In the 5.5 years I’ve been living in this house, mice have moved in early each autumn and stayed for a few weeks before realising there isn’t enough accessible food here, whereupon they move out. All except this year. Now in the last month of autumn and there’s been no sign at all of any mice. What’s the most likely reason?

awwwww isn’t he cute!

They’re dead.

kii said:

They’re dead.

What, all of them

Skeptic Pete said:

kii said:

They’re dead.

What, all of them

All the ones that matter.

Different breeding habits/grounds this year, may come later than usual, found a betterer place to go, a cat found them/there’s a feral cat hanging around…

Divine Angel said:

Different breeding habits/grounds this year, may come later than usual, found a betterer place to go, a cat found them/there’s a feral cat hanging around…

Yeah. I wouldn’t hang around waiting for bubbles to drop a scrap.

Autumn was of course unusually warm this year, but we have had some runs of cold nights amongst the warmer weather.

Who knows, they might turn up soon. Not that I’m actually missing them :)

Bubble Car said:

Autumn was of course unusually warm this year,

Mmm. Same here.

When the night temps get low enough I’ll start to see them, especially in the feed shed.

Any mouse stupid enough to come into the house will be hunted relentlessly by the killer cat (likes the chase but not the taste).

:)

Divine Angel said:

Different breeding habits/grounds this year, may come later than usual, found a betterer place to go, a cat found them/there’s a feral cat hanging around…

It is a fallacy.. Cats don’t eat mice.

roughbarked said:

Divine Angel said:

Different breeding habits/grounds this year, may come later than usual, found a betterer place to go, a cat found them/there’s a feral cat hanging around…

It is a fallacy.. Cats don’t eat mice.

my cat would beg to differ

roughbarked said:

Divine Angel said:

Different breeding habits/grounds this year, may come later than usual, found a betterer place to go, a cat found them/there’s a feral cat hanging around…

It is a fallacy.. Cats don’t eat mice.

my cat would beg to differ

Yeah, sure. Mice don’t eat cheese, cats don’t eat mice, dogs don’t eat cats, lions don’t eat dogs, monsters don’t eat people etc.

Bubble Car said:

Yeah, sure. Mice don’t eat cheese, cats don’t eat mice, dogs don’t eat cats, lions don’t eat dogs, monsters don’t eat people etc.

Mice prefer seeds
cats prefer birds and lizards
Dogs generally will eat anything, including their masters.
lions are no match for African hunting dogs

Monsters are a figment of youur imagination.

>lions are no match for African hunting dogs

I was joking :)

But lions, alas, are much bigger and scarier than African hunting dogs, which is why they so often steal the dogs’ hard-earned prey. One of the reasons hunting dogs are endangered is that in the current African situation, losing their prey to bigger carnivores is becoming increasingly common.

Bubble Car said:

>lions are no match for African hunting dogs

I was joking :)

But lions, alas, are much bigger and scarier than African hunting dogs, which is why they so often steal the dogs’ hard-earned prey. One of the reasons hunting dogs are endangered is that in the current African situation, losing their prey to bigger carnivores is becoming increasingly common.

Sadly true, yes.

roughbarked said:

Divine Angel said:

Different breeding habits/grounds this year, may come later than usual, found a betterer place to go, a cat found them/there’s a feral cat hanging around…

It is a fallacy.. Cats don’t eat mice.

my cat ate several mice, but not the skulls, which I found..

roughbarked said:

Dogs generally will eat anything, including their masters.

a cat will gnaw the face off a dead owner too… don’t underestimate the evilness of them.

that’s probably why the Egyptians turned to mummification.. to stop all their gods from gnawing their faces off..

It’s not evil, it’s hunger. If they’re not being fed, the feeder gets et.

I think you’ll find that most cats spend their days plotting..

In contrast to PWM’s ill-planned mucking about, I think I’ll just have a simple grilled T-bone this evening, + home made chips.

Sorry :)

Threads are so rare in the HF that wrong-threading them is deceptively easy.

It’s OK Bubblecar, the mice are here. And in Casterton. Not plague proportions, but quite a few.

They’re back. Spotted a scurrying mouse in the kitchen last night and again this evening.

Traps and baits still unmolested. I reckon I got rid of the nests.

Skunkworks said:

Traps and baits still unmolested. I reckon I got rid of the nests.

I don’t kill them. I keep all nourishment out of their reach and let them get used to living in a foodless home, and they sensibly decide to move on.