How much do you know about the common house mouse? Are you aware that a mouse can hide in your home without making any detectable noises and spread diseases to you, your family, and your pets? Do you know that the damage mice cause inside your home can lead to costly repairs? Do you know that a little tiny mouse can be responsible for burning your home to the ground? Today, we're going to take a sobering look at just how bad a mouse infestation can be.
Wood Rot
When the wood of your home gets wet, the wood can begin to rot. This will make it easier for mice to chew a hole and get inside your home. You're probably aware of this. But do you know that mice can chew holes in wood, weatherstripping, door sweeps, and other building materials to get into your home and that those holes can allow rainwater to get into your wall, ceiling, floor, and roofline voids? This can lead to widespread wood rot in locations you aren't able to see into. It can also cause sheetrock, plywood, and other materials to decay.
Mold
When wood and paper get wet, it begins a process that allows mold to develop. The moisture causes mold spores in the air to attach themselves to surfaces. Once there, they will begin to grow. If black mold takes root, it can lead to serious health concerns for everyone living inside your home. Symptoms begin with chronic coughing and sneezing and irritation of the eyes, throat, and nose. Over time, symptoms can worsen to nausea, vomiting, and bleeding within your lungs. All of this because a tiny mouse chewed a hole and let rainwater enter your home.
Property Damage
There are so many ways that little, itty bitty mice can destroy your belongings, in a big way. They urinate and defecate on stored items. They chew fabrics, wallpaper, sheetrock, insulation and other items to collect materials for their nests. They chew holes to gain access to stored furniture and to nest inside. They chew holes in cardboard boxes and damage the items inside as they explore, leave their waste, and attempt to make nests.
Food Contamination
This is one that most people know about. A mouse can contaminate the food in your pantry and kitchen. This is because they can have harmful organisms living on their fur and in their waste products. When they explore your food-storage areas and chew holes in packages, the food inside can become contaminated. Some of the diseases they can spread to you in this way are leptospirosis, lymphocytic chorio-meningitis, salmonellosis, and tularemia.
Ticks
There are several ectoparasites that can live on mice, but ticks are undoubtedly the worst. The list of diseases that can be spread by ticks is quite long. Some of them can have lifelong medical implications. When you consider that a single mouse can have as many as a hundred seed ticks on its body, there is no doubt that mice can be a serious threat to the health of everyone living in your home.
House Fire
Mice have a propensity to chew on wires. Under the right circumstances, this can cause a spark and ignite insulation or some other flammable material within your home. Experts estimate that twenty percent of undetermined house fires in the United States are caused by rodents.
Are mice getting inside your New Jersey home? Reach out to Arrow Pest Control for advanced rodent monitoring and removal. In light of all the ways mice can harm your health and properly, it is best to deal with them quickly and effectively. We look forward to assisting you with addressing this important pest threat.
