Is mouse poison attractive to birds?

[boogieman84]

Hi all,

I have been putting out bird seed for a while now and have managed to attract quite a few however due to the quite messy eating doves flicking seed everywhere!(haha) we have spotted some mice running around. Whilst they are looking to attract wildlife and birds so don't want to stop putting out seed, they are not prepared to tolerate mice(these are not dormice by the way). As a result of this they have put out some mouse posion, I think its wheat covered in a blue posion(I'm not sure which) and I just wanted to know if this will be attractive to birds, i've tried to hide it behind some pots bt i'm just worried about waking up one day and seeing a bird graveyard in the garden.

Any advice on what not to put out or any general suggestions would be appreciated.

Many thanks.

[Jez]

Can you not put out humane traps instead?

[boogieman84]

Hi,

That is an idea yes but the problem is that both of my parents can't stand them and wont even pick up a trap with them in so it would be down to me to dispose of them and unfortunately i'm not around to do this all the time so they would probably just end up starving in the trap. This is weighed up against them being poisoned which is also pretty nasty and by no means a pleasant death but the last time this happened I did at least put the mice out of their misery when they were seen wriggling around in the garden.

By the way I have spent a lot of time making a wildlife garden and enjoy watching most wildlife but I just don't have a lot of love for mice.

Just out of curiousity I read somewhere that toads eat mice, any ideas if this is true? Or is it only certain species?

[ceterach]

Stop feeding the birds!

[Jez]

Cane toads of Australia will eat rodents! I think ceterach has the answer either that or learn to live and enjoy what you have at your feeding posts!

[Doggle Avaddit]

If you have the patience, I'm sure that eventually nature will evolve to the point that Mice look much cuter and more colourful, whilst birds look much more like vermin. Then you will no doubt find most of the population trying to poison the birds, whilst attracting those lovely looking mice to their feeding stations.



There is not much logic in either situation really.

[werdnal]

Using poison bait for mice outside is never a good idea. They don't die instantly, and even if you put the ones you see out of their misery, there may be others who crawl away, and get picked up by domestic cats, foxes, owls, magpies, stoats etc, leading to the illness and death of those animals too.

Also hedgehogs and other small mammals will pick up mouse bait, aswell as the birds you are so concerned about.

Sadly, its unavoidable when you feed the birds that other wildlife will take advantage of the free meal. We get squirrels here daily, who also root around on the ground and would probably try bait too.

I think as others have said, if you cannot use a trap (either humane or otherwise) then either live with a few mice, who after all, are outside and not really doing anyone any harm, or stop feeding the birds. Incidentally, a lot of people feel mice are a health hazard, but I think there are more hazards to humans from bird droppings!

[Jaeviatrix]

I think it is a choice between putting up with them and stopping feeding the birds. I learned on this forum that, quite rightly in my opinion, it is also illegal to use poison where protected species (that includes most birds) will be put at risk, as they clearly will be in this situation.
Putting out a poison bait which is designed to attract seed eating animals where desirable seed eating animals are known to feed is so obviously going to lead to disaster I cannot believe someone would feel the need to ask.

[Jaeviatrix]

In fact, "criminally irresponsible" might be a good description of your parents actions here. I'm really cross.

[mushroomy]

irresponsible and bloody stupid these mice will die somewhere and be eaten more than likely by something totaly untargeted. poisons should not be sold to the public as the chances of mucking it up are to great..