What you should know about rodents
Rodents are dreaded pests. Once they invade your home or office they will start to consume it.
A mouse can squeeze through a hole the size of a dime, infesting your home or workplace in the blink of an eye.
A rat simply requires a main point of entry and exit to raid any building, but it’s not fussy how it gets there. Rats will travel through sewer systems to get into your building and food supplies.
Rodents will chew on just about anything – plastic pipes, wood, even wiring – and will build nests in insulation, all of which can lead to serious property damage.
If it’s not addressed, a rodent infestation can quickly become a severe health hazard. Contact the professionals at Axon Extermination at the first signs of rodents in your home or business.
Rodents details
There currently exists over 2,000 species of rodents worldwide. Their prevalence is mostly due to their small size, which allows them to escape nearly all predators. Coupled with an unusually fast reproductive rate (a single mouse can produce up to 45 offspring per year!), rodents are now one of the most common pests in North America.
Rodents
Common household rodents include mice, rats and squirrels. They are characterized by two continuously growing incisors. In order to control the length of their teeth, they must chew and gnaw constantly. This is why they often damage electrical wiring, plumbing, house siding and more. They can significantly damage any surface weaker than their own teeth.
Rodents, particularly mice and rats, use insulation to create their nests, which can lead to serious property damage. If the infestation remains unattended, they may even access your food, leaving fecal matter and urine behind. This can cause serious health complications, including severe cramping and diarrhea.
A female mouse can produce up to 10 pups per litter that will, in turn, reproduce after 4 to 6 weeks. With such a rapid gestation, large litters and fast sexual maturity, mice can quickly take over any property.
For successful rodent control, contact Axon Extermination today!
Rats
Brown and stubbled, the rat coat is scattered with black bristle. Its main body, including the head, can reach 7 to 10 inches long while the length of the tail varies between 6 and 8 inches. Their snout is blunted, they have small eyes and ears, and their two colored tail is smaller than the total length of their entire body, including the head.
Biology
Adult rats reach sexual maturity between two and five months after their birth. On average, females have five to eight offspring’s per litter, three to six times per year. The rat life expectancy varies from six to eight months. Rats have highly developed senses: smell, taste buds, hearing and touch.
Behavior
As nocturnal animals, rats live in underground nooks: under pavements, sidewalks and hiding places near bodies of water.
Control
Blocking and sealing all potential entry points of any building is the first step for rat control. The use of snaps or glue board traps and even rat poison have also proven to be most effective in controlling rats, both indoors and outdoors of any construction.
Mice
The house mouse weighs from one half to one ounce. Its color is grey, measuring between three to four inches. The house mouse tail is the same lengths as the total of its body. With a pointed snout It has big hears and small eyes.
Biology
The female reaches sexual maturity in 35 days and produces on average 8 litters of 6 pups per year. With a life expectancy of one year, the house mouse largest litters are generally produced during the spring season while each new pup will begin their own respective reproductive cycle 5 to 6 weeks later. Mice can live up to a year.
Behavior
A skilled climber, the house mouse can jump up straight, up to 12 inches high, and easily jump from any structure as high as 8 feet without harming itself. It can easily squeeze through a hole or space as little as a dime and favors living (and hiding) in dark and remote locations of your home where there are little chances they can be disturbed.
Control
Blocking and sealing all potential entry points of any home or building is the first step in mouse control. The use of snaps or glue board traps, and even rat poison, have proven to be most effective in controlling mice, both indoors and outdoors of any construction.
