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Rats & Mice - Rats The best-known rat species are the Black Rat Rattus rattus and the
Brown or Norway Rat R. norvegicus. Rats are opportunistic survivors and often live with and near
humans. The Black Plague was probably caused by the micro-organism Yersinia pestis, carried by
the rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis which preyed on R. rattus living in European cities of the day.
(The rats also died of the plague.) By most standards, rats are considered pests. They are very
destructive to crops and property. Rats multiply quickly where predators are absent, like cities and
suburbs. Their populations can quickly spiral out of control. Rats can carry over thirty different
diseases dangerous to humans, including Weil's disease, typhus, salmonella and of course bubonic
plague. Rats like chewing electrical cables. Surprisingly, 26% of all electrical cable breaks are caused by
rats, and 25% of all fires of unknown origin are estimated to be caused by rats. Rats will reside in attics,
walls, basements, crawl spaces, or in any living space accessible to them. Rats are colonizing
animals, and buildings and homes usually contain more than one group. Rats can enter your home
through a half inch opening, and poison can be risky. Call Wilderness Animal Control and
take back your home today! Wiki: Rats http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rats How to Manage Rat Pests http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74106.html Mice Mouse-like species are among
the oldest mammals. The best known species is the common house mouse (Mus musculus).
Due to its remarkable adaptability to almost any environment, and its ability to live with humans,
the mouse is regarded to be the third most successful mammalian species living on Earth today,
after humans and the rat. Mice can be harmful pests, damaging and eating crops and spreading
diseases through their parasites and feces. In the Western United States, breathing dust that has
come in contact with mouse feces has been linked to the deadly hantavirus.
Like rats they can multiply very quickly. Wiki: Mice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mice

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