This is the week to learn all about those cute little mice that you might be doing battle with at this very moment. The Professional Pest Management Alliance has designated Oct. 23-29 as Rodent Awareness Week. In that vein, here are some little known facts about your wee friend, the house mouse.

The Secret Life of Mice

• Mice have small territories, rarely traveling or nesting more than 30 feet (in any direction) from a food source.
• A single mouse can deposit 70 dark, spindle-shaped fecal droppings (= poop) in one day along runways, in corners, near food sources.
• Mice dribble urine as they travel along and their urine glows under ultraviolet light.
• Mice can jump 12 inches up from the floor to reach a surface and can safely jump down to the floor from a height of 8 feet. They can run up a textured vertical surface, and can run along pipes, cables, and electrical lines. They can squeeze through an opening little more than ¼-inch high.
• Mice leave dark, greasy “rub marks” from oils in their fur on surfaces that they frequently brush against or around openings that they routinely pass through.
• A female house mouse will give birth to an average of 6 young approximately 19 days after mating. She can mate again just 2 days after giving birth, resulting in 42-60 offspring in her lifetime. (Note: each of her female offspring is doing the same thing!)
• And in recent news, researchers have discovered that rodents can produce ultrasonic “songs” that they use to communicate with each other for attracting mates and defending territories. Mice make the noise in a unique way by aiming a small jet of air coming from the windpipe against the inner wall of the larynx, creating an ultrasonic whistle.

Look to Colonial for Answers to Your Mouse Questions

Colonial Pest has dozens of online Resource Blogs covering all aspects of mouse biology, inspection, and control. You can even find the answer to esoteric questions such as Can You Smell Mouse Pee? or How to Unstick Your Child From a Mouse Glue Trap. Just type “mice” into the search bar at the top of the Blogs page for more. If you have a mouse problem or a question, give us a call.