Ok I've got a bit of a dilemma and am after a little guidance... recently we had an episode with a venomous snake and two of our dogs at home. This isn't the first time and yes, this time the dogs are fine and we decided to get a professional in to advise on what to do. "Get rid of your mice" he said. Occasionally, in the past, we've been invaded by mice in the house. Becky(my wife) has never let me kill them and they seem to breed really quickly. Her solution was to send me out to get one of those "humane " traps which according to the picture on the box catches hundreds of them in five minutes but they're expensive and really rubbish at catching them so after a few days of checking the empty trap I started to forget. Maybe a week later Becky discovered where the horrendous smell was coming from and the poor sods must have dehydrated. This was years ago, and after more arguing and anguish "we" decided if we take away the food source,keep everything spotless they'll just get bored and move on. Sooo, whilst I was secretly laying proper traps at night, getting up stupidly early to clear away the slaughter, Becky thought they were getting bored and leaving of their own accord, everyone was happy (except probably the mice). Now here's the thing, the expert is saying to bait/trap the garden, garage and house them out( take away the snakes food source) and Becky is adamant there are ways to deal with it in a similar fashion as we did with the house. What do I do? Should I come clean and say I've been slaying them all along and that I'm not the girl she thought I was? Or do I continue with this slightly and evermore hard to maintain miniature white lie?. I know this probably sounds quite amusing but she really does get quite p#*#ed when I've so much as mentioned traps😔.
Siobhan.
I am not sure what the best solution is but I would consider a neutered cat or two. Feed it only dry cat food and don't overfeed though you might allow an occasional treat of the better stuff. This helps bring out the natural hunting nature of the cat and they will wander far an wide looking for meat. Mice were fairly rare where we live so the cats we had tended to bring home lizards, birds and a few other things that lived in the desert.
This is far from an original idea. My mother lived on a dairy farm and because of the grain used for cattle feed, there was always a supply of fresh mice. Her father would occasionally give the cats some milk but the remainder of their diet consisted of what they could hunt. They were allowed to reproduce freely because between the cold winters, cows stepping on them and getting their tail caught in the water pump, the population remained under control.
I would suggest to her snakes are being attracted by the mice and the safety of your dogs trumps that of the mice. (The vets bills probably do too).
Thanks guys I know it sounded a bit silly but she really does have issues with this and the snakes are a serious concern. I think I'm just going to have to trap the garden etc and take the wrap. the house I can still blag in the future.
Cheers
Siobhan
Have you investigated electronic snake and mouse repellents? I'm not sure whether there any that repel snakes and mice but not dogs, though.
Quote from: MaryT on December 03, 2017, 12:51:58 PM
Have you investigated electronic snake and mouse repellents? I'm not sure whether there any that repel snakes and mice but not dogs, though.
hi Mary, he's we're going to try them as well. The plan as that stands would be to reduce the snake population on the property then place them around the perimeter to keep further snakes an mice hopefully out. You've given me a thought though on whether they'd work literally starting at the centre and scaring them out before going on the perimeter. I shall have to ask the shop that's selling them.
Thanks
Siobhan
Here mice can be deadly as they may carry Hanta Virus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthohantavirus) and while most of our snakes aren't venomous, we have Rattle snakes. The snakes just want to be left alone but the risk of accidentally disturbing one is great enough the you don't want them around. In our case it's simple. Contain the garbage so the mice can't get to it and you eliminate the mice and the snakes.
I'm not sure that methods that suffice in most countries will be enough in Australia. I once saw a documentary on the mouse problem there. Sheep stations heaving with mice during the night. It must be one of the hardest countries in the world to eliminate mice on one's property, as they are not indigenous and there are few, if any, natural predators.
Quote from: MaryT on December 03, 2017, 01:42:30 PM
I'm not sure that methods that suffice in most countries will be enough in Australia. I once saw a documentary on the mouse problem there. Sheep stations heaving with mice during the night. It must be one of the hardest countries in the world to eliminate mice on one's property, as they are not indigenous and there are few, if any, natural predators.
it's quite a difficult and to be honest, humanly messed up ecosystem here.
Siobhan
I think I saw the same documentary. Here we have the wolf, coyote, bob cat, ocelot, mountain lions along with hawks, owls and other other critters who love a small meal. Sometimes you wonder how they find enough to eat but they do.
When we lived in the Adelaide hills area (bush) snakes were very common. We also had 2 dogs. The only way to keep the snakes away from the house was to clear all debris and keep the grass short. Further from the house where the land was more native it was just live and let live and make a lot of noise when walking.
We did have incidences of snakes in the swimming pool and in living areas, garage, patios etc.
But baiting for mice is essential in the living areas to my mind.
You could suggest that if wife wants an eco friendly method that a multi - coloured tunic and flute may work, it has been tested in foreign climes to some effect :laugh:
Quote from: Cindy on December 03, 2017, 03:08:44 PM
When we lived in the Adelaide hills area (bush) snakes were very common. We also had 2 dogs. The only way to keep the snakes away from the house was to clear all debris and keep the grass short. Further from the house where the land was more native it was just live and let live and make a lot of noise when walking.
We did have incidences of snakes in the swimming pool and in living areas, garage, patios etc.
But baiting for mice is essential in the living areas to my mind.
You could suggest that if wife wants an eco friendly method that a multi - coloured tunic and flute may work, it has been tested in foreign climes to some effect :laugh:
thanks Cindy, it's a funny thing really I don't fully understand her issues but then she has trouble with mine so I really do have to look at some acceptance there. The grass we do keep short when it's dry enough to Mow, getting stacks of rain at the moment!.
Siobhan