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Deer Mice & Hantavirus
Appearance & Life Span
Deer mice are 4 - 9” long, reddish-brown in color with a white chest and white feet, and bi-colored tail: brown on top, and white on the bottom.
Habitat
Their natural habitat is in rural and semi-rural areas, where they inhabit fields, pastures, and various types of vegetation. Found around homes and outbuildings. This mouse commonly invades garages, attics, sheds, woodpiles, crawl spaces, as well as general living quarters of homes. Their ground nests are established in hollow trees, building voids and along the sill plate in basements and crawl spaces, log piles, unused furniture, fence posts, and old bird and squirrel nests.
Health Concerns
Humans can be infected by the Hantavirus by breathing it in as they sweep or vacuum areas containing mouse dropping or urine. The first symptoms of hantavirus is pulmonary syndrome (HPS) are similar to those of the flu, including a cough, headache and muscle pains, while the flu symptoms begin to subside after a few days, HPS infection gets progressively worse as it creates tremendous amounts of fluids in the respiratory tract. If that happens, a person should see a doctor immediately.
Recommendations
The following are some general recommendations we can offer to homeowners based on information provided by the Alberta Public Health.
- Clean out rodent out of garages, sheds or barns by keeping food and nesting sites from them, especially within 100 feet of your occupied buildings. Repair all holes in buildings that would allow rodents entry.
- Open doors and windows before cleaning areas where rodents have been living. Most people in suburban setting who contacted this disease were known to have swept vigorously and inhaled noticeable quantities of dust. Do not sweep or vacuum such droppings and nesting materials.
- Apply bleach at the rate of 1-½ cups per gallon of water. Apply to the suspect area with a hand spray cleaner bottle. If bleach is not available, even a mild detergent, or any common disinfectant will kill the Hantavirus. Wet the droppings and clean up with a wet paper towel. Use latex or rubber gloves when doing any such work or handling such items. It is best to call a professional company to carry out a germicidal treatment for Hanta Virus.
- Dead rodents, rodent nesting material droppings and cleaning materials should be disposed of in a double locked plastic bag.
- Wearing long sleeved rubber or latex gloves, a proper respirator, and goggles further helps to reduce the chance of coming in contact with this virus.
- There are several ways that mice make their presence known. Mouse droppings near available food is the most common indication. Gnawed holes in bags and boxes containing food or garbage is also a sign of mouse activity.
- Since the contributing factor to a mouse infestation is the presence of food, good housekeeping is essential. This includes the proper storage of foods in sealed jars or tins. In addition, all refuse should be stored in containers with tight fitting lids. Seal all openings to the outside, especially around doors and windows.
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