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A few facts...
In a single year, a female may have five to 10 litters of usually five or six young each. Young are born 19 to 21 days after mating, and they reach reproductive maturity in six to 10 weeks. The life span of a mouse is usually nine to 12 months.
During its daily activities, a mouse normally travels an area averaging 10 to 30 feet in diameter, seldom traveling further than this to obtain food or water.
When house mice live in or around structures, they almost always cause some degree of economic damage. In homes and commercial buildings, they may feed on various stored food items or pet foods. In addition, they usually contaminate foodstuffs with their urine, droppings, and hair. A single mouse eats only about 8 pounds of food per year but destroys considerably more food than it consumes because of its habit of nibbling on many foods and discarding partially eaten items.
Among the diseases mice or their parasites may transmit to humans are salmonellosis (food poisoning), rickett-sialpox, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis. Mice may also carry leptospirosis, ratbite fever, tapeworms, and organisms that can cause ringworm (a fungal skin disease) in humans.
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