MN Nuisance Wilflife Control
ANIMALS
Bats
Birds
Honey Bees
Beavers
Gophers
Ferals
Moles
Muskrats
Opossums
Raccoons
Rats/Mice
Skunks
Snakes
Squirrels
Woodchucks
Woodpeckers
Photos
certified
SERVICES
Service Area
Inspections
Humane Trapping
Damage Repair
Deterrents
Exclusions
Consulting
Dead Animal Removal
Prevention
Guarantee

LINKS
MN DNR

MN Department of Health
MN Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory

RAT & MOUSE REMOVAL
Identification
House Mouse St MichaelThe house mouse is a small, slender rodent that has a slightly pointed nose, small black, somewhat protruding eyes, large sparsely haired ears, and a nearly hairless tail with obvious scale rings. They are generally grayish brown with a gray or buff belly. An adult house mouse weighs about 2/5 to 4/5 of an ounce (11 to 22 grams). House mice breeds year round. Females come into heat and are capable of conceiving every four days. A female may have 5 to 10 litters of 4 to 8 young per year. The gestation period is 18 to 21 days. A female is sexually mature at 6 to 10 weeks of age. The average house mouse lives for one to two years.
    
Norway RatThe Norway rat is a stocky burrowing rodent also called a sewer rat, brown rat, barn rat, gray rat. An adult weight about 1 pound. Their fur is coarse and usually brownish or reddish grey.  A female may come into heat every 4 to 5 days and have a litter of 6 to 12 young. The gestation period is 21 to 23 days. A female is sexually mature at 3 months of age. The average female has 4 to 6 litters a year.



Damage

In homes and commercial buildings they may feed on various stored food items or pet foods. They usually contaminate foodstuffs with urine, droppings, and hair. One mouse can excrete up to 100 fecal pellets and a rat can excrete 50 droppings per day, as well as deposit hundreds of small droplets of urine during its travels.  Damage to insulation inside walls and attics quickly occurs when rodents reach high populations in homes, apartments, offices, and commercial buildings. Rodents often make homes in large appliances, such as dishwashers, refrigerators, stoves, and washers and dryers. They may gnaw electrical wiring, and create fire hazards. They further damage the structure by gnawing openings through doors, windows sills, walls, ceilings and floors. 

Rodent Signs
A client will usually complain of squeaks and fighting noises, clawing and scrambling in the walls, or gnawing sounds will be heard. You will hear the sounds mostly at night unless the infestation is real bad.  You will see rat or mouse droppings or you will notice a musky odor that identifies their presence. You will see outdoor run ways along walls and buildings. You will see outside burrows free of dirt, next to the foundation.

Excluding Rodents
Nuisance Bat and Wildlife control does rodent proofing on buildings, we will seal all holes the diameter of a pencil or larger.  We rodent-proofing with heavy materials that will resist rodent gnawing, such as concrete, galvanized sheet metal, and heavy gauge galvanized steel hardware cloth. Large holes may need to be filled with concrete, smaller holes can be stuffed with copper wool or filled with caulk.   We will screen all vents and vent pipes with 1/4 inch hardware cloth. Seal gaps around windows and doors with weather-stripping. Install sweeps on doors to close gaps at the bottom. Metal kick plates will prevent rodents from gnawing on doors. We seal gaps around pipes and wires that enter the building Cap or screen drains in basement floors so rodents cannot enter through them.

Trapping
Trapping is the most effective method of controlling mice and rats. It requires labor and time.  Nuisance Bat and Wildlife Control doesn’t have a mouse trapping program, we leave this up to the homeowner, we will mouse proof the structure though.  We do provide a rat trapping program along with the structure exclusion.