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EEEEEEEEEK just saw a mouse

marchi1990

Mama Doe
I just saw a mouse run down the side of Woody's shed. I freaked. I screamed.

I did a thorough inspection after calming down and there were some droppings by the side of his shed.

This has me very worried. Unfortunately my Dad has had to put down traps. Didn't know what else to do.
 
Did you manage to get a look at what sort of mouse it was? silly question I know but there you go. We get mice around quite often. Mainly field mice which are just crossing territory between fields / looking for somewhere warm to stay. They are not dirty animals, and if you are in the countryside, I would just prevent them accessing a food source and leave them to it, they can be interesting animals.

If you live in a town or city area though then it's a different matter, because obviously they are not on a natural diet and have more than likely been eating rubbish from bins.

First things first would be to cover all possible food sources, so if you have a compost heap for your scraps, make sure the lid is tight fitting. Put the rabbits food and hay in sealed plastic containers. Make sure all bins of any kind are closed and the lid weighed down. Sweep up all rubbish, dead leaves and vegetation (they like to use dry leaves and grass in their nests)

If you find any holes then block them off with super fine welded metal mesh or heavy bricks to stop them getting in the shed and going after food in the rabbits bowls.

There is no point in trapping them without doing those things, otherwise more will just move in. You could put down humane traps as another preventative in the future, just remember to check them regularly.
 
Awww, it seems a bit harsh trapping him when he's outside! Echo what the pp said about making sure food and that is in an airtight container.
 
Just to add by humane trap I didn't mean one that kills, just one that catches them so you can release them somewhere more suitable if you decide you really really can't stand them :thumb:
 
Unfortunately I think they are more than likely in the area by the shed because they are getting through to the run and eating the rabbit food which Woody has thrown around. I clean this up every single morning but obviously I don't know what happens in the night - this is probably when they are sneaking in.

There really is nothing else around there for them to be eating other than the rabbit food.

I really don't want to kill them but don't know what else to do in order to ensure they go. I know they can be carriers of harmful things to rabbits :(
 
Did you manage to get a look at what sort of mouse it was? silly question I know but there you go. We get mice around quite often. Mainly field mice which are just crossing territory between fields / looking for somewhere warm to stay. They are not dirty animals, and if you are in the countryside, I would just prevent them accessing a food source and leave them to it, they can be interesting animals.

If you live in a town or city area though then it's a different matter, because obviously they are not on a natural diet and have more than likely been eating rubbish from bins.

First things first would be to cover all possible food sources, so if you have a compost heap for your scraps, make sure the lid is tight fitting. Put the rabbits food and hay in sealed plastic containers. Make sure all bins of any kind are closed and the lid weighed down. Sweep up all rubbish, dead leaves and vegetation (they like to use dry leaves and grass in their nests)

If you find any holes then block them off with super fine welded metal mesh or heavy bricks to stop them getting in the shed and going after food in the rabbits bowls.

There is no point in trapping them without doing those things, otherwise more will just move in. You could put down humane traps as another preventative in the future, just remember to check them regularly.

Not sure of the type of mouse but it was pretty dark with a small tail?
 
Unfortunately I think they are more than likely in the area by the shed because they are getting through to the run and eating the rabbit food which Woody has thrown around. I clean this up every single morning but obviously I don't know what happens in the night - this is probably when they are sneaking in.

There really is nothing else around there for them to be eating other than the rabbit food.

I really don't want to kill them but don't know what else to do in order to ensure they go. I know they can be carriers of harmful things to rabbits :(

Maybe if you don't give him his food in the run? My two only get given their food in their hutch, I go out give it to them and then come back in to get ready for work, then just before I leave I go and put them in their run, by this point they have finished their breakfast anyway. Then I give them the rest of their food when I put them back in their hutch for the night.
 
Maybe if you don't give him his food in the run? My two only get given their food in their hutch, I go out give it to them and then come back in to get ready for work, then just before I leave I go and put them in their run, by this point they have finished their breakfast anyway. Then I give them the rest of their food when I put them back in their hutch for the night.

He receives his pellets in his shed but he currently has a bowl of readi grass in his run. The thing is the mice could just walk through to his shed anyway even if I put food only in there. The shed door is open all the time so he constantly has access to his run.
 
Is the shed door meshed, and do you leave the door completely open at night time? Mice come out mostly at dawn and dusk, and this one probably only came out from it's home because it was disturbed, so while you can't really withhold the rabbits hay at night, perhaps you could feed the rabbits only during daytime hours except for the hay (just trying to think of ways to make them less attracted to the area)
 
Is the shed door meshed, and do you leave the door completely open at night time? Mice come out mostly at dawn and dusk, and this one probably only came out from it's home because it was disturbed, so while you can't really withhold the rabbits hay at night, perhaps you could feed the rabbits only during daytime hours except for the hay (just trying to think of ways to make them less attracted to the area)

His main door is locked all the time but he has a small little hatch which he accesses his shed through from his run 24/7.

I'm going to have a really thorough clean tomorrow and move the very heavy shed to clean beneath it. I can only hope they haven't taken up residence underneath it.
 
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