About the house mouse

Do you know about House Mouse? Yes, the house mouse is probably the most common pest that most houses have to deal with. Most people would view it as a menace but to some it is a blessing without which life would be different. These rodents are pets not mentioning the amount of advancements they have enabled in the medical field.

• The appearance of the house mouse

The house mouse is a small mammal classified as a rodent. It is an animal with small rounded ears, a long neck, a pointed snout and a long tail that is almost hairless. Behavior

• General behavior

This creature is an animal that conducts it movements on all fours. However, when fighting or eating then they will use their hind legs while getting support their tail. This act is known as tripoding. House mice are known to be great swimmers, jumpers and also climbers. They are nocturnal meaning that they are most active at night and spends the day hours sleeping, about 12.5 hours a day.

• Social behavior

Social behavior of the house mouse is not characterized really by the specie but by the environmental conditions in which it is exposed to like the availability of space and food. For these reason, they exist in two types: the commensal and the non-commensal. Commensal house mice are those that have proximity to humans while the opposite is true for non-commensal. Apart from the proximity difference, another difference between these two types is the issue of aggression. While he male to male aggression is common in both, female to female aggression does not exist in commensal house mice. The male aggressions characterized in both are normally practiced by the male mice with the purpose of protecting their territories.

• Life cycle

After copulation, they female develops a copulation plug that lasts to period of about 24 hours. It serves the purpose of preventing anymore copulation. A house mice gestation period is about 19 days to 3 weeks after which it gives birth to about 3 to 14 young ones. Just one female can produce about 5 to 10 liters every year meaning that the population rate among these animal is one that grows very rapidly especially with the fact that they breed throughout the year. The young ones are normally born without ears or fur and not to mention blind. By the fourth day, the ears are fully developed while fur starts growing at about the sixth day and the eyes open up at about the thirteenth day. Winning is done for about 3 weeks after which they can eat the normal mice food. As for maturity, the female ones reach their sexual maturity earlier than the male mice. By the sixth week, the female mice are mature while it will take another two weeks for the male one to termed as mature.

• Diet

The primary diet for the house mouse is plant matter that would include vegetables like spinach and cabbages. However, they are said to be omnivorous as they do also eat meat. They also consume their faeces for nutrients.

• Habitat

There original habitat is the woodlands, the open fields and shrubs. However, due to cooler temperatures and their search for food, they seek shelter in peoples’ houses. House mice would take shelter in areas like the attic, the garage the basements not forgetting the kitchen.