Abstract
Pests such as mice and rats can
present significant problems for the
aviculturist. Not only do they consume
considerable quantities of food ,
but their habit of urinating and defecating
in the aviary has contributed to
the spread of disease organisms such
as Salmonella, E. coli and other
bacteria . Controlling mice in your
aviary should be part of your regular
maintenance routine. Mice eat almost
anything. Seed, pellets and fruit and
vegetable mixes fed to birds are a
natural magnet to attract all kinds of
rodents . Cement floors and small
wire is helpful, but not always practical
or effective in controlling mice.
For those of you who have problems
with killing any animal, let me
share a few facts. The two most
common rodents are house mice and
brown rat s. There a re about 300
species of mice worldwide. The word
mouse comes from a Sanskrit word
meaning thief The common house
mouse that we know today came to
America in ships from Europe as early
as the 1500s. At maturity, it weighs
1/2 to 1 ounce (14 to 28 grams), about
the weight of a Greenwing Macaw at
hatching. They have good hearing but
poor eye sight. Like all rodents, they
have strong , sharp, front chisel-like
teeth which they use to tear open
seed bags, gnaw holes in wood and
collect far more food than they will
ever eat. Mice are constantly harvesting
and storing food. They live anywhere
they can find food and shelter.
They prefer dark , warm and quiet
homes ; unused nest boxes are just
perfect. They build their nests out of
a variety of materials including grass leaves and feathers.