If Indeed, Some Of You Still Require Such; More Proof That Something Desperately Needs To Be Done About Air Pollution.

Not so long ago, our ancestors, fathers mothers, uncles aunts knew an ELK

- on sight. They also knew that a Wapiti 

(found only in North America; mostly in Canada) was not an ELK. AND that an Elk did not, even remotely, resemble a mouse.

Mice are a large group of mammals, with more than 130 species found worldwide. In Alberta, there are 7 species of mice and 12 species of voles.

The most troublesome and economically important of the species found in Alberta are the house mouse

(which is not a native species), the white-footed mouse

and the meadow vole commonly called field mouse).

(

Economic Losses to Mice.

There is no way of placing a monetary value on human suffering and damage caused by mice. The greatest loss is probably not what mice eat, but what is wasted and contaminated. In six months, one pair of mice can eat more than two kilograms (4 lbs.) of food and deposit about 18,000 droppings. Food contaminated by mice is about ten times greater than the amounts eaten. Food wasted by mouse nibbling is also much more than the amount eaten. So common are mice that it is no wonder their hairs and sometimes droppings, end up in all types of food commodities, from canned beans to loaves of bread.

Structural damage caused by rodents can be expensive. In recent years the trend toward use of insulated confinement facilities to raise swine and poultry, for instance, has led to increased rodent damage. Mice are very destructive to rigid foam, fibreglass batt, and other types of insulation in walls and attics of such structures.

Mice also gnaw wooden structures causing grain and feed to be wasted. They also undermine buildings by burrowing, which eventually causes structural failure and collapse.

Electrical wiring gnawed by mice causes many fires each year, listed as "cause unknown".

Public Health Impact.

Mice and their parasites are implicated in the transmission of a number of diseases including salmonellosis, rickettsia pox and most recently hantavirus. Bacterial food poisoning occurs when foods become contaminated with infected rodent droppings. Mice also carry many types of tapeworms and roundworms, infectious to pets and humans. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which causes severe illness and even death in humans, is transmitted by several mouse species including the white-footed mouse.

To reduce the risk of contracting organisms transmitted by mice, you should practise these common sense precautions:

·         Eliminate mice from residential areas by removing food sources and access for mice.

·         Clean up mouse-contaminated areas by using wet methods, including disinfectants such as Chlorine Bleach.

·         Handle mice and other rodents with gloved hands.

·         Avoid sweeping and vacuuming when possible, and wear a dust mask to reduce exposure to fine dust particles.

·        Campers should avoid obviously infested areas. In high risk areas wear a high efficiency, particulate respirator.

·        Discourage children from playing with or trapping mice. Wild mice should not be kept as pets, or for "science projects".

·         De-worm household and farmyard pets regularly. ~~Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan.