When an infestation occurs, the reproduction rate of mice is an often-overlooked factor by non-professionals.
Yet the numbers are impressive. In Montreal alone, there are millions and millions of mice seeking shelter in winter. When they find one, they will readily breed and within a few days, you will have a whole family to get rid of. Our mouse exterminators understand all too well that a delay of a few days can lead to an uncontrollable rodent invasion.
To get a better idea of what to expect if mice enter your home, learn more about the reproduction rate of these rodents.
How do mice gestate?
Understanding why a mouse invasion should be treated as early as possible requires an awareness of how they reproduce and how fast it happens.
Males fight for the conquest of the female mouse
During the mating season, the male hunts the female mouse and keeps the other competitors at bay. Mice often engage in fierce fighting during mating and copulation lasts between 8 and 10 seconds. The female defends the nest during the following weeks of gestation.
Your home offers ideal breeding conditions
Living inside an insulated building improves the ability to gestate for many reasons:
- They can reproduce all year round: outdoors, reproduction only takes place in spring, summer and autumn, the winter months being often too harsh for the litters to survive. Their search for shelter when temperatures drop explains the increase in mouse infestations in winter in Quebec.
- Their life expectancy increases: while the average life expectancy of a mouse is only 12 months outdoors, it can reach 2 to 3 years when it manages to settle indoors.
- They don’t have to hide from predators: in a closed and temperate environment, these small animals are not exposed to the elements or natural predators. They have nothing else to do but look for food, nibble on different materials and objects, and continue to reproduce.
Not very reassuring, is it? If you’re wondering if rodents have taken up residence in your home, follow our advice to find out if you have mice in your home.
The explosive mouse reproduction rate explained
As you can see, your home is an ideal place for mice to reproduce. As if that wasn’t enough, their gestation period is the most impressive:
- 3 weeks are enough for a wild mouse to give birth.
- Between 5 and 12 mice per litter
- Up to 10 mice per litter
- Reproduction possible (almost) all their life
These dizzying numbers make you realize that it’s in your best interest to implement methods to keep mice away from your house. Prevention is better than cure!
1. A mouse only takes 3 weeks to give birth
Female mice have a very short gestation period. When a female becomes pregnant, it takes only 19 to 21 days to give birth to her litter.
2. Up to 12 baby mice per litter
Each litter usually consists of five or six mice. However, litters of up to 12 young are not uncommon.
3. A female can have up to 10 litters per year
The number of litters that a common mouse can have within a year also contributes to the reproduction rate of mice. A female can give birth up to ten times in a year.
In addition, they can mate immediately after giving birth, which means that there may only be a 25-day gap between two broods of mice.
4. Females rapidly ready to reproduce (all the way until death)
By the age of 6 weeks, the female mouse is sexually mature and ready to start producing her own offspring. This rapid maturation process gives common mice reproductive abilities that are almost unique in mammals.
This mind-boggling cycle continues until the mouse dies. At this point, it’s already been a long time since its cubs have started to reproduce themselves!
Trust Elite Pest Control to prevent mouse infestations
In conclusion, if you see a mouse in your home, chances are it is not alone. Above all, you need to act quickly before it starts to reproduce and the situation gets out of control.
Contact our pest prevention service to avoid this problem and we will rapidly intervene, wherever you are in the Greater Montreal area.
Our team will recommend a strategy that will protect you from pests, guaranteed! Contact us for more information.
