Tuesday 25 October 2016

Resident mice



We spotted this little guy not long after we moved in to our house. He was very curious and not at all scared of us - he let us get very close before he run away. We guessed he lived under our decking. Last week I saw him again (or one of his family, who can tell!) and he actually let me stroke him (!!!) a couple of times before he walked away. I am absolutely in love with this sweet tiny face!

We have two cats in our household, so I always thought mice would stay away, but as the days started to get much colder, the mice moved from under the decking into our house. They're in the walls so we don't see them, but we can certainly hear lots of tiny feet running around. This drives the cats mental as they can hear them much better than we do, but can't see or catch them! They jump at walls and floors, knowing something's there, but not being able to see anything. Looks like we have a few interesting months ahead of us.

I know some people hate mice, but we're not that bothered. They will never venture out of their hiding places as I'm sure they can smell the cats and wouldn't risk their lives like that. They were here before us, and if they need shelter for the winter months, that's fine by us!

6 comments:

  1. the mice in the walls is the perfect cat toy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think you will find your friend is a rat....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mice in your house are not your friends. I just lost 10 kilos of flour, two unopened packets of crackers and a 250gm package of chocolate chips to the rodent.

    Traps are laid. The dog isn't bothered.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They're only in the walls, and if any of them came out I'm sure my cats would handle it. One of my cats proved she's a good huntress back in my old house :-)

      Delete
  4. It is a rat, the long tail with no hair is the clue. Not nice at all. Hope your cats can get them. They carry disease.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Beverley, thanks for your comment and your concern, but it was definitely a house mouse, I have checked. Besides it was very tiny, no more than 20mm (less than 1 inch) excluding the tail, so nowhere near the size of a rat, even a young one. House mice are very common here, whereas I've never seen a rat.

      Delete