Hell of a year for rodents
Last fall the white pines dropped a huge amount of pine cones. As a result, the squirrel, chipmunk, and mouse populations are way up, and they are doing their mischief.
The list this year so far: Chewed hoses and well line, anything plastic basically, lead flashing around chimneys, nests in engine compartments, eating roots of plants in the garden, you name it.
Everyone has their choices for dealing with them- I personally use peppermint oil sprinkled on bounce sheets in my camper, but for the most part, I think we can all agree it takes work to rid ourselves from rodent problems, without owning a cat.
The upside, if there is one, is that birds of prey have lots to eat. Sadly, though, people will use d-con, which gets passed on up the food chain and vet hospitals can tell stories of dying hawks and owls from ingesting animals who have been poisoned.
Lately, I've found that mice really hate the smell of natrapel insect repellant. It has picaridin instead of deet, but the odor they add is probably what they find offensive. So far, so good, and here's hoping next year isn't as brutal!
The list this year so far: Chewed hoses and well line, anything plastic basically, lead flashing around chimneys, nests in engine compartments, eating roots of plants in the garden, you name it.
Everyone has their choices for dealing with them- I personally use peppermint oil sprinkled on bounce sheets in my camper, but for the most part, I think we can all agree it takes work to rid ourselves from rodent problems, without owning a cat.
The upside, if there is one, is that birds of prey have lots to eat. Sadly, though, people will use d-con, which gets passed on up the food chain and vet hospitals can tell stories of dying hawks and owls from ingesting animals who have been poisoned.
Lately, I've found that mice really hate the smell of natrapel insect repellant. It has picaridin instead of deet, but the odor they add is probably what they find offensive. So far, so good, and here's hoping next year isn't as brutal!
