Mice in squirrel enclosure!

[owenssammy]

Help!!

Peanut lives in a very big enclosure outside in the garden now but recently it has been getting over run with mice! They are very brave and come out even when i am in there with her. They climb over everything and into her bed even! They steal any food they can too. Is there anything i can do about this? Any suggestions to stop them from stealing her food etc? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Sam and peanut :-)

[lovesmice]

Is there a way you could house Peanut inside for a week or two? This would allow you to control the reason the mice are visiting and the humane traps would be the sole food source. (I have found Wild bird seed perfect for bait.) This might require daily trips to a mouse-friendly release site, but ultimately everyone should be happy as Peanut's house will no longer have these uninvited guests and the mice will be somewhere they are welcome (and belong).

Regarding the release site, choose an area with plenty of ground covering, lots of bird activity, some type of water source nearby such as a creek and a lack of buildings. The ground covering assures a nest. The bird activity assures a food source (whatever the birds are eating such as seeds; not the birds themselves). The creek assures a source of hydration. The lack of buildings reduces the chance for the mice to enter a structure with kill traps. A park would be ideal. As far as when to release, mice are crepuscular meaning primarily active during twilight hours: dawn and dusk. Although they do have some diurnal and nocturnal activity, dawn and dusk are when they are most active and it will allow them ample time to find a new home. Choose a day when no storms are on the horizon.

As for which humane traps to use, I have tried countless types and the "Cube" has been successful 99% of the time in our home. (I cannot say with complete assurance a mouse has not been able to avoid it; hence, the 1% possible failure rate.) I am unsure where you would find the Cube in the UK, but following is an example of what it looks like:

http://www.amazon.com/Mice-Cube-Pk-Reusable-Humane/dp/B000WB13QC

I did a little more digging and found two traps very similar to the Cube. (In fact I like them better because my husband had to add air holes to the Cube to be on the safe side there was enough ventilation and no condensation would develop on the inside walls of the trap.) The following links are examples only as I am not endorsing the sites. Also, you may be able to find better deals via your own search:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trixie-Mouse-Trap-4-5-17/dp/B000WFI866/ref=sr_1_2?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1408046892&sr=1-2&keywords=mouse+trap+humane

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pest-Stop-Trip-Trap-Mousetrap/dp/B00331SJG0/ref=sr_1_86?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1408047256&sr=1-86&keywords=mouse+trap+humane

Peanut has an awesome and amazing home, by the way. That is one lucky (and spoiled) squirrel! I love your idea for putting a bench out there so you can enjoy her company.

[owenssammy]

Thanks so much for your advice. :)

The only problem i have is next to her are 7 chickens in another large enclosure and they are the reason the mice came in the first place. We also have 2 cats that help keep the mice down a little but i usually end up saving the mice when they bring them in the house!! Ha ha.
Tomorrow i am going to dig down and put another layer of wire with smaller holes all around the bottom as at the moment it is slightly bigger that the rest of the wire and this is where they get in.

Do you happen to know if she can catch any diseases from the mice?

Thanks again :)

[lovesmice]

Any health issues that a Wild mouse "might" get are usually the same ones any Wild animal "might" get or any Domestic animal like a cat or dog that is allowed outside "might" get such as parasites or a skin infection; all usually easily treatable. Any serious problems such as Rabies would kill a mouse long before he could infect anyone, and as far as Hanta Virus which the media has blown way out of proportion, not all species of mice/rats can even get it. Also, not to make light of death, but in 2013 there was a total of 50 deaths from HV in the ENTIRE country. (Sorry, but I do not know what the stats are for the UK.)

So...in answer to your Q, it is unlikely your Peanuts or chickens will contract a serious health problem from your uninvited guests. That is not to say that you should allow the mice to enter her home or the chickens' coup. It just means you do not need to be sick-to-your-stomach worried that your animals are going to catch something deadly automatically because of Wild mice.

I like your idea for the hardware cloth. I should mention, though, that any space a mouse/rat can fit his head through, his body can easily follow. As such, you are best off getting the hw c with no bigger than 1/8" squares.

[HappyLittleSquirrely]

That's an Awesome cage. What a lucky squirrel!

