Mice are found in loud areas of manufacturing plants
Many environmental factors can impact the behavior of house mice. Availability of food, safe harborage points, predators, and more can positively or negatively affect their behavior and survival. An interesting new study looks at the effect of noise on house mice. The researchers played noise at 100 decibels for about four hours per day for 15 days. This level is slightly louder than shouted conversations, and not quite as loud as a car horn at close range. The sound was definitely about “normal” range even if you live in the heart of a city.
What the researchers found was an increase in movement, exploration, and foraging behaviors. For areas that are loud, mice are likely to be more active than in more quiet places. People living in very urban, city areas might be more likely to see mice because they are more active.
But it’s not just urban areas. Consider a manufacturing plant. More mice may be seen and captured in noisy places like the floor of a manufacturing plant or the electrical/mechanical rooms. That may not mean there are fewer mice in the quiet breakroom or warehouse areas. It just means they are not moving around as much.
For loud areas, there is an increase in movement in mice
It is essential to ensure that there are enough rodent stations and traps for adequate coverage in any situation. The EZ Snap Mouse is the best rodent station for the job because you can put out enough traps to cover an area, but only check the ones that have been triggered. You can see from the indicator ties which ones have activity and skip the ones that do not.
The one thing that high levels of noise did impact was feeding. They found the mice that were exposed to loud noise did not feed as much. The difference wasn’t huge. It makes sense if they are exploring and moving more, they have less time to feed. The loud noise did not stop them from feeding and did not seem to impact their overall health. In other words, they were still getting enough food.
House mice respond to noise in either urban or rural settings
While you consider the top three major house mouse needs (food, water, shelter), consider the other environmental factors as well. These factors may make them more or less active, and that can affect where and when they are seen. For more on the best professional pest control products for house mice and management:
