Mice!

[basketcase]

Hope this is the right place to post this.

It seems my plot is already a haven for wildlife. Unfortunately it's all the wrong stuff!

Was digging through the huge pile of stones, wood etc which is occupying where my shed is going to be one day (where I found the wasps nest). Saw something grey move and thought at first it was Mr Toad (who was there the day before). It was a blinking mouse!

I'm not one of the "Eek - a mouse! Where's the nearest chair?" group. I hope there's not a nest of them, but I don't hold out much hope.

Is there a humane way of getting rid of it if there is? I know, I know, they eat stuff and are vermin. But I couldn't actually squash the slugs and snails I found either...

On the up-side, this leaving piles of stuff around obviously does attract wildlife. And there's so much rotting vegetation and soil in there that I think I can start a fair-sized compost heap! (Maybe even use some of it already?!)

[Capsid]

I think the best approach is to reduce the possibility of attracting the unwanted wildlife. I doubt you can ever eradicate them completely anyway. So I'd clear up your rubbish as much as possible and start that compost bin.

[basketcase]

I think the best approach is to reduce the possibility of attracting the unwanted wildlife. I doubt you can ever eradicate them completely anyway. So I'd clear up your rubbish as much as possible and start that compost bin.

It's another of those 'fine balance' things, I suspect...

[Guzzik]

Just to cheer you up a wee bit. At our allotments they had a rat problem, they traced them to one guys dung heap. So, they ringed the heap in wire mesh then started to drag the heap about. In the end they killed THIRTY TWO rats that day.

[Alice]

Sorry Basketcase, but if there's on mouse there's more. There will be a nest for sure. All you can do is decide on your tactics and get on with it.

[rainbowminx]

I found a lovely little mouse nesting IN the compost heap with her four babies! I didn't have the heart to disturb them and the children loved them too. However, once they had grown and fled the nest I started to discover little burrows under my wire cloches and nibbled roots! I bought a £15 solar powered 'mole scarer' from Wilkinsons which vibrates and emits a beep every minute or so, and voila! No more mice! Worth a try if you just want them to live elsewhere.

[basketcase]

Just to cheer you up a wee bit. At our allotments they had a rat problem, they traced them to one guys dung heap. So, they ringed the heap in wire mesh then started to drag the heap about. In the end they killed THIRTY TWO rats that day.

Aah, thanks, Guzzik! You made my day...

[basketcase]

Well, thanks for the replies. I pootled around over the last couple of days making lots of disturbance and, this morning did a lot of digging and found... nothing! Hopefully either the mouse had just arrived or it took the hint and moved. If there was a nest I was going to wimp out, shovel it up and put it, very gently, onto the old railway line over the fence.

Actually, this 'rubbish heap' just gets more and more interesting. I know that the gent who had the plot before me lost heart after his wife died and it hadn't been worked for a couple of years, but I'm trying work out how long this heaps' been there. Along with more flagstones, bricks and wood (plus a very pretty green glass vase!) I've got what looks like at least 2000 litres of rather nice compost! Now all I need are beds to put it on...