[owenssammy]

Thanks so much! I have been out there all afternoon mouse proofing peanuts enclosure ( i just hope i haven't missed anywhere!) I am 33 weeks pregnant and have been on my hands and knees in the dirt for hours! Ha ha. People probably think i am crazy. I now stink of mouse wee and am covered in dirt and scratches! I think peanut liked the company for the afternoon and proceeded to use me as a climbing frame and demand attention from me.

I also changed the chicken feeders so they hang off the roof therefore not on the ground for the mice and am investing in some humane mouse traps to go outside the enclosures. :grin3

Thanks so much for your help :grin2:thumbsup

[lovesmice]

What a good person you are for putting all this time and effort into solving the problem of uninvited visitors in a humane way. You are an amazing individual to do this especially when expecting. I thank you for showing such kindness to these mice.

Congratulations on your soon-to-be-born baby. I wish you a speedy delivery and a healthy child. I hope you will post a photo if you get a chance after you have him/her in the Off-Topic category.

[owenssammy]

Ah thank you so much for your kind words :grin2
I will post a photo of our little daughter when she arrives for sure.

I have realised that my hours of effort in the dirt has not resolved the problem as the mice are still getting in..... They must be getting in some of the larger wire on the front of the enclosure :-( and even that is pretty small!!:eek the little monkeys!

Peanut loves to sleep in the aluminium tunnel you can see in the photo....and the mice are slowly pushing her out! Anyone know if she is likely to stand her ground and give them what for if they annoy her or is she likely to just put up with them or even get attacked by them??

Thank you x

[tree-queen]

You could get a bin feeder, and hang it on the wire where the mice would be unable to reach. I also hear mice don't like peppermint oil.

That's all I got- we've got tons of mice in our chicken coop. My squirrel lives inside the house and we don't get mice there. If food falls (other than HT blocks) pharoah ants will show up though. So I have to keep his area spotless.

[lovesmice]

I am sorry to hear they are still getting in. They really can get into spaces as small as their heads as you have found out which is why people often lovingly call them "squishies". Is there any way you could use something like plexi-glas on the bottom? It would have to be more than a few inches tall of course, but a solid surface might be your only option.

As far as the mice attacking your squirrel, mice are not like BlueJays that will gang up against a larger animal. (I think it is so cool, though, that the birds band together against predators, and just wish my squirrels would do this when a hawk comes around because it would save lives.) They are also very skittish when confronted so while they may seem bold and unafraid from a distance, if you were to try to get near them they would run for the hills. I think your Peanut will stand her ground and chase them away if they annoy her so it is highly unlikely you need to fear her getting hurt by them.

Aww...a daughter! I am quite partial to them myself since I have 2 of my own-haha. I cannot wait to see a photo of your beautiful new addition after she is born.

[owenssammy]

Thanks for your ideas. :thumbsup i was thinking of either making a supended platform from the roof with 3 sides, with nothing leading to it but so peanut can jump in to for her food bowl. Therefore hopefully the mice cant reach it. Or a similar thing on a pole in the ground where she can jump onto it but the mice cant?? As for food dropping to the ground, i suppose i will have to live with the mice cleaning that up? I will however use some humane traps with tasty food inside to entice them in those instead.

Mice also STINK!!

Good to know they dont like pepermint....... Will have to see if i can do something with that.
I know it sounds stupid and my partner thinks i over react when it comes to peanut! :eek but i hate the thought of her sleeping in her bed and all the mice are annoying her and running wild in her house. I wish she would sleep in her box but she just loves that tunnel and of course there are two ways in and out.....perhaps i can block one end?

Anyway thank you so much for listening to me whittle on....and thanks for all the advice. Nice talking to other squirrel people! Ha ha :grin3

[owenssammy]

By the way..... What do you mean by a bin feeder?? X

[czarina]

Sorry to hear of your mouse problem. We live on a farm and have them too. I don't really think that there is much you can do, other than using a much smaller gauge of wire, or hardware cloth covering the whole enclosure, top to bottom. Mice are soooo agile and can squeeze through the tiniest little crevice. And if you just put the smaller gauge at the bottom, whats to stop them from coming in from the roof?

What about using screening? I dont know if mice can chew through it, maybe not the aluminum kind? Although I would imagine that they are good chewers like rats. I have heard of using human hair as a deterrent for deer, but have no idea if it works for mice. I kind of suspect that not much can deter a hungry mouse.

