Warm weather leads to surge in mouse population

If you've been looking for an exterminator to get rid of pesky rodents, you're not alone.

The owner of a pest control company in Halifax says the number ofmice running around is at a record high.

"It just seems that everybody has mice problems, down to restaurants, stores, homes," said Dave McPherson of Affordable Pest Control and Property Inspection.

McPherson, who has been in business for 31 years, says he's getting 10 calls a day from people all over the Halifax region.

In fact, the mouse population has boomed across the province, said Mark Elderkin, a biologist with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources.

Elderkin said mice reproduced three times instead of the usual two last year, because of the early spring, warm fall and mild winter.

To keep mice away, he recommendspeoplemovefood sources such as bird feeders away from their houses and plug holes in their foundations.

"Prevention is the appropriate attack,"Elderkin said.

Mice may be a nuisance to people, he added, but it's a meal for other animals or, as he calls them,"flying mouse traps."

"The boom of wild mice in wooded environments, wild environments around us will doubtlessly be a real boon for things like foxes, owls," Elderkin said.