While sitting quietly on the front step enjoying the warm sun, the dogs and I were suddenly taken by surprise by 4 small mice literally jumping out of a mouse hole in the ground about 10 feet away. They didn’t just run up and out of the hole, they were at least 10 inches into the air, almost as if they had a trampoline underground to aid with their exit!
This would account for why we have seen snakes near the house – it’s obviously where they go shopping for their weekend meal, and probably why the mice launch themselves out of the holes – they want time to see what’s up here before they are on the ground and running. It maybe that, should there be a snake waiting by the entrance, the mice would actually jump right over them and make good their escape!
So, decision time. Do we set traps? Well, I’m not a lover of killing mice and we don’t have any signs of them coming into the house. Having concrete floors, walls and roof, really the only way for them to get into the house is through the front door – so, maybe we should get a cat to deter them from coming in that way, but how would the dogs get on with a cat when all they have done previously is chase them?
For the time being I think we leave things as they are and continue to enjoy the nature around us…..
But the mice are on the same warning as the spiders – if they stay outside the house, no problem but if I find them inside the house – they are fair game! It seems to have worked with the spiders, since we cleared them all out and we moved in – I haven’t seen a single one in the house!
3 comments:
We had the same thing years ago. They are babies and yes they can jump high. We had about eight of them. They bred in the loft space of our Derbyshire bungalow, then got into the house by sliding down inside the conduit housing the micro-bore pipes of the central heating system.
They were running all over the house and if we happened to move they would jump across the room. Horrible in a confined space.
We now have those plugs-in vermin scarers. They work on mice, rats and creepy crawlies too and for the past three years we have not seen a mouse in the house.
I'm loving reading your blog Jacqui and can't wait until you can put up more photos.
Meadow mice jump up to a foot high!
Hi Twinkle, thanks you for your comments, these could well be meadow mice but also, they were tiny so could be babies. For the time being we will leave them be but I am thinking about getting a cat - just need to work out how the dogs would react as they are frightened enough of my stuffed white singing polar bear! They really are wimps!
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