Huge influx of mice this year.

[CathyA]

We usually get a few mice when winter starts, but this year has been horrible.
I absolutely hate killing mice, but there's really no alternative. The havahart traps just don't work for me........they can be very inhumane if you don't watch them constantly.
We've trapped about 10 already in a span of 10 days. We have a small basement which has a window-type opening that goes into a huge crawlspace, which has a radon barrier.
DH made a really good hinged door for that opening, so mice can't get in there and he's taped around all the wires/tubes/ducts that go through the wall there.

He spent last Sunday shop-vac-ing tons of mice poop from on top of the radon barrier and repairing holes in it that the mice had chewed. He was so disgusted afterwards. We haven't caught any in the basement since then, but I'm still hearing mice chewing on things (wires???) in the wall.

I don't know if it was the type of weather we had this year, or what, but its never been this bad before. No bird feeders around..........just lots of weeds and their seeds.

Funny, but I'm always seeing a hawk around the property every day, so I'm assuming there are lots of mice everywhere this year.
I just have to apologize to the mice's spirits after we kill them. I just don't want our house burning down. :(
anyone else seeing alot more mice this year?

[rosarugosa]

Cathy: We've had an increase in mice over the last couple of years. I know that our foundation/sill area is very porous. There were some chinks where we could see daylight when we bought the house, and we just stuffed insulation in there, which is not at all mouse proof. We have two cats who do a good job finishing off anything that actually comes into our living space. So the mice mostly seem to hang around the periphery, in the sill area or in the walls. I think they just come inside for shelter - I am more likely to hear sounds when it is raining out for example. The wall behind our bed seems to be a favorite place, which is pretty creepy, but it's suprising the things you can get used to.
DH is supposed to do some work on the basement areas of vulnerabilty, but it hasn't happened yet.

[pony mom]

I read recently that there is a decrease in the mouse population due to an acorn shortage. Maybe they're coming to your place looking for food.

[CathyA]

We've had tons of acorns this year. Plus, there's weed seeds everywhere. We also have tons of black walnuts, which means lots of squirrels. At least the squirrels stay outside.