Rabbit hutch and mice......

vodooelephant

Hi all would appreciate any help/advice you can give....

We have a double story rabbit hutch for our two boys who have full run of the garden (veggie patch is fenced off I let them out around 7am and they go to bed when they feel like it but i close them up about 1030-11 their cage door is left open all day for water/food shade etc..

I have noticed over the past month that every now and again a small field mouse goes into hutch and steals food.... our garden backs on to a huge fields.

So i shut the hutch up in the day (making sure rabbits have water about the garden) the mouse can fit in between the teeny wire on the hutch....

So i move the food bowl upstairs....... the mice (there is now at least 3) trail upstairs at night and the rabbits are freaking out and thumping everywhere...

the mice have also chewd a hole in the side of the hutch for easy access? helped by the fact one of my twins happily sat in the cage pulled the door shut so he has weakend the floor

Can i compltley block off the bottom bit or is there any mouse killer / trap i can use or should i move hutch?

I also have 2 18mth olds that play in thegarden so would need to be safe for them

System

TBH if your house backs on to fields then mice are a problem that you will never eradicate. I don't think there is much that you can do. If you block off the bottom bit then they will just climb higher to get in. Mice can quite happily climb up brick walls (to a height of 10 ft that I have seen) so a small hutch would be no problem.

vodooelephant

!!!!!! wrote: »

. Mice can quite happily climb up brick walls (to a height of 10 ft that I have seen)
:eek::eek:

Thanks - now if i can stop the birds nicking all the hay the mice eating all the food and my son from locking himself in their hutch (they are tidy rabbits and do their "business" in the corner of the garden)

The fluffy little things may just be ok after all...... If they would only run away when a todlar approachs them

System

We have rabbits that live in a hutch in the garage, and like you live very close to open fields. we have come to accept that field mice will take up residence in or near the rabbits.

If you can get your rabbits to be carnivorous then they can supplement their diet:rotfl:

Penny_Watcher

!!!!!! wrote: »

. Mice can quite happily climb up brick walls (to a height of 10 ft that I have seen) so a small hutch would be no problem.

They did that too last year in my back garden. We have hanging baskets on some of the outbuildings with bird feeders interspersed. I noticed that the field mice were sitting in the hanging baskets to eat the 'booty' they had nicked from the bird feeders. Unless the furry little beggars have sprouted wings then they must have climbed the brick walls to get up there.

This year the feeders are hanging from the trees and I haven't noticed any Spiderman mice in the baskets. Fieldmice are canny and will find food where ever they can. If they are squeezing through the wire mesh can you put some smaller gauge netting over the mesh? The mice will probably make short work of it though.

I think whilst you have food out there you'll attract the mice. At least they're not rats. :eek:

adviceforall

Not sure if its true or not but when we used to have rabbits i was told it was dangerous the the rabbits if the mice weed in their food and the rabbits ate it..

MaximumImpact

Mice can get through holes the size of a biro ...they are really flexible and have soft skulls with loosely connected bones!! Wierd!!!