If I was creative enough, I wouldn't mind doing this for the squirrels that raid my bird feeders!!! I'll be trying walnuts to go along with the corn cobs I put out specifically for them.
The mice, however, are quite another story. I don't want them in my garden, in my yard, under my house or, heaven forbid, in my house! Nothing I was doing had long-term effect. I decided to get serious about cats.
One of my favorite kitties of the past, Banzai
I submitted kitten adoption applications to two different agencies. I knew kittens would not be effective mousers for perhaps a year or more, but I figured I could get lots of great photos between now and then, plus, purrballs would put adventure back into knitting and crocheting, right?!?
I thought perhaps I can just learn to co-exist with the mice until the future kittens grow into finicky human owners. Then another dahlia bulb disappeared. Grrr!
At wit's end, I was ready to dig up the entire raised-bed flower garden and move it far from the birdfeeder. Then the doorbell rang. Door-to-door sales people are not supposed to be in our neighborhood, but I suppose the pest control company knew my neighborhood was fed up with the mouse/wasp problems we've been suffering the last few years.
For the record, I don't mind the wasps at all. We have not had very many bees in the last two to three years, and wasps are good pollinators. Our wasps are not aggressive and pretty much leave us alone. So I didn't ask for high-traffic wasp areas to be treated.
Mice, again, are quite another story. I have wanted to avoid doing anything inhumane, but I also don't want to contribute to hantavirus risk. This one is every bit as nasty as what's currently plaguing our world, and mice are carriers. Colorado has experienced 116 cases of hantavirus since 1993. Back in about 2016, the husband of one of my co-workers, who both also live in a rural area as we do, contracted the hantavirus. He survived, but was very sick for a very long time. So I'm just a bit oversensitive to potential. Plus, I like my flower garden. I don't appreciate mice or bunnies eating my bulbs!!!
It's now been a week since the pest control guys did their stuff. I saw one mouse in the raised-bed garden the day after treatment. I've seen no mice or signs of mice since then.
I'm still thinking about getting kittens. I've missed having cats!
My Three Kitties in the 80s
Now you know you still need to get a cat or three lol your stash may get a bit frayed and disappear from time to time with them around though.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely need a SnowCATcher! :D
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