They'll take over your house,
contaminate your food,
and leave their feces all over the place.
You might think that you've done
a good job keeping them out,
but they can sneak in through cracks
or holes the size of a dime.
It might not seem like a big problem
because you've only seen one of them.
But for every mouse you spot
in your house,
there could be up to 150 more
that are hiding.
Like rats,
mice carry several diseases
and transmit them through their saliva
or feces to humans.
One of the worst of these diseases
is the hantavirus,
which is a lung syndrome
that has a high death rate.
So, if you live in one of the
21 million U.S. homes
infested by these tiny, filthy rodents,
what can you do to stay safe?
A mice infestation can damage
your property
and even burn it to the ground.
To keep their teeth short,
mice chew on things such as wires.
And chewing wires until they become bare
can spark a fire.
The Illinois Department
of Public Health states
that 25% of the fires in the U.S.
attributed to unknown causes
were started by rodents.
If you know that mice live in your house,
it’s smart to cover your wires with
material they can’t bite through,
like concrete.
Since mice can eat up to 20 times a day,
they’re more likely to infest areas
near lots of food.
Keeping your kitchen clean is a
good strategy to use all year.
But you should be even more careful
during the winter months.
Mice infestations are more common
between October and February.
Due to the cold,
mice will get into your house
looking for food,
water and a cozy place
to spend the winter.
In November 2018,
Desiree Nicks went to a cinema
in Alberta, Canada.
In the middle of the movie,
she felt a sharp pain in her leg.
When she looked down,
she saw a massive bite with blood
and pus dripping down her leg.
She used the light from her phone
to look under the seats
and she discovered three mice.
The manager cleaned Desiree’s wound.
Later she went to a hospital,
and a doctor prescribed antibiotics
for a week.
Currently, there aren’t any laboratory tests
to identify whether a mouse is carrying
rat-bite fever bacteria.
So if you’ve been bitten
or scratched by a mouse,
you'll need to get
immediate medical care.
You’ll need to take antibiotics
that’ll protect you against
life-threatening bacteria
that the mouse might carry.
Since mice move in the dark,
it could be months before you spot one.
But they leave signs of their presence.
Fecal pellets and scratch marks
on surfaces
are the most common signs
of mice infestation.
If you find urine or feces,
clean the area with
a bleach-water solution,
and be sure to protect yourself
by wearing gloves and a mask.
Never try to vacuum mice droppings,
as that would only release
more bacteria into the air.
Once you learn that there is
a mice infestation,
the last thing you should do is ignore it.
Whether you set mouse traps yourself
or call a pest control company,
you'll need to put your best efforts
into getting rid of the mice.
A mice infestation will never
go away naturally.
It would only get worse.
A mouse can live from 9 to 12 months,
and each female can have up
to 150 offspring.
So whatever you do,
do something
when there's a mouse in your house.
Well done.
You survived a mice infestation.
But if you think that mice are gross,
how about dealing with an infestation
of critters that can crawl inside you?
That's right. We're talking cockroaches.
If you're not careful,
they could try to lay eggs in your ear.
Want to know how to stop them?
Find out here.