Scratching, gnawing, skittering—having mice in your home is no doubt an annoyance. Their noises can keep you up at night. And seeing a mouse in your house can also send you screaming in fear.
But if you reside in a rural or semi-rural wooded area in Southern Ontario—or have a cottage there—then having mice in your home can have particularly serious and significant dangers. Why? There’s currently a deer mice epidemic in the area and you should be on high alert.
Do you need wildlife removal services? Request a quote today!
If you have seen light grey mice with white fur on their bellies and suspect that deer mice have taken up residence in your home or cottage, you must be proactive and remove them right away. Here’s why.
1. Exposure to Hantavirus through Contact
Deer mice can be significantly harmful to your health. Of all of the diseases that they carry, hantavirus might be the worst. Approximately 6% of these critters carry hantavirus, which is a disease-causing virus that can lead to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which can be lethal to those infected. Death by mouse is actually a serious issue.
You can become infected with HPS through contact with deer mice or with their urine or droppings.
The symptoms of HPS include fever, headache, muscle pain, and chills. If you ignore the symptoms, it will become harder and harder to breathe in approximately two-weeks’ time.
2. Exposure to Hantavirus through Dust
Not only do the deer mice themselves put you at risk of contracting hantavirus through direct contact, but simply breathing in dust contaminated with their urine and feces can lead to infection as well.
Removing the mice from your home is only the first step. You must also decontaminate your home in a safe way. Your attic or other parts of your home could be filled with urine and feces. Trying to clean it up on your own without proper safety equipment can make the particles airborne and put you at risk.
3. Destruction
It doesn’t take long for deer mice to start a spree of destruction once they’re inside your home. The urine and feces they spread around won’t be your only concern. These critters gnaw holes and create tunnels in your insulation to get around to different food storage locations and nest sites. They’ll destroy your possessions for nesting materials.
The longer you wait to remove them from your home, the more time they’ll have to destroy your insulation, your pipes, your electrical wiring, and virtually anything else they come in contact with. And these critters multiply quickly. Wait too long to call in the professionals and you’ll have a full-blown infestation on your hands in no time.
The destruction they cause can even put you at risk of floods and fires.
4. A Never-Ending Problem
If you’ve removed one or two of these rodents from your home, you shouldn’t get too relieved. The mere smells of past mice can attract new ones to your home. If you do not clean up properly, you may soon be forced to deal with new a new infestation.
If you haven’t taken care to prevent future re-entry through repairs and restorations, then you’re also making it very easy for these new mice to come in and put you at risk all over again.
Remember, mice only need a dime-sized hole to invade your home—so you must be vigilant when it comes to repairs. You must consider all entry points, including improperly sealed pipes, cracks in walls, floors, and foundations, and holes in your roof.
5. Big Costs
Unfortunately, house destruction caused by rodents is rarely covered by homeowners insurance. Most insurance carriers believe that these infestations are preventable, and it’s up to you to do regular home maintenance to ensure that they do not get into your home, and if they do, to get rid of them before costly damage occurs.
Deer mice can cause tens of thousands of dollars of damage to your house. And all of the repair and restoration costs will likely come out of your pocket.
If you suspect you have deer mice in your home or cottage, contact a wildlife removal company right away. Doing so can prevent the spread of hantavirus and other disease risks. A wildlife removal company will not only use a humane mouse removal process to get rid of the current mouse infestation, but will decontaminate your home and help with repairs and restoration to prevent future re-entry as well.
Do you need wildlife removal services? Request a quote today!