Rodents
How to deal with rodents
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House mouse. |
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Mouse nest in a hat. |
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Norway rat. |
Pests need four things: a way in, food, water, and a place to hide. Eliminate these to keep rodents at bay. Rodents won’t start gnawing on a smooth surface so seal cracks and use door sweeps to keep them out. Set traps along their paths.
What they look like
Mice, rats, and voles. Chipmunks and squirrels. These rodents have similar body plans: long and low to the ground. Whiskers that let them feel their surroundings. Great climbers, and all (minus voles) great jumpers, too. All have brown or gray fur. Then there’s their trademark: two long front teeth. Most can squeeze through impossibly small holes, relative to body size—the width of a pencil. Only chipmunks and squirrels have noticeably furry tails. Think you’ve seen a rat, but it waddled rather than ran? Could be an opossum, which isn’t a rodent.
Where they live
Where don’t they live? A ball of twigs and leaves in a tree is probably a squirrel nest. A hole in the dirt could be a vole or chipmunk hole. And mice, voles, or rats can make a comfy nest most anywhere.
What they do
Destructive and disease carrying—not a pest you want in your home. Remember those front teeth? Rodents gnaw to get where they want to go. These teeth are hard as steel so rodents don’t discriminate. If they chew through electrical wires, your house could burn down. Mice drip pee wherever they go. But the pee could trigger asthma, and mice carry diseases too.
Resources
IPM for Mice: A Property Manager's Guide
Dr. Bobby Corrigan’s recommendations for controlling mice in apartment buildings
Dr. Bobby Corrigan’s “Considerations When Using Traps and Rodenticides to Control Mice”
StopPests Blog post on “appliance” mice
Keep Mice Out of School, Install the Right Door Sweep
IPM Toolkit for Building Owners, Managers and Staff
Presentation on the health hazards of rodents
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Use picture-based materials to communicate with residents like the “Stop Mice!” guide pictured above. |
Stop Mice! - A picture-based guide for residents Spanish: Detenga los Ratones!
Protecting Gardens from Voles, Moles, & More recorded webinar
National Park Service Rodent Exclusion Manual
Recorded Tree Squirrel Webinar
Rodent-Proof Construction and Exclusion Methods
How-To Videos from NYS IPM Program and Sustainable Places Network
See results for “mice” from the Northeastern IPM Center’s resources database.
FAQ - About Rodents
Are sewer rats and regular rats the same thing?Are there any standard treatment measures for roaches, which counteract common or standard treatment measures for mice and rats?
Can rats and mice coexist?
Do cats help control mice and rats?
Do ultrasonic devices work?
Even though in the fall field mice and the deer mice are trying to come into your home and they are more seasonal, they can establish a population inside a home. Is that correct?
How do you set a mouse trap?
How should I control rodents around dumpsters?
Is it true that cockroaches and mice won't exist in the same apartment?
What exclusion techniques work for rodents?
What type of caulk works best in sealing out mice?
What's your experience working with construction sites near housing causing Norway rat problems?
With rats, should we deal with the interior population first because they will try to get outside?
