RODENTS

The following is an overview of the potential losses that could be caused by rodents through disease, contamination, and damage.

Food lost to rodents is equivalent to food for 200 million people.
Rodents consume 20% of the world’s food supply.
They are responsible for millions of dollars of damage to computer systems and other electronic equipment.
Annually, $120 million is spent on rodent control programs or devices.
Annually, 100,000 individuals are bitten by rodents.
For fires listed as “cause unknown,” 25% of them are attributed to rats or squirrels.
Rats were responsible for shutting down the Sacramento area’s Internet.
Rats have also shut down an airliner, costing the company $100K per day, and totaling almost $1M before the problem was solved.

Gray Squirrel (Sciurus Carolinensis)

Squirrels can store food in attic areas, helping mice and other insect pests, such as carpet beetles, survive

House Mouse (Mus Musculus)

Contrary to some beliefs, mice do not grow up to become rats.
Mice can fit through holes only 1/4 inch in diameter, usually without chewing.
Most houses that do not use professional pest control programs have mice living in the attic, feeding on seeds and drinking water found in gutters.
Mice can live in attics without ever coming down for food and water, only doing so in cases of overpopulation.
Black rat snakes will commonly also live in attics in order to prey on mice.
When homeowners find mouse activity in the common living areas of their homes, they should assume that a larger problem may be present in the attic and other inaccessible areas of their homes.
Mice usually produce six babies per litter, birthing seven litters per year, each capable of living up to three years, meaning potentially 126 more mice within three years.
They are excellent climbers that can ascend a brick wall without breaking stride, can jump up to 15 inches, and survive falls of more than 8 feet without injury.

Sewer Rat or Norway Rat (Rattus Norvegicus)

These rats can produce up to six litters a year, with an average of seven babies per litter, meaning an average of 42 young each year.
They can live up to five years and become sexually mature at only four months.
For a breeding female, she can produce up to 194 babies throughout her lifespan.
In many cases, rats have moved out of depressed areas and into older suburban areas to enjoy the better quality of food being expelled into sanitary sewers through garbage disposals.
The practice of feeding dogs, cats, and birds outside will definitely attract rats.
Rats can fit through holes the size of a half-dollar coin, but will chew through an opening if it is not big enough.
Rats can chew through lead, aluminum, bone, cinderblock, and concrete as well as plastic garbage cans.
They are known to spread diseases such as bubonic plague, which is still active in the Southwestern United States.
They are excellent climbers, often spotted in trees and along telephone lines, and are capable of a 4- to 5-foot standing jump.
Rats are also excellent swimmers that can swim as far as 150 feet through a water line, emerging in toilets or floor drains (which is why an unused basement toilet should be blocked or removed).
Their natural enemies include large dogs, owls, and hawks, but they are ferocious enough to back down even large predators such as tigers.

Deer Mouse or White-Footed Mouse (Peromyscus spp.)

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