Field mice in garden

loulou41

Today I saw a field mice among the shrubs in my flower bed. It was not shy and doing some acrobatic movements & running around climbing on the lavender bush and nibbling. It seemed to me that it was eating the plants. I do not know whether I should get a trap for it but my friend said to leave it alone as it seemed to be enjoying itself. I do not want it to come in the house which I think will be impossible as I have got a step on the patio and it will hard for him to get in. I watched him through the patio door. What shall I do, shall I trap with some cheese or let him go about its business? I mentioned it to my neighbour and he has seen it as well. Thanks

valk_scot

If there's food for it in your garden it won't come inside and soon enough it will go off to hibernate somewhere. Field mice and house mice are different from each other after all. Why not set a trap or two inside the house just in case? I personally wouldn't want to kill a field mouse though. Look at these pictures.....how cute is that? (Harvest mice are the euro equivelent of our field mice.)

loulou41

They do look cute in the pictures. May be I would listen to my friend and leave it alone. It is very interesting to watch it doing all these acrobatic movements on the branches and it does look very cute.

Rolandtheroadie

I've waste veg oil in my garage and regularly find them belly up in it.
They WILL come inside as it gets cooler, set traps inside and peanut butter is better than cheese.

Becles

We have field mice in the garden, but I've never seen one or any evidence of them being in the house.

We used to have a rabbit and the mice could squeeze through the mesh on the front of the hutch and they used to steal rabbit food

emiff6

loulou41 wrote: »

I do not want it to come in the house which I think will be impossible as I have got a step on the patio and it will hard for him to get in.

Mice are superb vertical climbers! It is only likely to come inside by mistake though, if it is truly a long-tailed field mouse. They eat seeds, buds, fruit, (a few of my outdoor toms had munch marks ), insects, and SNAILS! I believe they are quite territorial, so you're not likely to be overrun with mice.

Primrose

Leave the little thing alone! . When it gets much colder it will hibernate. If you want to make it a little home, get an old tennis ball, cut a hole in it and stick it in the middle of one of your hedges or shrubs with a few dry leaves or dry grass in it so it's got a nice little nest to curl up in during the winter. We had a wooden bird box on a fence post hidden behind a hedge and found a couple of years ago that two or three field mice were climbing up the hedge and wintering in it. They were very cute and being a big softie, I used to spinkle a few dry porridge oats on the ground underneath so that on mild days they could come out and have a convenient snack. I also collected a few hawthorn berries from a nearby hedge and put them down for them which also vanished pretty quickly.

deeds

Aww thats so sweet.

chelms38

Wait until you get the track and field mice. :eek:

SallyForth_2

Mice don't really go for cheese.

System

SallyForth wrote: »

Mice don't really go for cheese.

Peanuts (not salted) - they love 'em.

BTW don't do anything that could harm it as they are a protected species.