Also referred to as the black rat and ship rat.

The roof rat is the smaller of the pest rats usually 15- 20cm in length and their tail being a further 20cm in length to their actual body length and are of slighter build.

It has a more pointed snout, large prominent ears and a tail longer than its body length. It normally lives 9-12 months and may have 4-5 litters per year (each with 6-8 young).

The young achieve sexual maturity at 3-4 months. Usually active night the Roof rat is generally a poor swimmer, but an extremely good climber.

Also referred to as the field mouse.

The house mouse is small and has rather large ears, a pointed snout and a tail at least as long as its body length. House mice living indoors are usually a darkish grey colour, with lighter grey on the belly, while those living mainly outdoors tend to a more sandy or yellow-brown colouring-hence the references to "field mice".

They tend to live for about 1 year and may have 6-10 litters per year (each with 5-6 young). The young achieve sexual maturity at about 6 weeks.

These rodent pests are well adapted to living in very close association with us humans, sharing our food and shelter. Throughout history rats and mice have been responsible for enormous losses of food and due to their ability of transmitting diseases to humans, enormous losses of human life. The distribution and abundance of pest rodents are largely determined by the availability of food and shelter. Being basically social animals, rats and mice live in groups and in nests constructed of any soft materials available e.g. paper, fabric and insulation.

Outdoors they may nest in burrows, under buildings, in rubbish heaps and other places where food and shelter are within reasonable reach. Indoors they may construct nests in wall cavities, roof voids, under floors and even within stored foods. They are very agile animals and mostly nocturnal, but they may feed during the day, particularly if the population is large, food is short, or there is little disturbance or danger. The presence of rats and mice in buildings is usually regarded as undesirable due to food spoilage and contamination, physical damage to the building, and the transmission of diseases to humans.

The black death (bubonic plague) which claimed more than 25 million lives in Europe was transmitted from rat to rat and then from rat to human by the Oriental rat flea. Rats and mice in buildings pose a serious threat to human health.

Examples of how you can be contaminated by Rodents.

The disease threat alone to you and your family is a justifiable cause for concern and for the implementation of Forensic Pest Management Services rodent control procedures call us today for some friendly advice or for an effective environmentally friendly solution to your Rodent problem.

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