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Characteristics
Size: Small, its body rarely exceeding two inches long
and one ounce in weight.
Color: Usually gray in color, but some may appear darker.
Mice are more numerous than rats and are more widespread
throughout urban and suburban communities. A mouse can be distinguished
from a young rat since the rat's head and feet will be overly large
in relation to its body.
Behavior
Few people really like rats or mice, and no one wants them
in their house. Rodents live everywhere outside and could enter
at any time, but fortunately, this does not occur often. Usually,
most home invasions occur in the fall, not because of cooler weather,
but because the seeds and plants on which rodents feed outside
are gone. Rats and mice must then seek new food sources. Unfortunately,
one of these sources may be your home. Mice are excellent climbers
and are capable of gaining entry through holes around soffit vents
and around cables entering the building, through holes in gable
vent screens, and through turbine and box vents on roofs. Most
garage doors on homes allow enough space for mice to fit underneath,
as well.
Habitat
Mice are found in almost every part of the country from urban
to rural areas, and are especially prevalent in urban and suburban
communities. Mice are found in buildings more often than rats
because they are smaller and are able to find more available entryways
into a building. Mice can fit through a crack or hole 1/4 of an
inch or larger - or about the width of a pencil. Mice will make
their nests in many areas in and around the home, especially in
stacked firewood, stones and bricks, and piles of leaves or other
debris.
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Mus
domesticus