mice in the attic

Saturday night I heard a mouse in the attic so I set a trap the next morning. This morning's kill was the 3rd mouse but this mouse wasn't intact, something ate 90% of it. Any ideas of what could be in the attic that would eat a dead mouse?

 

Very hungry cannibal mice.

 

I reset the trap [maybe I should set several] and intend to keep setting traps until I no longer hear activity or catch anything for awhile. Kind of took me by surprise when I saw basically a skeleton and fur in the trap.

 

One of my traps went missing, this was before I started tying them with a foot or so of string. A couple of days later I found it on the other side of the basement, half eaten. I consider myself a pretty tough guy, shooting game and dealing with the guts but for some reason that half eaten mouse really grossed me out. I came to Brant's conclusion, it was another mouse that ate it. A lot easier to think of that than whatever else it might have been.

As for multiple traps, always. Mice and rates are everywhere outside and always on the lookout for a way into that nice comfortable house, especially in the fall. Find a bait that doesn't dry out and leave several traps spread out into different areas. those traps will act as your early warning system and often catch them before you would hear them.

Bud

 

I have heard that they'll eat their own, so would probably assume that, particularly if your cabinets are sealed good so that other food sources are not readily available. But I had the same thing happening in my shop a few years ago, a couple mice looked like they had been ripped out of the traps and a couple of empty traps that weren't where they belonged. I was baffled, until I ran into about a 5' rat snake one evening. I hate snakes, particularly when I run into them at arms length!

 

Don't snakes eat mice whole? I had never run across cannibalistic mice before but hope that is the case. My wife would freak out at the thought of a snake being in the attic so we won't even go there [probably too cold for them anyway] So far no signs of mice inside the house.

Probably the scariest snake encounter I've had was going into my shop and laying one had on the workbench as I used the other to flip the light switch - a 3'-4' snake slithered across my hand. I was out the door in a flash! then realized it was just a grass snake, never did see that snake again. Probably startled the snake as much as it startled me.

 

Last summer by brother saw a mouse running across his garage when a chipmunk runs in and chomps its head right off.

Bon Appetit


If I ever saw a snake in my garage it would be months before I'd go back in,, hate snakes.

 

Mice will eat other mice so dont let imagination get too far gone.

I always set and leave traps in the bonus and attic, nothing for years then this winter 4 catches.

PB is best, even after months it's not dried out and they will go for it!

 

Yes, as far as I know Mark, snakes swallow mice whole rather than chewing on them a bite at a time, but, after finding the one in my shop, and while the particulars were fresh in my mind, I was convinced that mine was ripping what it could from the traps, leaving the rest of it stuck there. Which also explained the reason that one of the traps was, and I can't remember exactly now, but probably 15-20 feet from where I thought I had set it. But I'm inclined to agree with what I think Marq said, your situation is probably just other mice.

 

Today a customer told me that he caught a mouse in a trap and took it outside to dispose of it. He was sure it was dead. When he released the trap the mouse ran away! I guess playing dead is a typical response.

 

Hungry rodents will eat dead rodents, birds, etc. Set multiple traps if you haven’t already. Could be more mice than you realize. Look carefully for signs of larger rodents such as scratched up cardboard & insulation, tunnels in insulation, larger droppings, etc. Probably not present, but good to be vigilant about it.

Set trap(s) near sewage soil stack if that is visible in the attic as that would be an avenue that they would follow. Keep us posted.

 

On the subject of mice and rodents. Are rats or mice more or less prevalent in the city or country? For instance, my cabin located out in the wilderness and unoccupied for the winter. I know it has mice. But will it be as likely to have rats? There is no food stuff in the dwelling and little in the way of bedding material. No signs of rats during the summer, but we did catch mice.

 

Rats and mice are “commensal” rodents, meaning they like to live in proximity to humans even though they know we are also a threat to them. Rats can invade woodsy settings, especially if there are agricultural fields nearby. When being harvested they will be disrupted and go looking for other and safer harborage. This can be a factor. There is also a specie called the Wood rat, kind of rare and I have no experience and little knowledge of them. They don’t seem to invade structures that much, but they can. They like rocky areas as I remember but again I don’t know much about them. Kind of a cleaner rat than the Norway and Roof rats which are more urban dwellers. Much like how the Pennsylvania Wood roach is a cleaner less invasive type of cockroach.

An unoccupied structure in the city or suburbs will draw rats for the safe harborage value as long as food is within a quarter mile, more or less. In the woods-not so much of an issue as there probably aren’t any colonies bordering the cabin as would be the case in urban/suburban areas. Wood rats could be the exception, but kind of rare and not as destructive or dirty as other species.

 

Thanks PA. Kind of puts my mind as ease.

 

Norm, my house is on top of the hill on 16 acres. I've always had mice get in my house in the fall although this year it was a little later. I had rats get in my shop in fla but have yet to see one in tenn. We do have outside cats so that might help.
Just before supper last night my wife heard one of the traps go off so I climbed the ladder and opened the hatch to find one dead mouse. Before going outside I stopped to put on my jacket. In the process the 5 minute dead mouse's tail slapped me on the hand and I dropped the mouse/trap. I never knew a mouse could make my wife laugh!

 

PAbug...,

Would you mind if I use your reply to me as a primer or brief information item to customer whom, might ask about rats vs mice. Your explanation is concise without too much detail. I could not have explained it any better.

Thanks,

Norm