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If you have a big enough garden, you could put an owl nest box in a calm place when the owlets constant screeching noise will not suppose a problem. Owls can be

If you have a big enough garden, you could put an owl nest box in a calm place when the owlets constant screeching noise will not suppose a problem. Owls can be territorial and attack to protect the nest also, so leave them far from the house and alone. Unlike traps, they will catch ten mice by night each night and will dispose of the corpses so you don't need to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P-KWBSbis4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P-KWBSbis4

giantg2 5y ago
If you're lucky enough to have one move in. I have a bat house in hopes of natural mosquito control. It's been a few years and there's no sign of use.
- hunter-gatherer 5y ago
  Bats are amazing neighbors. For years our neighboor had a massive pine tree that was hone to a pretty significant bat population. We would always see them come out at night and start feeding. Mosquitoes were never an issue. A few years ago the tree had to be cut down because it was rotting inside and was at danger of falling down. Unfortunately the bats haven't returned, and everyone in my neighborhood is now fighting the mosquito.
  - 14 5y ago
    The only issue I have with bats is I am now terrified of them. Several years back my kids Taekwondo instructor, a 21 year old picture of perfect health magnificent human being, was killed from rabies after a bat brushed against him in the night while taking a pee on the side of the road. Months later after it was too late signs of rabies appeared and he died in hospital. It was devastating. The bats in my neighbourhood commonly swoop down near you if in the yard and it is now scary.
    - Something1234 5y ago
      https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/location/usa/surveillance/human_rabies.html https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/location/usa/surveillance/human_r... This is absolutely nuts. Also how would he know that he wasn't bitten if it brushed up against him.
      - ocschwar 5y ago
        He didn't know. Bat bites are barely perceptible.
      - 14 5y ago
        I am not sure by what part you think is nuts? Worrying about bats? I don’t like to play with odds and now personally know someone who died from it. I would rather not take a chance. Here is an article about his death and the rabies in the bats in our area. https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/mobile/man-21-dies-after-contracting-rabies-on-vancouver-island-1.4509621 https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/mobile/man-21-dies-after-...
        nsxwolf 5y ago
        I woke up one night with a bat flying circles around the ceiling of my bedroom. It flew all over my house until I trapped it in a room. It flew with total precision, like it was at home in a cave, nothing like a confused bird flapping around in your house. I paid $400 to have it captured and tested (which involves killing it). It was negative. It could have bit me in my sleep, and I was glad to not get that series of shots (at the time it was those ones that go into your gut) or wait it out and wonder if I would die a year later.
        deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
matwood 5y ago
We're fortunate enough to have an owl (I assume a pair) and a couple of hawk pairs in my neighborhood (I can see them in the nest). There are also snakes (I've had to coerce a 3' black racer off my porch). Rodents have never been an issue. The problem with denser city living is there isn't a lot of habitat for natural predators.
- samwillis 5y ago
  We have a couple of Red Kites nesting quite close by. Love watching them, and don’t seem to have a rodent problem.
- derefr 5y ago
  There's a natural predator in cities whose habitat is "your couch." But people say that allowing cats to be "outdoor cats" is a bad thing. (Cats do hunt a bunch of species that aren't going to try to enter your house, and may in fact be endangered. But then... so would owls, hawks, and snakes living in the same areas. My point isn't so much that having cats outdoors is good; but rather that we should apply the same standard to having any of these other predatory species in our neighbourhoods that we do for cats.)
  - wpm 5y ago
    Because cats hunts for fun and don’t even eat what they kill half the time. They’re just out murdering birds for sport.
    - beenBoutIT 5y ago
      Morality aside the uneaten dead birds never go to waste. If a raccoon, opossum, coyote or bird doesn't eat the carcass something else will and it all goes back into the mix. The only way it becomes an actual loss is when a human interferes by putting it in a plastic bag or throwing it out in the trash and dooming it to decompose in a landfill.
      - mixmastamyk 5y ago
emerged 5y ago
I use a reflective metal owl to deter woodpeckers who love destroying my house. It seems to be effective because I’ve not seen or heard the little peckers since. Your comment makes me wonder if these would also help with mice.
- ocschwar 5y ago
  Just saw that my neighbor installed one on his fence. I'll ask him in a week how that's going.
- pvaldes 5y ago
  Probably not. Mice don't even know what hits them
WalterBright 5y ago
I see the balls of crushed bones and fur on my driveway all the time (what comes out of a coyote after it eats a mouse). There are eagles and owls around here, too. Still plenty of mice.

