Problems With Having Mice in Your Home

At first, you may be reluctant to call for professional mice removal in Victoria. The mice are so small, surely they can't do any serious harm, right? At first, an infestation may seem like a minor annoyance that you can live with. However, mice breed quickly and soon they greatly outnumber you. Even one mouse can expose you to diseases and cause significant property damage. Within a few months, there could be hundreds or thousands of mice inside your walls. It is to your benefit to call for wildlife removal on Vancouver Island before a small problem escalates into a large one.

Health Risks Associated With Mice

Mice are generally not aggressive creatures and typically only bite in self-defence. Therefore, you are unlikely to contract a disease from a mouse bite. However, mice can carry many diseases that you could be exposed to through direct or indirect contact with mouse urine or feces. During the day, mice hide away and sleep. At night, they forage for food. If you leave food out in your kitchen, it can attract mice. While they are eating, the mice may urinate on your food. This can contaminate it with salmonella, a type of bacteria that affects the gastrointestinal tract. If you eat contaminated food, you may get an infection called salmonellosis. This can last approximately a week and causes stomach cramps, diarrhea, and fever. Salmonellosis can cause acute symptoms, but most people recover fully. Mice can also spread dangerous viral infections through their excrement. Lymphocytic choriomeningitis causes inflammation of the brain and the membranes that surround and protect it. This could cause permanent neurological damage. Hantavirus is an infection that can cause respiratory distress so severe that some people require artificial ventilation in a hospital. Even with artificial ventilation, approximately one-third of people who contract hantavirus won't survive. There is no vaccine for hantavirus and no cure. Not all species of mice carry all these diseases. However, there is no way of telling from looking at the droppings which species of mouse is living in your home. Therefore, if you find mouse droppings in your home, you should assume that they carry diseases and take precautions to prevent infection when cleaning them up.

Property Damage From Mice

Mice may spend their days hiding in inaccessible places such as wall voids, but they can make holes in the walls to come out into the open to look for food at night. Mice have very sharp teeth that they can use to chew holes in walls to serve as entries and exits to and from their hiding places. Not only are mice's teeth sharp, but they never stop growing throughout their lives. Mice have to keep gnawing on things to keep their teeth filed down, and they aren't too picky about what they chew as long as it is hard. If you have heirloom furniture, you may find teeth marks where mice have been chewing on it. Damage to your antiques is frustrating but not really dangerous. However, mice may also chew on wiring and utility lines. Mice can cause fire hazards in the home by chewing on gas lines that could cause a leak or electrical wires that could cause a spark.

Why Should You Have Professional Mice Removal in Victoria?

As part of the professional removal services we offer, we clean and decontaminate where the mice have been. This is especially important if the mice have gotten into your ventilation system. This could send aerosolized virus particles circulating throughout your house, putting you and your family at risk, yet these areas are difficult to clean on your own. Learn more about the many advantages of professional wildlife removal on Vancouver Island.