Dear Oberon,
I have been seeing mice in my house this year! What is the best way to get rid of them?

Sincerely,
Mousey House

Dear Mousey House,

“Owl” be honest, I wish I had this problem! I find small mammals delicious, and I just eat the ones I find in my mew. This may not be the best solution for you, however, so I will lay out a few other options which may be better suited to your human lifestyle.

First of all, please do not use poison to solve your problem! This is especially true if you live near a road. My fellow birds of prey have been known to swoop down on slow-moving small mammals and get struck by vehicles. I myself was a victim of such a scenario, and now am blind in one eye and suffer from slight brain damage. Also, eating poisoned small mammals can poison the predator that captures them. Bad news!

Secondly, I know that humans, without an owls highly developed predatory senses, tend to see all small mammals as being the same. Not true! There are a wide variety of small mammals which may be mistaken for mice, but are in fact very different. Shrews, for example, are small and vaguely mouse-shaped, but are actually insectivores and will never steal your food. To learn more about the difference between the plethora of small mammals in our area, check out the Small Mammal Atlas on the NorthWoods website.

Finally, to get down to the business of actually answering your question, the best way to get rid of mice is to run a tight ship! This means implementing a series of practices that will help a) get rid of pests that are currently in residence, and b) discourage future infestations.

  • The first of these practices is minimizing points of entry. In order to do this, you must understand that an adult mouse can fit their body through a hole the same diameter as a dime! You can use steel wool, caulking, and weather stripping to tighten up your house.
  • The next thing you can do is experiment with a variety of mouse traps to see which works best for your situation and place them strategically around your house. There are a few things to be aware of when trapping. Be sure to use good (non-poisonous!) bait that you know your little mouse friends will love. They will let you know what they like by stealing it from your cupboard. If you have problems with disappearing bait and no mice in your traps, try tying the bait to your trap trigger with fishing line. Another thing to be aware of is the cruelty factor when capturing the little critters. Glue traps cause unnecessary suffering and can indiscriminately trap other species, so use quick-kill snap traps or just pop them right in your beak and give them a good chomp.
  • The final thing you can do to tighten up the ship is to make sure you don’t leave any sort of food in a situation where mice might get to it. Store your non-perishables in glass jars, airtight containers, or fireproof lock-boxes. Keep your counter and floor free of crumbs and tempting tidbits, and keep any compostable food scraps in a mouse-proof container.

If you find all of this to be too complicated, you could also adopt a cat from your local shelter and let them take on that responsibility. For the sake of my fellow birds, however, if you choose to bring one of these cuddly killers into your home, please keep them indoors! Outdoor domestic cats have been known to kill species of birds which are vital to the health of our ecosystems, which all of us – raptor, feline, and
human – rely on.

Cheers!

Oberon the Owl