Rodents (Mice/ Rats)

House Mouse (Mus domesticus)

Size: Small, about 5-9 cm in lenght

Color: Usually gray in color, but some may appear darker.

Behaviour: Few people really like rats or mice, and no one wants them in their house. Rodents live everywhere outside and could enter at any time, but fortunately, this does not occur often. Usually, most home invasions occur in the fall, not because of cooler weather, but because the seeds and plants on which rodents feed outside are gone. Rats and mice must then seek new food sources. Unfortunately, one of these sources may be your home. Mice are excellent climbers and are capable of gaining entry through holes around soffit vents and around cables entering the building, through holes in gable vent screens, and through turbine and box vents on roofs. Most garage doors on homes allow enough space for mice to fit underneath, as well.

Habitats: Mice are found in almost every part of the country from urban to rural areas, and are especially prevalent in urban and suburban communities. Mice are found in buildings more often than rats because they are smaller and are able to find more available entryways into a building. Mice can fit through a crack or hole 1/4 of an inch or larger – or about the width of a pencil. Mice will make their nests in many areas in and around the home, especially in stacked firewood, stones and bricks, and piles of leaves or other debris.

Control: The best way to avoid invasions of mice is to (1) provide as little harbourage as possible that might attract rodents, and (2) seal as many holes and cracks in the outside of the home through which mice might enter.

Roof Rat (Rattus rattus)

Size: Larger rodents that may grow to a body length of 20 -25 cm and weigh up to 500 g

Color: Can vary from gray to brown to black.

Behaviour: Roof Rats are excellent climbers and are capable of gaining entry through holes around soffit vents and around cables entering the building, through holes in gable vent screens, and through turbine and box vents on roofs. Many garage doors on homes allow enough space for rats to fit underneath, as well. Their feces are about 1 cm long and have pointed ends.

The Roof Rat is the most common rat species in Metro Vancouver

 

Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus)

Size: A Norway rat is the largest of the three common rodent pests, weighing about 600 g.

Color: Can vary from gray to brown to black.

Behaviour: A Norway rat is the largest of the three common rodent pests, weighing about 600 g. Their droppings are about 2 cm in length with blunt ends. They prefer moist conditions and will often be found in crawlspaces and lower portions of buildings. They like to burrow and are often found nesting under low lying shrubs, sheds and other protected areas.

 

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