Stash

Cleaning-up and getting things ready for winter The Missus fetched the cushions from the chairs on the porch and stored them in the garage.

Some mouse is going to be pissed about his stash of seeds and a mother lode of an acorn being swept-up in fall chores...

  

Double Suicide

This is periodic and reoccurring phenomenon. 

 

Almost a decade ago we learned that our AC unit wouldn’t power-up. After a brief inspection the HVAC technician came to the door with good news and bad news. The bad news was that the AC unit was fried. The good news was the house didn’t burn down. He reported that mice had accessed the unit, chewed the wiring, electrocuted themselves and then in the resulting self-immolation set the controls on fire.

 

The unit was kaput.

 

Assessing the cost of repairs versus replacement we opted to install a four season heat pump. The thinking was electricity was cheaper than propane and if we could reduce propane use during the shoulders of the heating season we could save some money on our annual heating bills.

 

As it turned-out cost recovery took about five years.

 

Anyway, the outside unit is more mouse resistant. Nevertheless, mice are persistent and while they can squeeze their head thru the grate the balance of the mouse will not pass.

 

Easily anyway.

 

Recent double suicide…..

 

 

 

Tracking

From our walk the other morning there were these fresh tracks in the fresh snow...

Weasel

Deer Mouse

And Wile E. Coyote

Mystery Mouse

While out walking the dog the other day we found this....

What sort of critter decapitates mice and leaves the body behind?

A ritualistic killer?

After this second find I checked with a biologist friend of mine and she tells me that cats and weasels are known to do this.

Mystery Mouse

While out walking the dog the other day we found this....

 

A headless mouse on the roof of a nest box.  Fresh too.

What the heck is this about?

Darwin Was On To Something

About a decade ago we had our HVAC serviced.  Checking the central air the technician was met with nothing.  The circuit breaker was fine but the compressor was completely unresponsive.  It would not even start-up. 

The AC was kaput.   

When the man removed the shroud he was chagrined to report that the controls for the compressor had been gnawed by rodents.  The chewing had shorted-out the assembly and set it afire.  That's the bad news.  The good news is that the electrical short-circuit electrocuted the mouse, fried the corpse and subsequently extinguished itself before setting the house on fire.  

Long story short - the cost of repair was close enough to the cost of replacement that we opted for replacement.  For a few dollars more we chose a dual-purpose unit capable of both cooling and heating.  The heat pump (heating mode) operates at temperatures below freezing but much colder than that it will automatically call for heat to be produced by the furnace.  The bottom line is we reduced significantly the purchase of propane and recovered the cost of the replacement unit in only 3-4 years of savings.  Electricity is cheaper than LP.

Fast-forward to a few days ago.  

Jill ascertained a rhythmic whacking coming from the heat-pump outside the bathroom window.   

Whacka Whacka Whacka Whacka Whacka Whacka Whacka Whacka Whacka Whacka.  

The unit was running but a terrible noise was emanating from it.

Great.  That's exactly what we need.  Another appliance breaking-down and necessitating a call to a service technician.

Fortunately, (or not so fortunately for the victim) it was this.....

Doing this.....

It is only a mouse.

But what a way to go.

The strong survive and the weak are killed and...........

 

Daily Recap

From our walk today we cleaned out 15 nest boxes including several that are going on their 23rd year of service. Built with pride by my two hands three houses ago.  Two additional boxes came home for a workshop rebuild before they’re returned afield.        

We put the seat down on the outdoor shitter. The stump and the hole are filled with water so it is officially a flusher.       

My first deer stand is not fixing itself and if it wasn't for all the green treated lumber would quickly return to the earth.         

And the girls will tell you they love mud season and kicking-up doodle birds.                 

Jill and I logged 2.2 miles - the Labs mileage is anybody’s guess. 

And I may dodge Covid-19 by complying with the quarantine but have likely contracted Hantavirus evicting white footed deer mice from bird boxes.        

Yee haw!

Tracks

click on the image for a closer look

Fetching wood the other day some fresh snow had blown under the door to collect on the floor of the barn.

Perfect way to verify that it remains occupied by the resident mice.

Yes, those are dog tracks in the concrete...

Maus

These tracks on fresh morning snow are evidence of either a white-footed mouse or a deer mouse. 

 

The most common mouse in Wisconsin and most widespread of mouse species across North America is the deer mouse.  And you will find it in nearly every type of habitat within that range.  You will find them in your yard, forest, your shed, nibbling-upon the washer hoses of my Honda CRV and during the winter in my bird nest boxes.  Approach a nest box and get a whiff of a strong smell of urine?  Deer mice have taken-up residence.  It is the most widely distributed and abundant mammal in North America.  

The white-footed mouse is also widely distributed but prefers wooded or brushy areas.  It is sometimes found in open areas. 

 

This rodent is a common source of food for foxes, coyotes, hawks, owls and snakes.  Yes, life is short when you live near the bottom of the food chain - which would explain why they are so prolific.   Litters are 1-8 pups three times a year.   And each is sexually mature at a month and a half of age. 

 

They’re not aggressive and are actually quite tame. 
 

Maus

Field mice bear an average litter of three to five babies – but can be as high as 13.  After three weeks of gestation a female mouse is ready to breed again immediately after birth.

With ample food supplies breeding will continue.  Under perfect conditions a single breeding pair could conceivably crank out about 500 mice in approximately 5 months.  The life expectancy of wild mice is only a couple of months.

Field mice are blind, deaf and bald at birth but mature within about 3 weeks.  The females are ready to breed at 4 to 6 weeks.  Field mice are of course found in fields and care also found in barns, sheds and homes.

I found these babies on the driveway.

click on the mice to enlarge

I have no clue how they got there.  All I know is that there might be hundreds fewer mice as a consequence.

And we generally have more mice than we need... 

Maus

Last weekend I found sign of a mouse (or mice) in my basement.  Construction sawdust along with little mouse turds on the floor and on my work bench.  All of it confined to that corner of the basement where all of the utilities enter and where the likely access point is located.

Mice live in the barn, the machine shed and the barn.  Periodically they take-up winter residence in my boat.  But this is the first  time in eleven years I've discovered signs of these little rodents in the house.  Having lived in older homes all my long life I have cohabitated with mice the entire time.  It has been a constant battle between mice and men.  Having lived in the countryside for all these many years before the field mice have penetrated my modern defenses is nothing short of miraculous.

Grrrr.

I've cleaned-up their sign and set a couple of traps.

Along the wall 

And on the work bench

I'll check the trap line soon.

Got Mice?

One of the things about living in the country is all of the wildlife.  Hawks, deer, porcupine, cranes and so-forth.  Even rodents.

Take this mouse for instance.  

I was checking the fill gauge on the propane tank yesterday and found this little guy had moved and and started to build a winter nest under the domed cover.

I left him be but I did warn him that the propane delivery guy might not be as forgiving and that he might want to move to a winter residence that was more secure.  Like the Frau's potting shed...