Cute Mice, the Plague and Glue Mouse Traps

Rodents are often depicted as adorable and not the least bit threatening in films and cartoons. From Mickey Mouse to Ratatouille, there is a pop-cultural predilection for being bewildered by the overwhelming adorableness of these critters. It is easy to see why when you see cultures' most beloved mice and rats. They are fuzzy, funny and often wise beyond their species.

Even if how cute these cartoon mice were had no bearing on how we saw these creatures, we would still have the wide array of cute photography of actual mice all over the Internet to contend with. The truth is mice, and even rats, can sometimes be quite cute. The larger, more important and far scarier truth, however, is that Mickey Mouse is probably infested with a wide array of diseases he would be happy to defecate all over your kitchen counter without hesitation. This is why effective glue mouse traps are so important.

Sticky mouse traps are an effective way of curbing a nascent infestation without calling in an exterminator. It is important to do this because considering how quickly mice reproduce, you could find yourself at ground zero of a potential Bubonic plague outbreak in no time at all. Am I being an alarmist? No.

The Bubonic plague came from fleas who transmitted it to mice and rats. While the 25 million people killed by the Bubonic plague in the 14th century were an outlier, the disease does still pop up from time to time and is almost always traced back to rodents carrying it. Still hesitant to buy those glue mouse traps?

If you remain skeptical of the health concerns surrounding mice, then allow us to scale back the worry of plague specifically in favor of more common modern diseases. Mice can be linked to spreading salmonella poisoning and a wide array of other diseases that are usually transmitted by their feces getting into people's food or beverages. Mice evacuate their bowels without any sort of concern being paid to where or when. The results are contaminated countertops, floors, tables and any other surface in a person's home.

This all being said, Speedy Gonzalez, Mickey, Minnie, Feivel and the rest of their ilk remain adorable. Even the disease-spreading mice of the plague probably had a certain charm. It is simply not worth risking your own, or your family's, health for that charm. Have some sticky mouse traps ready for an infestation and remain aware of what might be crawling around your home.