June 29, 2021

More on Mice

Another article on mice? Yes indeed.  Why?  Because they’re such a problem for Rochester homes and offices.  We’ve covered several aspects of your common mouse’s life and habits and today we want to look at how a mouse infestation damages the structure of your home, office, and places you frequent.

Structural Damage from Mice

  • Mice bring in dirt and filth from the outdoors and spread pathogens with their food leavings and droppings.
  • Mice attract other pests like fleas, roaches, and ants that feed on their leftovers and on the mice themselves.
  • Mice chew on furniture like table legs, particularly wooden ones.  They also pull out chair and mattress stuffing to nest in.
  • Mice chew on building materials like drywall.  They may be small, but their teeth are sharp and strong.
  • Mice have caused fires by chewing through electric wires and contaminating spaces with flammable materials that become fire hazards.
  • Mice make tunnels in structures like walls and roof beams. 
  • Mice burrow in the ground beneath and outside structures, weakening the surrounding soil and building foundations.
  • Mice make our homes and offices unpleasant to be in with their dirty habits and foul odor.  Who wants to make that kind of impression?

Moving Mice Out

We’ve barely touched on some other issues mice cause, like sickness in humans, pets, and livestock.  We’ll get to that soon, so stay tuned to our blog.  In our post on the life cycle of a mouse, we detailed how quickly a mouse infestation can spread due to mice’s rapid maturity and prolific breeding.

Signs of mice in a structure include droppings that look like grains of dark rice (fly eggs look very similar), smears of oil from their coats along pathways like baseboards, and home furnishings that have been damaged by chewing.  If you want to deter mice and other rodents from making a pad in your space, or if you suspect that you have mice, call as soon as possible.  We’ll do a thorough inspection, from diagnosing the nature of the problem to carrying out the proper treatments to sealing up entry and exit points.  We also educate each client on preventive measures to further discourage pests from stopping by.