REMINDER: Ingress of rodents

It’s that time again. Check your storage area! At least one of your neighbors, if not you, will have prime conditions for the feeding and the proliferation of rodents outdoors....bird feeders, ponds, flower beds in which flowers’ seed heads haven’t been deadheaded, gardens, turf kept at a greater h.o.c., pet and wildlife feeders, a piece of equipment or vehicle kept outdoors.

Nights are cooling off in the Northern states and mice are looking for shelter.
I found the chore boy that I place use in my exhaust tips to keep them from making a larder of it had been pulled out. While at the garage I saw something move off in my peripheral vision as I walked in. I am checking my garage every couple days, but with rain and cool nights they’ve found or gnawed a new entry point. I sealed a spot last night but have to look for more. In 48 hours I have trapped 18 rodents.

Nothing so far in the house, and fortunately we have rescued a feral cat which seems to be an excellent hunter, based on her play, and in the event one follows in while coming/going.

There are both types of mice being caught, deer and house mice, and including adults and juveniles. Deer mice can carry a potentially deadly virus so it’s a good idea to clean up any messes while appropriately protected. Since picking up a trap for re-baiting can cause it to snap and feces will go flying, I wear safety glasses. I also don an N95 dust mask and nitrile gloves. Some might deem this overkill, but anyone with a compromised immunity ought to take extra care. I have to deal with this frequently enough due to the outdoor habitat, that I prefer to take those precautions when managing traps.

I use a variety of trap types and baits. I suggest this, since the juveniles can often take from a snap trap without tripping it. Use care when removing a live trap. I’ve had two of the tiny young sneak out of live traps while taking it outside to dunk them. They slipped through a 1/4” to 3/8“ inch slot at the door.

Most of you know this stuff but maybe it will be helpful to the uninitiated.

 

I’d caught 3 more after my post. None in the last three days though, so I think they are handled (for now). They'd been chewing the blue foam of roof deck liners that allow air flow up the roof from the eaves to deter ice damming . I‘ve not found any nests yet, and smelled no deaths, despite also having bait blocks. We found a newer item - corn gluten meal pellets. I have used it in another form for weed emergence control, but I guess they have found that mice can’t digest it and it dehydrates them-leaving other animals at no risk, should they get into it. No fecal matter has been found in, on, under, or around the vehicles. I’ve yet to visit the attic deck, but between the garage/shop and a garden shed, I think I have escaped any destruction of valuables.

 

I don’t target squirrels...they frown upon that here. I use larger live traps for skunks, which will occasionally get a squirrel, and most always I release the squirrels. The last one acted like he was wanting to tear me up so I didn't risk a release and subsequent attack. They seem to like the nut butter with popcorn added. They rob the corn I’ve tried to grow so that’s an option I bet would work well. I once released a ground squirrel which immediately climbed, got hooked in, and slightly tore up a window screen. Do take care in releasing live ones. Maybe a good idea as with skunks, to place a shield of carpet or cardboard between you and the trap approaching and releasing.

We have 13 lined ground squirrels here, commonly mistaken for chipmunks. I think both have fur lined mouths/cheek pouches, so poisons do not deter then when they hoard. They can carry the bait to their larder without it having an affect. And their hoarding of food is one way they can cause damage. They can undermine a porch or footing/foundation with their tunneling, and can eat through a structure - one year they got in and made a larder of both my motorcycle, and auto exhausts. If the car is started and run inside a garage wirh exhaust pointing in rather than out the overhead door, it has the potential of starting a fire by spitting out glowing embers of seeds and grains that they’ve stashed. I believe it was regular squirrels, or maybe ground squirrels that used dried grasses to build. Nest on top of one of our outdoor parked vehicles., and we think it happened at the wife's work place, with overgrown grass from an area that could’ve been mown
shorter at end of season so as not to be left for nesting material. I beleive it was the 13 lined ground squirrels that entered he intake assembly and created a nest there, based of evidence left behind. Mowing grass shorter around structures also deters pests by creating an area they will be more vulnerable in when crossing. Something to consider if you have raptors or stray cats that mig for their benefit