The worse part of the problem is that they are prolific reproducers. Lovesmice could probably give you the stats on that, and it is mind boggling how many they can have.

I can not stand mice pee. Ick. Ick. Ick.

No chance your squirrel could live in the house?
I asked my husband if running hot wire outside the pen, hung low to the ground would work, and he said no, they would just jump above it.

So, it looks like your best option, ( other than bringing Peanut in ), will be to stay on a humane trap and release schedule. But that will be almost impossible, after the baby is here. :dono

Good luck and congratulations on the baby!

[sassysquirrel]

Can you change the wire? Smaller so they can't get in.

I also can't stand the mice pee smell!!!!!! If you can'd find where they are coming in - more and more will just keep showing up. They even start to have babies in her cage. Everything in Peanuts cage will start to smell like mice pee - and even Peanut.

Mice were getting in Little Man's outside cage. I finally had to secure every little spot. Anything I could put 2 of my fingers in - I closed it off with either wood or hardware cloth.

Good luck. Love Peanuts cage. Such a shame that the mice are pushing her out.

***You have to figure out how to keep them out. Anything you build that you think they can't reach = they eventually figure it out.

[owenssammy]

Thanks guys :) looks like i will have to get smaller wire and try as best i can..... She used to live inside - for the past 3 years and has only been outside since the start of summer... I wanted her to have more space to run around and have a cage i can go and sit in with her.... She does seem a lot happier out there. When she was in the house, i would let her out and she always got along with the cats and dogs but started to terrorise them and chase them around for some reason....and as much as i love her, i couldn't have a squirrel running around the house with a baby now joining the family. I think she got a bit bored as i stopped letting her out so much and i felt so bad. I did cry when she stayed outside for the first night though Ha ha.... Partner thought i was hilarious but i just blamed the hormones!! Ha. I also worry she will get cold in the winter..... But i guess she will toughen up!?

The mouse pee is gross!!!! She has a cat scratch post thing and some blankets in there that i have to wash once a week because they stink!

Thanks again for all your suggestions..... I will keep you posted! X

[TubeDriver]

Very cool cage! I don't have much to add, I think you have been given good advice. I would set up several live traps for the mice (both inside and outside the cage). Relocate the little buggers!

Good luck!

[lovesmice]

If she was chasing the cat and dog around and terrorizing them, then I do not think you need to worry about her around the mice. I doubt she will tolerate small critters if she will not tolerate big critters, and since mice are Prey animals, they are not likely to have a face off with your Peanuts.

As far as the mouse tinkle, personally I dislike all pee and think it has a stench, but maybe that is just me. My cat's litter box was just as unappealing with that ammonia smell if not worse than the mice. All my squirrels are visitors only, though, so I did not know their pee did not smell and it was not an issue with them. It sounds like all of the steps you are taking to humanely resolve the situation will do ultimately do so in which you will no longer have to deal with any smell. Peanuts is lucky she has a squirrel mommy who has made her such a wonderful palace and the mice are lucky you value their lives or you would not be working so hard to relocate them.

You asked about the Winter and how Peanuts would do in it for the first time. It might be worth asking in a new thread. I do not know how cold your season is, but I am sure those with experience can offer tips on how to make her house warmer if she is not used to frigid temps.

[owenssammy]

Thanks everyone..... So i have moved her tunnel she likes to sleep in and tied it to the ceiling so she has to jump to it to get in it.... And i have tied a bucket to the ceiling also with her food in........ She isn't hugely keen on this as it swings when she jumps in it but i guess she will get used to it. And i have sent up two traps tonight... Each one is supposed to trap 10 mice so we shall see in the morning.....i did try putting them in there during the day but peanut was too intrigued and was trying to chew at them to get the tasty food out! Ha ha. If all this fails then i will have to wire the whole enclosure..... But cost about £250 to do it the first time round! Anyway..... Fingers crossed i can start re locating some of the little buggers tomorrow!

[lovesmice]

Those sound like excellent changes you made so that no mice could get into Peanut's bed and food. Please post an update about how the humane traps have worked. I am keeping my fingers crossed, too, that you are soon mouse-free.

Stay cool and be sure to take some rest time whilst you can. You deserve it.