Mice

A mouse finds its way indoors through an opening of about a centimeter — a vent, a gap around utility lines, a loose-fitting door. Once inside it needs no more than crumbs and access to water, which is why mice turn up even in tidy homes, while in stores and warehouses they settle behind the racking and in back rooms.

The main damage is contamination: food a mouse has touched is no longer fit to eat, and in production and retail that means direct write-offs. A mouse's incisors grow throughout its life, so it gnaws constantly — packaging, insulation, and wiring all suffer.

The protection plan is the same as for rats, adjusted for size: grain baits and dough baits in dry places, wax blocks in damp ones, and glue traps where baits are undesirable — next to food, for example.

• Set bait points more densely than for rats: a mouse feeds within a few meters of its nest.
• Close off access: seal the gaps, fit screens over the vents.
• Keep permanent points at sites with goods turnover — new animals arrive with deliveries.
• Use products strictly according to the instructions on the pack.