Rats and mice are rodents which eat and damage more than 20% of the food produced worldwide. They contaminate the food with their urine, droppings and fur. They also carry many diseases like Bubonic plague and typhus. In the absence of their natural predators in cities, their population increases very quickly. Rats chew electrical and phone cables and also responsible for fires.

Mice and rats are interrelated rodent species who will gnaw through most material. The maximum size of a mouse is usually 31/2″ long and weigh less than 1 ounce. A rat can be nearly a foot long. Most rats and mice are usually brown to gray in color though some white mice are kept as pets by some people. The house mouse, roof rat and Norway rat are the most common rodent pests found in human habitations.

On an average, a mouse will live for 3 months in the wild before being eaten by natural predators. However, in homes, they will live for up to 2 years. Rats live for 3 to 5 years. Cats, dogs, birds of prey, snakes and certain types of insects eat rats and mice in the wild. Both mice and rats have poor vision and are unable to detect red light. However, they have finely developed sense of smell and hearing to detect food and enemies. Rats eat up their entire meal at a time, while mice nibble away at the food. They are omnivores, eating almost any kind of food.

Rats and mice enter homes searching for food. They can enter home through openings as small as 1/4 inch wide. They are nocturnal animals and will be seen in the day only if their nesting areas are disturbed or the population is very high. The presence of a rat and mouse is usually detected by their droppings. They also make a squeaking sound as they move in search of food. If a large fraction of a rat population is exterminated, the remaining rats will increase their reproductive rate and quickly restore the old population level.