4 ms·

>but why mow it all in the first place? Because providing convenient habitat for grass dwelling rodents adjacent to your home will result in some fraction of t

>but why mow it all in the first place? Because providing convenient habitat for grass dwelling rodents adjacent to your home will result in some fraction of them trying to move in.

stinos 4y ago
Depending on where you live those rodents won't do any harm though. Or simply leave again because the cannot find food, which is like the #1 thing to deal with in case of rodents. Moreover you'd need a serious amount of 'deadzone' around your house before rodents won't cross it, no? It's not like they only can cover distances of few metres. All in all, this type of claim should be backed by research :) Curious if there is any.
- yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
  > Depending on where you live those rodents won't do any harm though. Or simply leave again because the cannot find food, which is like the #1 thing to deal with in case of rodents. > All in all, this type of claim should be backed by research :) Curious if there is any. Yes, any evidence for your claims would be appreciated. Are there places where mice/rats aren't considered a disease vector?
  - stinos 4y ago
    Are there places where mice/rats aren't considered a disease vector All species? I actually don't know. But with 'depending on where you live' I also menat situations like mice entering your unused basement etc. Anyway: I'm mainly questioning whether 'long vegetation around my house means more chance of rodents in my house' is something general. Also because it's not my experience. Then again I don't live in, say, Australia.
    - MichaelCollins 4y ago
      > situations like mice entering your unused basement etc. This is a bad situation, if anybody ever goes in that basement for any reason ever, they're at risk of catching numerous diseases from the rodent feces they stir up into the air by walking around. Hantavirus is spread this way, and Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome kills about a third of the people who catch it. There is no reason to accept this risk if you have any other choice.
      - MisterMower 4y ago
        Hauntavirus is no joke. I knew a piano tuner who got it, and it was not pretty. Mice droppings in an old upright, ironically in a house with a very poorly kept lawn. He was tuning it for a lady that was trying to sell it so she could move out.
MichaelCollins 4y ago
Adding to this: depending on where you live, the rodent issue is made worse by the vipers they attract. I generally don't mind snakes, rat snakes are actually quite nice, but I think most people don't want to worry about a rattlesnake nipping their heel when they step out their front door. This is made worse by the selective pressure humans place on rattlesnakes to discourage rattling (those that rattle get noticed and killed.) I think there are probably better ways to address this problem than mowing grass right up against your house though. Ringing your house with mulched gardens or even gravel patches (particularly french drains, in areas prone to flooding) is a good alternative, presuming you don't have a HOA forbidding it..
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
z9znz 4y ago
There is a concept of zones. You make zones 0 and 1 very human friendly. Beyond that you gradually transition from aesthetic and food growing toward wild nature. I'm not suggesting you wade through waist high weeds as you walk out your front door. But if you looked at the photo of the original post, you would see the plot being mowed appeared to be just a pasture well beyond habitation.

>but why mow it all in the first place? Because providing convenient habitat for grass dwelling rodents adjacent to your home will result in some fraction of them trying to move in.

stinos 4y ago

Depending on where you live those rodents won't do any harm though. Or simply leave again because the cannot find food, which is like the #1 thing to deal with in case of rodents. Moreover you'd need a serious amount of 'deadzone' around your house before rodents won't cross it, no? It's not like they only can cover distances of few metres. All in all, this type of claim should be backed by research :) Curious if there is any.

yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
> Depending on where you live those rodents won't do any harm though. Or simply leave again because the cannot find food, which is like the #1 thing to deal with in case of rodents. > All in all, this type of claim should be backed by research :) Curious if there is any. Yes, any evidence for your claims would be appreciated. Are there places where mice/rats aren't considered a disease vector?
- stinos 4y ago
  Are there places where mice/rats aren't considered a disease vector All species? I actually don't know. But with 'depending on where you live' I also menat situations like mice entering your unused basement etc. Anyway: I'm mainly questioning whether 'long vegetation around my house means more chance of rodents in my house' is something general. Also because it's not my experience. Then again I don't live in, say, Australia.
  - MichaelCollins 4y ago
    > situations like mice entering your unused basement etc. This is a bad situation, if anybody ever goes in that basement for any reason ever, they're at risk of catching numerous diseases from the rodent feces they stir up into the air by walking around. Hantavirus is spread this way, and Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome kills about a third of the people who catch it. There is no reason to accept this risk if you have any other choice.
    - MisterMower 4y ago
      Hauntavirus is no joke. I knew a piano tuner who got it, and it was not pretty. Mice droppings in an old upright, ironically in a house with a very poorly kept lawn. He was tuning it for a lady that was trying to sell it so she could move out.

MichaelCollins 4y ago

Adding to this: depending on where you live, the rodent issue is made worse by the vipers they attract. I generally don't mind snakes, rat snakes are actually quite nice, but I think most people don't want to worry about a rattlesnake nipping their heel when they step out their front door. This is made worse by the selective pressure humans place on rattlesnakes to discourage rattling (those that rattle get noticed and killed.) I think there are probably better ways to address this problem than mowing grass right up against your house though. Ringing your house with mulched gardens or even gravel patches (particularly french drains, in areas prone to flooding) is a good alternative, presuming you don't have a HOA forbidding it..

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

z9znz 4y ago

There is a concept of zones. You make zones 0 and 1 very human friendly. Beyond that you gradually transition from aesthetic and food growing toward wild nature. I'm not suggesting you wade through waist high weeds as you walk out your front door. But if you looked at the photo of the original post, you would see the plot being mowed appeared to be just a pasture well beyond habitation.