Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: The unwanted house guest – Mice
It’s the time of year when you may hear the pitter patter of small creatures about your house. If it were just the kids! Nope, it’s mice seeking shelter in your cozy home!
Oh sure, he looks cute but the destruction and, egad!, waste left behind by these little creatures is NOT something you want in your home. Here are some “fun” facts about mice you can use for trivia!
- as cold seeps in, so do mice
- gestation period is just 19 days
- they can have 6 or more babies per litter
- they can have 13 litters a year
- that’s a minimum of 78 mice
- where you find one, there are more
- they will eat whatever you have on hand and use glue, paper, soap, anything to make nests
- they can jump, swim and run up to 8 mph
- they don’t care where they poop
With the holidays upon us, the last thing we need is a mouse to show up and send our guests scrambling to stand on our decorated tables!
The best way to catch them is with a snap trap using peanut butter, just make sure you don’t have curious pets or children that could have access to the traps!! There are a myriad of mousetraps. Here’s some information from VictorPest.
If you do, you can use a live trap – for those, sunflower seeds are the best bait. Just remember, you’re going to have to dispose of them once caught! I’m one of those who can “dispatch” them. I don’t like to but releasing them will just mean they’ll get back in or go to your neighbors…
There’s always getting a cat!
