Mouse problem

[french frank]

The RSPB reckons cats don't damage a bird population long term. Cats are good deterrents even if they don't catch the mice. They certainly deter all the fit young birds from my garden - and those are just neighbours' cats.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I have great admiration for cats - it's a real shame that their close proximity triggers my asthma - and a bell on the collar gives birds ample escape time. Birds aren't put off by the various visits of our neighbours' cats: the only thing I've ever witnessed catching a bird in our garden is a sparrowhawk, which glared at me as I watched as if demanding to know what I was doing in its dining room.

Can cats be "cruel"? Isn't that an exclusively human trait? Sarcastic, yes: there is a cat that regularly sits in our garden in Summer driving the neighbouring dogs frantic. It just stares at them for ten minutes or so, then strolls off as soon as said neighbour starts chucking things at her dogs to shut them up. Cats (or at least kittens) can be "generous", too - hence the "gifts" of dead mice they bring their owners. My beloved chum used to work in Singapore - her cat (Tarragon) one morning woke her with a lovely fresh (and writhing) cockroach for breakfast!

[Simon]

The RSPB reckons cats don't damage a bird population long term.

Do they? Well, it's amazing what you can make statistics say, isn't it. I noticed when I'd read down to the end that they appear to be having their cake and eating it!

They certainly deter all the fit young birds from my garden - and those are just neighbours' cats.

Why would you want to deter the birds? Or have I misunderstood the sense?

(I could have made a joke there, you know!)

[french frank]

Why would you want to deter ther birds? Or have I misunderstood the sense?

I don't WANT to. I was merely stating a fact: they DO deter the birds.

[Simon]

I don't WANT to. I was merely stating a fact: they DO deter the birds.

Well, get rid of the cats then. You can get all sorts of gadgets.

[french frank]

Well, get rid of the cats then. You can get all sorts of gadgets.

Could you go back and read the original context, pl?

[Resurrection Man]

OK...to answer your questions, Dave.

Yes..the smell will go eventually...about a week or less. Rats take a bit longer.

Re poison...can't speak for mice but granules are best for rats. Otherwise they will just take the large lumps of poison and hide it away. You need to encourage them to eat it where you've put it.

You can get ultrasonic deterrents. They work very well. Will try and find the link to the two that we have.

Try and find the holes where they are getting in. Block up with steel wool. Both rats and mice hate chewing through it (as both you and I would!).

Downside of poison is that if they go outside and die then they get eaten by carrion and so the carrion dies. Not too fussed about the odd crow biting off more than it can chew, to be honest, but am rather partial to our birds of prey and would hate for their early demise!

[Resurrection Man]

The RSPB reckons cats don't damage a bird population long term. Cats are good deterrents even if they don't catch the mice. They certainly deter all the fit young birds from my garden - and those are just neighbours' cats.

Cats? Cats? Spawn of Satan in my book !

[doversoul1]

Dave
If you are infested, only thing you can do is to poison them. A trap is all right if you have one or two but not when there are many. I had a rat in the garden in spring. There had always been a lone rat that came to feed from the bird table for a few days and then went. I also have rats in my compost heap but they stay there. But this one stayed on to eat the bird food. It was quite interesting to watch it to begin with: how it learned to do things including climbing up the tree and balancing on the branches, trying to get at the peanuts feeder. I had been advised to poison it but I ignore it. It didn’t really look all that different from the squirrels. Then one day, I saw another, then another. And the next thing I saw was half a dozen young rats running around the bird table.

The poison I had was coated grain and it came with small ‘serving dishes’. I knew exactly where the rats were taking the food. I placed them where they went and made sure no other animals could get at it although the badgers pulled it out for a couple of times but I don’t think they were seriously affected. It took a couple of weeks before the garden was rat-free. One of the places was under the shed floor and I had been concerned with the smell but there was no smell whatsoever. All the same, I felt rotten. I hoped (seriously) that they would be re-born as desert rats or water rats that could live away from human beings if they ever had a chance.

Resurrection Man
I am not absolutely sure but I think few carrion eaters will eat poisoned things, in the same way as birds don’t usually eat poisoned slugs.

I think what RSPB mean is that the sort of birds cats catch recover the population quickly enough.

[french frank]

Dave - don't you have a local council pest control service? Or doesn't that include mice?

[doversoul1]

Dave - don't you have a local council pest control service? Or doesn't that include mice?

I contacted mine and was told that they only dealt with public property.

[french frank]

I contacted mine and was told that they only dealt with public property.

That isn't the situation here. My neighbours saw a rat and called the Environmental Health Dept. Pest Control came and laid the poison in their back garden.

They say: "Domestic Services: We provide a service for the control of rats, mice and wasps throughout the city. Rats and mice are public health pests and are treated for a modest charge."

[teamsaint]

Might be interesting if somebody could find out what Councils' legal obligations are....they can be a bit naughty after all....

[Vile Consort]

You may find that the smell is replaced by a plague of flies. Our local church once had something, possibly a rabbit, die in an inaccessible spot. The smell of it rotting was grim, but the subsequent invasion of bluebottles was unbelievable. Their corpses could be swept up by the shovelful several times a day for a while.

[french frank]

Might be interesting if somebody could find out what Councils' legal obligations are....they can be a bit naughty after all....

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