Mice

Treatment for mice

The house mouse (mus domesticus) is the most common species found in Londonalthough the more rural field mouse is sometimes found inside houses in the late autumn when the weather starts to get colder. The adult mouse weighs less than 25 grams and has brown to grey fur on its back and grey to white underneath; it has large ears in relation to its body and small feet. Its tail is thin and the same length as its body.

Once inside your home, mice will typically make their nests underneath the floorboards of within wall cavities and voids.   They can live quite happily outdoors for part or even all of the year. Mice tend to be more active at night. They can climb well and can squeeze through astonishingly small gaps as small as a few millimetres. This means they can quite easily enter our homes and often the point of entry is far from obvious. They do not tend to need a separate water supply and can usually find enough moisture from the food they eat.

Although small, mice can be a health hazard. They can spread diseases.   They will certainly eat from stored foods intended for humans, and ruin the rest of it with their urine, droppings and fur. Mice can also cause damage to buildings by gnawing through woodwork, wires, pipes and household items. 

Life cycle

A mouse will live for around a year, during which time a female may breed up to ten times. The average size of a litter is six. Breeding occurs throughout the year but especially in the spring and autumn. 

If you find mice (or signs of their presence in your home) you should be able to attempt to get rid of them yourself, often quite successfully. Most garden centres, hardware shops and large chemists will stock a suitable range of poisons and traps. It is very important that you follow the instructions carefully. Alternatively you may choose to get a professional pest control technician in to carry out a survey, give you advice and possible carry out a course of treatment for you.

Treatment Services

If you have problems treating mice, or if you simply do not wish to tackle the problem yourself we will be able to help.   We would normally visit you and carry out a survey and offer advice.   If we agree to carry out treatment we would normally expect to visit again on one or two occasions until the problem has been solved.   These three visits would normally be two or here weeks apart. 

Please refer to our current fees and charges for the cost of this treatment service.   In some cases we may consider that the problem relates to an infestation that is more widespread than just your property.   This is often the case in flats and terraced housing.   In such cases we would carry out a survey and may refer the matter to our Environmental Health Officers to establish the extent of and responsibility for the infestation.   Treatment would normally require visits to a number of nearby homes at the same time and there will be issues to be resolved over the apportionment of costs.