House mice are known for their propensity to spread diseases and cause damage in the home, but if that’s not bad enough, they also reproduce very quickly. This means that a small infestation of a couple of mice can quickly get out of hand. But how quickly do house mice reproduce indoors? Let’s find out!

Signs that you may have mice in your home

Although mice can multiply quickly, they can also stay hidden for long periods of time, so your best bet to stop an infestation from overwhelming a building is to detect the mice early on. In order to do this, you need to know which signs to look for. Scratching sounds and strange smells are two common indicators that you may come across. Mice will also leave a lot of droppings outside of their nest, especially behind furniture, cupboards, and appliances. Finally, you can check for grease marks. Mice have oily fur, so when they travel along a pathway several times, they will leave a small grease mark.

House mouse reproduction speed

Mice can be breeding machines. The gestation period for female mice is 19-21 days, and they can get pregnant between five to ten times per year, with a litter size of six to eight pups on average. This means that each year, there are between 32 and 56 pups from one female mouse. On top of that, a female pup reaches sexual maturity at six weeks, which means that the population of mice can explode very rapidly if the conditions are right.

If we do the math, we find out that two mice could sneak into your house and give birth to 60 pups in one year. These pups can then reproduce in as little as a month, which could theoretically result in 5,082 mice in one year. Of course, things don’t always go so well for the mice, since conditions are not always ideal, but we can see where the trend is going.

What to do if you suspect that you have a mouse infestation?

As you can see, letting a nest of mice to their own devices means that your home will quickly become overwhelmed. Mice not only cause damage in the home, but they also spread dangerous diseases, and the more of them there are, the higher the risk posed by these pests. So if you spot the first signs of an infestation, your top priority should be to get in touch with a pest control pro, who will perform an inspection and then proceed with the control methods. If you have a mouse infestation, contact us today and we will help you remove it.