How much a problem mice can be in your home is in direct proportion to how many of them are actually in your house. In other words, one mouse might not be a big problem, dozens of mice present a bigger problem, hundreds or more mice, a huge problem. Let’s understand why.

To begin with, mice represent the biggest population of mammals in urban areas and, as of 2022, their numbers are on the rise. In fact, it’s estimated that mice are in about 30% of all homes in the United States. Thirty percent! That’s ten in thirty homes. Thirty in 100. Three hundred in 1000. Which side of the 30% is your house on?

One reason for this is that mice reproduce easily and in great numbers; the average mouse lives 4-6 months and the average sexually mature female will have 50-60 offsrping in that time. Now consider this: The average lifespan for a mouse doubles to one year when it’s indoors, which now effectively doubles the number of offspring each female can produce. This means at 100-120 mice per breeding female. The numbers grow even more when you factor in the amount of buildings that have either been vacated or deteriorated through lack of maintenance during and since 2020 and the COVID-19, Coronavirus pandemic. What’s especially troubling here is that as the mice reproduce, they are forced to leave vacated buildings to look for food elsewhere.

If this seems like an urban-only problem, know that it isn’t. Rural and suburban homes are also dealing with more and more mice infestation problems. This is because things like warmer temperatures, and wildfires, a particular problem in California, are also leading mice to seek shelter elsewhere, in environments away from, but still adjacent to their common habitat. This means that if you live nearby any disturbed or disrupted areas commonly home to mice, they might be headed your way. FYI: new construction can also drive large numbers of mice looking for a new place to live, so be aware of new housing developments being built near you as well as major renovations projects, industrial complexes and more.

Regardless of what’s sending mice your way, keep in mind the diseases they can spread throughout your home and the risks they represent to the people in it. One of the most dangerous of which is Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus, or LCM. 

Symptoms of LCM infection are similar to those for influenza and can include fever, stiff neck, a lack of appetite, muscle aches, headache, nausea and vomiting. These symptoms generally occur 1–2 weeks after exposure to an infected rodent and can be much more severe, and dangerous, in pregnant women as well as people with a weakened immune system. In addition to this, mice can also bring fleas into your home, which adds an entirely new set of elements to the equation. Like mice, fleas are vector pests, which can transmit any number of dangerous germs and diseases to people and animals in and around your home including Murine typhus, Tungiasis and the Bubonic Plague. Moreover, they can wreak havoc on your dogs and cats through bites and itching as well as giving them tapeworms.

In addition to all this, mice are known to cause plenty of structural damage in and around the house: from chewing through wiring and insulation to infiltrating ductwork in HVAC systems. This invasiveness can lead to tens of thousands of dollars of damage, whether it’s due to repairing compromised wiring, replacing insulation and drywall or cleaning out ductwork where mice have died and whose odor is now spreading throughout the house. 

As always, we recommend you call an AIM PMP at the earliest signs of mice around your home to keep them from becoming a bigger problem. Call us anytime @ 916.282.1822.