mice- why do they persist? I have SIX indoor cats....

[Mom 2em All]

Every year, the mice try to move in. Rather, they DO move in- for awhile. Its not safe to live in my house if you are a mouse. (ask my daughters hamster). The mice come in where the waterpipes go out- under my floor in the utility room.

I know, because that is where the cats sit and stare.
I just scooped up an armful of dirty clothes off the floor (gotta love kids) and found myself nose to nose with a half-beheaded little dead mouse.

Most of my cats are lazy, would probably befriend a mouse- simply because it would require too much energy to actually catch one. There are a couple however, that thrive on that hunt.

It just seems that the mice would give up.

 

[HorseFeathers]

My cat, also indoor, has caught ONE thing in her ENTIRE, 3 year life- a sparrow that foolishly flew right into her paws when she was a kitten. She gave it to me and my mom let it go (it was fine). She had a grudge against my mom for a month.
We DEFINITELY have mice here in our new house. I hear them at night scritching around in the walls, and Daisy (my cat) immediately assumes alert-attack-cat pose and watches where the sounds come from, ears pricked and eyes wide. I don't think she'd kill one even if she caught one, though. I don't really mind our mice; in fact I am going to set a Havaheart trap to try and catch one or two (the are field mice and make good pets). My mom says she hit the jackpot when she was my age and found a nest with babies and a mother. The mother she eventually let go, but the babies were hand-raised and became very tame.

 

[jab91864]

There are too many to give up and they are driven by the cold to try for shelter. I've had issues with mice in the winter in the past.
I got a bunch of those super industrial sticky pads on ebay a few years ago and they helped a lot. You could maybe put them right where you know them to be entering. I've got an outside tom that thrives on the hunt...field mice and chipmunks are his favorite.

Best of luck

Julie

 

[mom'sfolly]

Horsefeathers, I'd be careful about making wild mice pets. They are cute as the dickens, but they can carry some rather dangerous diseases. If you do decide to, post pictures.

 

[HorseFeathers]

Supposedly, so can chickens.
Don't worry, I'll be careful.

 

[Beekissed]

The closer you are to danger, the farther you are from harm~ Pippen Took.

 

[HorseFeathers]

Quote:
Ooh, good one!

 

[whattheflock]

Love them little meeces
think them really neat
Bite they little heads off
nibble on they tiny feet
meow.

you have to exclude them with wire,steel wool, foam,etc. or they'll just a keep on a comin.

 

[bulldog-girl]

Quote:
I had that exact tee shirt. the "love a cat" craze in the late 70's. I also had the sheets and comforter.

Oh, ya, mice in the house. Pain in the butt. We don't have cats-too many dogs-so we have to carefully put out poison every once in awhile. Chicken coop is far form the house so we don't have problems with the poison and the chickies. We don't have to put out that much either. I don't like the traps as I don't want to clean up the still live corpses. Ewwwwwww.....

 

[beak]

We had a big FAT cat that was declawed and he caught mice.