The house mouse is one of the most common mammalian species in the world, almost every other household suffers from mouse infestation in North America.Mice are one of the most prolific rodents, studies have shown that a pair of mice under ideal conditions can keep on reproducing and at one stage reach plague proportions. As insane as that sounds, it is the truth about the reproductive power of female mice.No mammal comes close to the reproduction rate of the house mouse, for instance, in a matter of months, six mice may reproduce and become 60. The average life expectancy of mice is around 18 months to two years, only in captivity under perfect conditions do they live longer and in the wild, mice live for around 12-18 months on an average. A pet mouse can achieve sexual maturity when they are just a month old. The mice reproduce multiple times in a year, the female mouse is capable of mating just after giving birth to multiple litters. Now that we have all the facts, we can get an idea about how many mice are born in just a month and why the mice population is so high.How often do mice reproduce?At the age of just one month, house mice are one of the youngest animals to be sexually mature. As a fact, the common house mouse is more efficient at reproduction than other kinds of a mouse. Irrespective of how cute the house mice be, they can have an alarming population in no time. Let us look at some facts and numbers which will help us better understand the potentially alarming house mouse population.One female mouse is capable of giving birth to 5-10 litters in a year. The size of a litter varies every time but on average, a litter usually comprises six to eight young ones. At this multiplication rate, just one mouse can give birth to around 32-56 mice in a year or even more. But this is just the beginning, the situation gets further out of hand when the newborns are able to breed in just 30 days added with that, a mouse has a gestation period of merely 20 days and they can breed year-round. The reason why a mouse attains sexual maturity in merely 30 days’ time is, these rodents grow at an astonishing rate. The baby mice are born blind, deaf and at the same time, it doesn’t have a single strand of hair on its body. Initially, for a couple of weeks, the baby mice depend upon their mothers for food as they only drink their mother’s milk like most mammals. By the time a mouse is four weeks old, it has now completely functional eyes, has teeth, hair on its body and is now capable of reproducing. Mice are polygamous in nature, which means that one male mouse mates with several female mice, another reason behind the staggering rodent population. Additionally, the house mice re-produce more efficiently than the ones in the wild because the former doesn’t have to face the tough breeding conditions which a wild mouse has to encounter. Neither do the house mice be afraid of natural predators such as hawks, owls and nor do they have to be concerned about the availability of food. This is the primary reason why wild mice usually breed during the spring season when a better amount of food is available.How many babies do mice have at once?The rate at which these pests reproduce and the number of baby mice in one litter are the two primary problems behind all mouse problems. It is pretty difficult to tackle such a huge population which along with growing so quickly also adapts in no time. Mice have a reputation for eating practically anything and living in the most unthinkable of places.Every litter that a female produces has at least one baby mouse and a maximum of 14 babies but the average litter size of the females is around six to eight baby mice. On average, these babies weigh around 0.03-0.07 oz (0.9-2 g) and are blind, deaf. The parent mice take proper care of babies as the baby mice are entirely dependent on the mothers. Moreover, the female mice are physically capable of breeding immediately after producing a litter of around five to seven babies. Although it has been seen that usually, they take rest of around two to three days before getting pregnant again, combining this with a gestation period of as short as 20 days, the new mice are here in practically no time.How to prevent mice infestation in the house?Apart from pet mice that are taken care of properly any kind of unwanted rodents in the house sooner or later lead to an infestation. There might be mice living indoors within the walls or in the insulation and there are high chances that you aren’t even aware of it. There are certain signs you can pick up and get an idea about mice in your home and if you feel so, you must contact the pest control department immediately.As a fact, the Illinois Department of Public Health believes 25% of fires in a home that are reasoned as unknown caused are caused by babies of mice who gnaw on electrical wires and gas pipelines. Before you contact the pest control department, take a look around your house and if you find any mice droppings other than that of your pet mice, it means that the unwanted rodents have found a food source and are breeding somewhere in your house. Some other signs include foul smell due to urine, feces and squeaking sound from walls is one of the biggest signs of the presence of baby mice in the house. Although the best way to prevent mice infestation is to contact pest control, in order to stop mice immediately so that they do not spread disease in the home, you must keep your house clean, avoid keeping any leftover food out in the open. One can also clean the yard and restrict access to it as it is the primary source from where mice arrive. But the mouse problem is not to be trifled with, these rodents are prolific breeders and you will have a big problem on your hands if you aren’t proactive.How to stop mice from multiplying?House mice are a menace for people, they sneak inside a house, give birth to young ones and in a matter of a few weeks, your entire house is infested with pests. These rodents can spread diseases that can harm you as well as your pets. Multiplying mice isn’t as big a problem in the wild as it is in the urban areas because in the wild a lot of mice are unable to survive due to a shortage of food in the harsh winter or due to extreme temperatures in the summer conditions or the larger predators eat them.In order to stop mice from harming your home, first of all, try and limit their access to your indoors. Next up, other than calling the pest control the next best alternative is to go to any of the nearby pet stores and buy snap traps. You can place this trap beside or behind a piece of food, then whenever the mouse comes for eating food it will get trapped up. Remember to remove the dead mouse, else the other pups will soon figure out and not go towards it. One another way is to use a live mouse as bait for the others towards the snap traps. But these mouse traps are a slow method, they take a lot of time in catching all the mice and you will know for sure if all of them have been eliminated so the best option is to contact one of the pest control companies. They have all the safety gear and prior knowledge regarding making your house sanitized and pest proof.
The house mouse is one of the most common mammalian species in the world, almost every other household suffers from mouse infestation in North America.
