Breadcrumb Trail
Mice
What do they look like?
The common mouse found in buildings is the house mouse. The fur colour varies between light brown and grey. Body length varies between 60-90mm and the tail can add an additional 100mm. Often, the droppings found are black, rod-shaped and 3-6mm long.
Where do they live?
Mice live in nests, which are often built inside houses, especially during the Winter. Nests are built wherever there is access to a good source of food. Spaces under floors and lofts are favoured places for nests, which are built out of cloth, wool and paper.
Mouse holes are normally 20-30mm in diameter. Mice are mainly active at night and can be heard running about as they search for food.
Mice can squeeze through cracks as small as 5mm.
What do they eat?
Their favourite foods are cereal products, although they will eat almost anything. Most of the damage they do is by gnawing and ripping open packets. They also foul food with urine and droppings. Mice will gnaw their way through wood to get to sources of food.
How can I get rid of mice?
Mice are adaptable, highly mobile and breed rapidly. This can make successful mouse control a difficult task for the untrained individual.
Hygiene and housekeeping
Householders can assist in preventing infestation by some simple measures:
- Keeping your house and particularly the kitchen clean and tidy. Regularly cleaning up any food debris and crumbs from behind and underneath kitchen work surfaces, cupboards and appliances.
- Keeping your home in good repair so that mice cannot gain access to it, ( mice can through the smallest hole).
- Fill in any gaps around any pipework to the outside of the building and cover any ventilation grills or air-bricks with a fine metal mesh.
Self-treatment
It is important to get rid of mice quickly, and it is sometimes possible to carry out the work yourself by using traps or poisons.
- Traps - A range of traps humane and lethal are available from hardware stores and most garden centres.
- Poison - Mouse poison can be bought from hardware stores and most garden centres.
If you are using such methods yourself you must be careful to follow all the safety instructions.
If you are at all unsure get professional contractors to do this work.
Professional help
The Local Authority provides a service for the treatment of mice in domestic properties (There is a charge for this service depending on your circumstances). Fully trained Pest Control Operatives will survey the infestation, then place poison bait in the most appropriate locations. Follow up visits will be made in order to ensure the success of the treatment.
Booking an Appointment
There are several ways you can book an appointment for pest control treatment. You can:
- Book an appointment online
- Send an email to pest.control@trafford.gov.uk
- Call us on 0161 912 2000
This page was last reviewed on 3 August 2009
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