In the Garden with Mr. Bee
Make mice know they're unwelcome in your house
By Lou Boulmetis
1-888-727-4287
Posted 11/13/08
While I was clearing withered garden debris from a perennial bed, I accidentally flushed out a mouse that was foraging close to our house. Mice never travel alone and since they spread diseases and contaminate food, I was on full alert.
Aesop, a Greek teacher and storyteller from the sixth century B.C., once wrote a story, "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse," regarding the frightening experience a field mouse had while it was having dinner where an unwelcome townhouse mouse was living.
The meal they were having indoors, you see, was interrupted by a pair of the homeowner's vicious dogs and this motivated the field mouse to abruptly flee and return to the peace and quiet of outdoor, country living.
I took Aesop's lesson literally, especially since field mice prefer to live indoors when weather turns cold.
So a large part of my strategy to prevent mouse infestations includes convincing field mice they're unwelcome to live inside with us by thoroughly cleaning and inspecting perennial beds for mice. Then I make certain our other mouse-prevention safeguards are still in place.
Because mice gain access to structures through small openings, the outdoor perimeter should have no openings greater than one-eighth of an inch. All larger spaces should be caulked or plugged with steel wool.
I also refamiliarized myself with the early-warning signs of a house-mouse infestation. These include evidence of nests, gnawing, quarter-inch droppings, chewed paper and ammonia-scented urine stains near baseboards, corners, cupboards and anywhere food is stored or prepared.
A better mouse trap?
The first spring-loaded snap trap designed for mice was invented in 1894 by William C. Hooker of Abingdon, Ill., and even though the U.S. Patent Office has issued patents for more than 4,000 types of mouse traps since then, there's still no better way to rid a structure of mice than by baiting a spring-loaded snap trap with peanut butter, except, perhaps, having hungry cats patrolling a property.
Cats, by the way, are the original, natural-and-organic mouse traps, and it's believed that cats have been on the prowl for mice on behalf of people ever since wild kittens were first domesticated by Cypriot Islanders 80 centuries ago.
So I've been wondering, because cats are so good at catching mice, do you suppose Aesop used dogs in his tale, instead of cats, just so the country mouse could escape to tell its story?
This week in the garden
Don't forget to drain the fuel from gasoline-powered equipment that won't be used again until spring.
As an extra precaution, I add a store-bought, "fuel stabilizer" to our fuel tanks, a product that lengthens the shelf life of fuels.
Finally, I drain our fuel tanks dry using a gasoline siphon, while simultaneously running engines until they're out of fuel.
user comments (3)
user qcloud says...
Mouse is always a familiar guests in the home garden area. Next time, when you doing those draining work, don't forget to wear an work gloves to protect your hands, because once I was been cut in the hand by some acuate stuff.
Posted 3:24 AM, 11.20.08
user sabrina says...
If you want your garden be beautiful, I think you should have a set of good garden tools.
Posted 10:29 PM, 11.23.08
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