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Talkback: Winter shelter for wildlife

donutsmrsdonutsmrs Posts: 487
in Talkback
Your little mouse is so cute Kate. I have never had them in the house but I have caught a few in the greenhouse in humane traps, this was back in the spring. My husband then has the job of taking them to the common and letting them go. The spiders have been in, I just catch then in a jar and take them outside and let them go. Some have been quite large.
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  • flowering roseflowering rose Posts: 1,632

    mice or rats might be cute but in a house they will chew wiring and cause no end of damage as well as spreading disease.I had rats in the past and believe me they are not nice live with.Of course there will some outside always but you need to discourage them by not leaving food available or nooks or uncovered drains or holes.Rats are becoming immune to poisons.They do not like the smell of bleach so a bit down the drain helps.spiders on the other hand help to eliminate bugs and flies e.t.c so if you kill them you ll have more bugs.Ugly might not be cute but cute wont be friendly.image

  • Kate BradburyKate Bradbury Posts: 160
    Thanks for your comments! I like my little mice donutmrs but I don't really like it when they come in the house, especially when this one got stuck under the fridge! And yes, flowering rose, rats can be a nightmare. Trays beneath feeders a must!



    Kate
  • Garden ManiacGarden Maniac Posts: 71
    They are cute, agreed, but if you own a cat the rules are out of your hands unfortunately...

    I'd named ours Mrs Tiggywinkle... very upsetting!
  • Gary HobsonGary Hobson Posts: 1,892

    I have a mouse about the house.

    I cheated slightly to get him to pose for the photos below. I put an empty chocolate bar wrapper on the floor.

    He was a very brave little mouse. I was in the room, and the telly was on quite loud, but he still came to investigate...

    image

    image

  • Kate BradburyKate Bradbury Posts: 160
    Gorgeous photos Georg, thanks for sharing! I used to live very close to a tube station, and had tube mice in the house. They were the bravest mice I have ever known. Once I found one in the kitchen sink (it had fallen in and got stuck). I released it into the garden and watched it trot straight back in. Another time I was revising for my RHS exams and one came and sniffed my foot! Very cute but I didn't like all the scampering at night. I'm glad where I live now the wood mice tend to stay in the garden!



    Kate
  • Susy BSusy B Posts: 29

    Superb photos Georg, we also had mice just before last christmas, we only found out when we were wrapping grandchildrens presents. Hubby reached the foil wrapped chocolate santas, mice had chewed through the plastic bag and foil then eaten the chocolate. I think they deserved it after putting in all that effort.    imageimage

  • Aqu4peachAqu4peach Posts: 2
    I had to say thank you for that it made me giggle. I hope that your furry friends have indeed gone back out and you don't end up with a family taking up residence :o)
  • Norm2Norm2 Posts: 86

    I must admit that they look cute,  but I had field mice take up residence in my shed a couple of years back and can only say It wasn't a pleasant experience, the smell was awful and they did a fair bit of damage chewing up things for nesting material. Try to move them on humanely if possible.

  • artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

    Many years ago an Irish chap told me that a cricket would move into the house of his elderly aunts in the autumn and stay there, living on the hearth until the spring. I had always thought that this story had a touch of the blarney about it until this autumn when a cricket moved into my conservatory. Sadly I had to gently move it out as I had sprayed parts of the floor with 'death lac' to get rid of the annual invasion of ants under the boiler. I would have really loved having a cricket around the house.

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,109

    We have a little woodmouse living at the far end of the garden - somewhere near one of the hedgehog houses - he comes and takes the raisins out of the bowl of hedgehog food - I've just been watching him this evening - and I think he's pinched some of the hay for his winter insulation. image


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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