Fieldmice in garden, should i be worried?

[fitlike]

Hello,
My fiance and me have been labouring hard over our garden in the last year to atract more wildlife and now have a wide vary of birds, squirrels, foxes etc. With the snow the last couple of weeks we have been putting extra food out and have noticed at least two fieldmice taking some of the food from around the shed. Its easy to see them in the white of the snow! It would appear that they are living there. I have no problem with them living in or under the shed as theres not much destruction that they can cause down there. My worry is though that with there being a plentiful food source in the garden if they wil multiply and look for accomodation in my house. Our garden is quite small and the shed is only 5-10 meters away. Should i catch these mice humanly while i can and release them in the woods before they start causing me a problem?
Thank you
Steve and Helen

[Cotham Marble]

Hi and Welcome to WAB

The brief answer is NO you should not be worried. Field Mice have only one or at the most two broods a year and usually do not live in high densities, and they only very rarely come into houses. Although there are a few crops that the Field mouse might be a problem with (peas and beans) by and large most gardeners may never even notice them, in addition the Field mouse will actually prey on snails so may actually be a net gain for most gardens.

Value your new found residents, they are a great addition to any wildlife friendly garden.

CM

[davecatt]

Hi fitlike Welcome to WAB

If any rodents come in to your house as a result of you feeding the birds it is most likely to be the stored bird food that attracts them, they have a tallent for finding seeds and grains. Simple solution, Keep all bird food in air tight containers (not plastic or paper bags) and store them in your shed. There are sonic detterants available that will keep rodents away from areas you wish to protect, that are safe and don't affect other domestic animals/pets.

Dave

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by Cotham Marble

Hi and Welcome to WAB

The brief answer is NO you should not be worried. Field Mice have only one or at the most two broods a year and usually do not live in high densities, and they only very rarely come into houses. Although there are a few crops that the Field mouse might be a problem with (peas and beans) by and large most gardeners may never even notice them, in addition the Field mouse will actually prey on snails so may actually be a net gain for most gardens.

Value your new found residents, they are a great addition to any wildlife friendly garden.

CM

I'd disagree that Wood (Field) Mice rarely enter homes. It's the only species we get in the home + though I've not found any this autumn/winter we regularly had them in the house in previous years + used a humane trap to try + capture them

I've also heard of quite a few other people who get Wood rather than House Mice in their homes. My impression is that the latter are most common ithe most urban places. I live in the London suburbs.

[Tangaroa]

Wood mice can enter the house in the winter - however unless you see them or see signs of them in the house then you probably should not worry to much about them in your garden.

[Adam Cheeseman]

Originally Posted by Tangaroa

Wood mice can enter the house in the winter - however unless you see them or see signs of them in the house then you probably should not worry to much about them in your garden.

My Wood Mice seem to be bleedin' resident in my house. Doesn't bother be though, except when they die somewhere and I have to find their corpses. Wood Mice are Britain's commonest rodent and are pretty much everywhere and can travel up to 1 mile in a night. I wouldn't be too worried about them taking scraps from the birds though. It's when the rats turn up you want to look out. If they do then stop putting food out until they have gone to pastures new to look for food.

Cheers,

Adam

[fitlike]

Originally Posted by davecatt

Simple solution, Keep all bird food in air tight containers (not plastic or paper bags) and store them in your shed.

Dave

Thanks everyone for the advice - all the food is already in strong plastic boxes in the shed so i will leave 'the mices' be unless they act first lol.
We shall continue to enjoy them and hope the cat next door stays in the house!

[vole-woman]

We've had them for ages in our greenhouse which is just by the kitchen, and they've not come inside the house. I love the little chaps! Such big ears!

If you do get them in the house, The Big Cheese traps work very well.