|
Habits.
Excellent climbers. Can be found in cultivated fields,
at or below ground level, or in upper stories of
skyscrapers. Curious and inquisitive. Mice explore
their limited home range of 10 to 30 feet daily for
newly introduced objects. Nocturnal. Most activity and
feeding takes place between a half-hour after sunset
and a half-hour before sunrise. Strong social
hierarchy.
Food Preferences and
Consumption. Omnivores. Seeds (preferred food), cereal
grains, fruits, vegetables and meats. Mice frequent
many feeding sites –often 20 to 30-during their
active period, eating small amounts of food from each
site. Daily consumption: 1/10 ounce. Water is not
essential to survival if food contains at least 16
percent moisture.
Droppings.
Droppings have pointed ends and are about ¼ inch (.64
cm) in. Fresh droppings are soft and dark in color. A
house mouse averages 50 droppings per day.
HOUSE
MOUSE REPRODUCTION CYCLE.
Mice sexually mature and mate in as little as 5 weeks.
Generally, sexual maturity is reached in 5 to 8 weeks.
Female mice
reproduce up to 8 times in their life span, with
litters averaging 4 to 7 pups. Therefore, a single
female may produce up to 56 offspring annually.
Mice and rats
reproduce rapidly, as is generally the case with small
prey animals. Their relatively short life spans, short
gestation periods and rapid sexual maturity make
effective rodent control critical. The reproductive
cycle and number of rodent offspring increases with
adequate food, water and harborage.
|
