The young rats reach sexual maturity in 2-3 months; females average 4-7 litters a year, with 8-12 pups per litter. Adults live about a year. They live in colonies. The Norway rat generally prefers to live in underground tunnels. On farms, they will be near a food source: barns, granaries, livestock buildings, and silos. In the cities, they will be in the ground if there is available space, but have been known to live entirely inside buildings. Rats will seek food outside, but many times will come inside at night to forage for food and return to their burrows. Needing a water source, they can obtain water from toilets, sinks, rain puddles, or condensation from utility pipes. Their nesting burrows on the outside are often along the foundation of walls. As the rat family grows, more burrows are built, resulting in a network of underground tunnels.

Inside, the Rat commonly nest on the lower levels, but if the population is too large, they may be found in the attic and ceiling areas.

Their nests are built from soft material like paper or grass chewed into small pieces. Rats will climb if necessary to enter a building. The rat is an excellent swimmer.

Rats are suspicious of changes in the environment or new foods and for this reason it may take a couple of days for traps or poison baits to take. Rats are nocturnal, with their peak activity at dusk or before dawn. When the population is large or they are disturbed or hungry, you can see activity during the day.

Mice

MICE: General Facts

The House Mouse is the most common to invade our homes and buildings.

Body length can range anywhere from 21/2 to 4 inches; body weight is less than one ounce, and average life expectancy is up to one year.

Mice prefer to eat grains, but will eat anything man eats.

Mice can enter structures through openings as small as a pen lid.

MICE: Breeding Facts

Adult females go into heat every 4-5 days.

Gestation is 21 days.

A litter size averages 5-6 with up to eight litters per year.

After giving birth, the female can be in heat within 24-48 hours.

The young mouse is sexually mature as early as five weeks of age.

Potential Diseases Carried By Mice and Rats

Haemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome

The virus is spread by:

• Breathing in dust that is contaminated with rodent urine or droppings
• Direct contact with rodents or their urine and droppings
• Bite wounds, although this does not happen frequently
• The disease may spread through direct contact from person to person, but it is extremely rare

Leptospirosis

The virus is spread by:

• Eating food or drinking water contaminated with urine from infected animals
• Contact through the skin or mucous membranes (such as inside the nose) with water or soil that is contaminated with the urine from infected animals

Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis (LCM)

The virus is spread by:

• Breathing in dust that is contaminated with rodent urine or droppings
• Direct contact with rodents or their urine and droppings
• Bite wounds, although this does not happen frequently

Rat-Bite Fever

The virus is spread by:

• Bite or scratch wound from an infected rodent, or contact with a dead rodent
• Eating or drinking food or water that is contaminated by rat faeces.

Salmonellosis

The virus is spread by:

• Eating or drinking food or water that is contaminated by rat faeces

Tularaemia

The bacteria is spread by:

• Handling infected animal carcasses
• Being bitten by an infected tick, deerfly or other insect
• Eating or drinking contaminated food or water
• Breathing in the bacteria, F. tularensis

Contact Us

If your experiencing infestations of rats mice or any other kind of pest give our pest control team a call for a free quote

0121 459 3997

Birmingham based pest control specailists