 ½ and 3 ½ inches long with long tails that are usually between 2 ¾ and 4 inches long
They have short brown or gray hair and beige-colored bellies with single-colored and scaly tails
The little creatures usually make their homes within 3 - 50 feet of food and water sources and this is why they are mostly found in crawl spaces, warehouses, kitchen crevices, barns and basements.
They carry a variety of pathogens and are known for passing on salmonellosis and lymphocytic chorio-meningitis.
Identifying Rats
Norway Rats
These are the biggest of the rodent pests you may encounter and are prominent across North America
Norway rats grow to between 7 and 9 ½ inches and have long 6 - 8 inch tails
These massive rats have shaggy gray or brown fur with yellow bellies and have short ad scaly tails
They live close to human environments and are usually found in basements, wood piles and crawl spaces
The female Norway rats will have between 3 - 12 litters every year with 4 - 22 babies per litter
They carry a variety of pathogens that include rat-bite fever, jaundice and salmonellosis
Cotton Rats
Adult cotton rats are between 5 - 8 inches long with 3 - 6 ½ inch tails
They have gray hair that is usually speckled with black and have light colored bellies
These critters are present in both North and South America and found in areas with high vegetative cover including brush, gardens, fields and sheds
They usually have 4 litters per year and these contain up to 7 babies each
They carry a variety of pathogens with the most common being hantavirus
Roof Rats
These pesky pests are also referred to as ship rats and black rats
They grow to be between 6 - 8 inches long and have incredibly long tails that can grow to 10 inches long
They are black or dark brown in color and are found across the world
As the name suggests, Roof rats prefer to nest in high areas such as roofs, rafters and attics
They can have between 4 - 6 litters annually, with 6 - 8 babies per litter
They carry a variety of pathogens and are known to carry rat-bite fever, salmonellosis and the plague!