Garden Notes

Outdoor water trap for mice using a bucket 12 Inches tall and 10 inches in diameter

The Meadow Vole, or “Field Mouse,” is a small, common rodent that lives in grassy fields, woodland, marshes, and most importantly in our yards.

I have a lot of trouble with mice. They eat my tulip bulbs, plant tubers, grasses, leaves, as well as bark on my newly planted trees and shrubs. They also make holes all over the yard, especially in the lawn.

Their nests are usually located in clumps of grass using materials such as dry grass, but I have also found empty nests hidden in my Siberian Iris and in the daylilies. From those nests, they build “runways,” like tunnels beneath the grass and plants. While Meadow Voles use mostly runways, they also build systems of burrows. The runways they leave behind in the process of all this activity make for an unsightly lawn.

Voles are deceptively small, only five to seven inches long, counting the tail, and usually weigh only an ounce or two. They are most active at night during the Summer, and during the day if it’s Winter. Meadow Voles do not hibernate and they do not usually store food. They just eat constantly. Voles concentrate on green vegetation in the Summer and switch to mostly grains and seeds in Fall.

I looked up Meadow Voles (field mice) and the information I got said that it is common for these mice to have 12 litters a year and that each mouse can eat their own weight in food every day. “Holy Moly!”

I have tried various traps and poison baits in my efforts to eradicate these rodents with limited success. This summer I was told about a new outdoor mouse trap. It basically uses a bucket filled half full of water, enough sunflower seeds to float on the water surface so the mouse cannot see any water, and a rock located next to the bucket. The mouse scrambles up the rock, climbs into the bucket to get the sunflower seeds and drowns in the water. When I tried this method, I set up my trap in the garden and 24 hours later I had 5 dead mice.

While it seems mean to drown the mice, I think it is more humane than rat poison. (Actually I was never comfortable with the poisoned bait option because a lot of my neighbors have dogs). The “water bucket mouse trap” has worked far better than any of the other ideas I tried and it is definitely a “green solution” to a common problem. I have decided to spread the word.

More rodent issues!

A Better Mouse Trap