The Destructive House Mouse

By Al Lowe
Correspondent
Almost everyone knows what the House Mouse looks like. A small grey animal with big ears and a naked tail. The little animal you see flitting along the baseboard, in your garage or barn is probably a House Mouse.
These mice form one of the most destructive forces we have in the world. There are several reasons for this. One is that the rate of reproduction is immense. Young mice can start reproducing at five weeks. The gestation period is three weeks. The average litter is 5 or 6. Put this together, and it means that a single pair of mice could theoretically give rise to several million inside of one year.
A second factor is their destructiveness. They eat anything that people eat - grain, meat, cereals, any household goods. They also eat lots of other things, soap, glue, books. Besides what they eat, they also spoil food. Millions of tons of food are spoiled every year by mouse droppings and urine. Other things are also destroyed - sofas, mattresses, carpets, any stored material, clothes, even insulation.
These mice are also territorial. They defend their living areas very aggressively. But if they have to move, they do so readily - to your house, your barn, your neighbour's shed.
In addition to all this, they carry diseases - typhus, spotted fever, salmonella (food poisoning), and trichinosis, among others.
The House Mouse originated in the old world, probably Turkestan. It spread throughout Europe, and was brought to North America in Spanish, French and British ships. In towns and on farms, the main means of controlling mice are by cats, traps and poison. With small infestations, this works quite well. In the wild, hawks. owls, snakes, weasels, foxes, coyotes, crows and so on are quite efficient at keeping the numbers down. The milk snake is especially so, since it can slither through the mouse tunnels. Unfortunately, many people try to kill every snake they see - less snakes - more mice - more destruction.
The House Mouse, Mus domesticus, has only one useful reason for living, as far as man is concerned. Those cute white mice which are used so much for medical research (and for pets) are albino forms of the common grey variety.
So the little mouse, so cute in the lab, is one of the most destructive mammals we have. So yourself and your neighbours a favour, and kill all that you see. We will never overcome this pest, but can do our best to keep it under control.
Mickey Mouse is lots of fun for the kids when he's on T.V., but he sure isn't any fun when he gets into your house.