In the evenings, under the floor or behind the walls, someone's squeak is often heard. In the morning, someone's droppings are found in the kitchen. By one squeak you can’t tell what kind of rodents have bred within the boundaries of the dwelling. Is it possible to find out what kind of rodents they are from the litter? And how is mouse droppings different from rat droppings?
Before buying mousetraps
Before you take care of buying mousetraps, you really should first establish what kind of rodents settled in your home. This is done in order not to waste money. Not every mousetrap is suitable for catching a rat, just as not every trap can catch a mouse.
As it was said, by the squeak you will not immediately know who is raging in the inter-wall space or behind the plinth. But you can tell by the feces of the owners.
How to identify a mouse
The properties of mouse droppings are as follows. Each individual mouse "turd" rarely reaches sizes over 6 mm. Basically, within 4-5 mm. Mice rarely grow to large sizes. Butthey take in numbers. Often, small feces, up to 3 mm long, can be found next to large ones. This means that a brood has already occurred within the boundaries of your house and both adults and young animals are present in the family.
What does mouse droppings look like based on geometric data? Most often, these are oval granules, somewhat similar to oats, only with rounded edges. Their color may change depending on what the mice eat. If it is cereal or bread, then their droppings are light gray in color. Sometimes a little darker, sometimes a little lighter, but it is never black. This is the color of rat droppings.
Rat droppings
Even a relatively young rat will have significantly larger and thicker droppings than a mouse. What does rat droppings look like in color format? The color of rat feces also depends on the food they eat. But most often it is black with various shades. So the pellets of rat droppings differ from mouse droppings both in color and size. If you find feces larger than 6 mm and dark on the floor in the morning, then you have rats in your house. If light and less than 6 mm, then mice.
Another distinctive feature
There are never too many rats. Therefore, their feces, although large, will be small. But if there are mice in the house, there will be a lot of mouse droppings. A rat may leave its feces in one or two places. Mice, on the other hand, “put” their pellets anywhere, and in exorbitant amounts. If there are many granules, this is direct evidence of the presence inhome of a family of mice. Rats, on the other hand, may not leave their "faeces" at all. A couple of large black feces is proof that rats are cohabiting with you.
Rules for the extermination of rodents with mousetraps and rattraps
When you managed to recognize by the litter who settled in your house, you can go for traps and traps. Spring mousetraps against rats are a very good remedy. Remember where you most often saw mouse droppings. This will help to trace the path of the rodent from the mink to the feeding place. Most often, its role is played by an unclosed or not tightly closed garbage can. But mice will not mind chewing through the back wall of the kitchen set.
Don't try to seal a gap through which rodents enter the house. It will only make them behave more carefully. In addition, they will gnaw their moves elsewhere, and this is again damage to baseboards and other finishes, which means a waste of money. Therefore, try to catch them through one original gap.
It is best not to place mousetraps directly near the gap. The mouse will smell the bait from a distance. And if one of the mouse relatives constantly dies near the crack, this will alert the rest of the brethren. During the night, you can catch only one mouse near the gap, because it simply scares away the rest with its death squeal. If you place mousetraps around the entire perimeter of the room in which they eat (usually this is a kitchen), you can catch up to 3-4 pieces per night. Same waysuch is the case with rats.
About the poison
Another effective way to rid your house of mice is mouse poison. It smells very attractive to mice. And they die from it very quickly. The main thing, again, is not to place the poison too close to the gap, from where the rodents come out to hunt for food. Otherwise, the mouse, having drunk on arsenic, will have time to crawl somewhere under the floor or into the wall and die there. You won't believe how badly their decaying bodies stink. Sometimes you have to dismantle the walls to get rid of their corpses. And if there were a lot of mice, and they all crawled to die on different sides, you will have to take apart half the house.
Therefore, fast-acting poisons should be poured away from the treasured gap so that the mice die before they crawl to it. If the poisons are weak and the mice, crawling away, will die somewhere at home, you yourself understand what will happen then.
Cat in the house
This is also an option. But it is not always effective. People love their pets very much and, often, they are fattened so that they lose the desire not only to chase mice, but also to move in general. And not all breeds are prone to this occupation. The craving to catch mice is in their genes and is inherited. If a mother cat was not inclined to this occupation, her offspring will be 50% lazy as well.
And even with all the fact that your cat will constantly wait for prey at the bin, it is not a fact that he will be able to catch a mouse. Mice are very agile and able to huddle and crawl throughsmallest gaps. Therefore, it is not always possible for a cat to help get rid of mice by 100%.
Conclusion
That is why experts advise getting rid of mice in a home with the help of mousetraps. Caught - thrown away. And all things.