giantg2 5y ago

If you're lucky enough to have one move in. I have a bat house in hopes of natural mosquito control. It's been a few years and there's no sign of use.

hunter-gatherer 5y ago
Bats are amazing neighbors. For years our neighboor had a massive pine tree that was hone to a pretty significant bat population. We would always see them come out at night and start feeding. Mosquitoes were never an issue. A few years ago the tree had to be cut down because it was rotting inside and was at danger of falling down. Unfortunately the bats haven't returned, and everyone in my neighborhood is now fighting the mosquito.
- 14 5y ago
  The only issue I have with bats is I am now terrified of them. Several years back my kids Taekwondo instructor, a 21 year old picture of perfect health magnificent human being, was killed from rabies after a bat brushed against him in the night while taking a pee on the side of the road. Months later after it was too late signs of rabies appeared and he died in hospital. It was devastating. The bats in my neighbourhood commonly swoop down near you if in the yard and it is now scary.
  - Something1234 5y ago
    https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/location/usa/surveillance/human_rabies.html https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/location/usa/surveillance/human_r... This is absolutely nuts. Also how would he know that he wasn't bitten if it brushed up against him.
    - ocschwar 5y ago
      He didn't know. Bat bites are barely perceptible.
    - 14 5y ago
      I am not sure by what part you think is nuts? Worrying about bats? I don’t like to play with odds and now personally know someone who died from it. I would rather not take a chance. Here is an article about his death and the rabies in the bats in our area. https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/mobile/man-21-dies-after-contracting-rabies-on-vancouver-island-1.4509621 https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/mobile/man-21-dies-after-...
      - nsxwolf 5y ago
        I woke up one night with a bat flying circles around the ceiling of my bedroom. It flew all over my house until I trapped it in a room. It flew with total precision, like it was at home in a cave, nothing like a confused bird flapping around in your house. I paid $400 to have it captured and tested (which involves killing it). It was negative. It could have bit me in my sleep, and I was glad to not get that series of shots (at the time it was those ones that go into your gut) or wait it out and wonder if I would die a year later.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]

matwood 5y ago

We're fortunate enough to have an owl (I assume a pair) and a couple of hawk pairs in my neighborhood (I can see them in the nest). There are also snakes (I've had to coerce a 3' black racer off my porch). Rodents have never been an issue. The problem with denser city living is there isn't a lot of habitat for natural predators.

samwillis 5y ago
We have a couple of Red Kites nesting quite close by. Love watching them, and don’t seem to have a rodent problem.
derefr 5y ago
There's a natural predator in cities whose habitat is "your couch." But people say that allowing cats to be "outdoor cats" is a bad thing. (Cats do hunt a bunch of species that aren't going to try to enter your house, and may in fact be endangered. But then... so would owls, hawks, and snakes living in the same areas. My point isn't so much that having cats outdoors is good; but rather that we should apply the same standard to having any of these other predatory species in our neighbourhoods that we do for cats.)
- wpm 5y ago
  Because cats hunts for fun and don’t even eat what they kill half the time. They’re just out murdering birds for sport.
  - beenBoutIT 5y ago
    Morality aside the uneaten dead birds never go to waste. If a raccoon, opossum, coyote or bird doesn't eat the carcass something else will and it all goes back into the mix. The only way it becomes an actual loss is when a human interferes by putting it in a plastic bag or throwing it out in the trash and dooming it to decompose in a landfill.
    - mixmastamyk 5y ago

emerged 5y ago

I use a reflective metal owl to deter woodpeckers who love destroying my house. It seems to be effective because I’ve not seen or heard the little peckers since. Your comment makes me wonder if these would also help with mice.

ocschwar 5y ago
Just saw that my neighbor installed one on his fence. I'll ask him in a week how that's going.
pvaldes 5y ago
Probably not. Mice don't even know what hits them

WalterBright 5y ago

I see the balls of crushed bones and fur on my driveway all the time (what comes out of a coyote after it eats a mouse). There are eagles and owls around here, too. Still plenty of mice.