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Last fall’s bonanza crop of berries and seeds, combined with a wet summer has left Ottawa homeowners asking for help with a booming mouse population.
“The calls just keep coming in,” says Todd Babin, owner of Nature’s Way wildlife removal company. He said requests for his services are up 30 per cent from last year, anywhere from two to eight calls a day.
“It’s basically been a perfect storm for weather, for food, for shelter,” says Babin, who has been in the business for more than 10 years, mostly as a humane wildlife removal outfit. In the last five years, more and more calls were for mice control.
“The lack of predation in the urban centre is another issue that causes the population to be so high.”
Often people won’t realize they have mice in their home if only one or two scurry in their secret passages, Babin said.
“But when you have six or eight living in a house, that’s where the noises will increase and that’s how people will notice it.”
And that’s what he’s seeing. He said a typical Ottawa home should have six mice or fewer, but now he’s seeing homes that have more than 10.
“The population is that much greater.”
The company typically uses snap traps and in rare cases, poison to kill the creatures. Some request live traps, but that means checking throughout the day because the animals can die from stress. If mice are released in the backyard, they’ll simply head back in and the life span of a mouse moved to a different territory isn’t good, he said.
Michael Runtz, a naturalist and Carleton University professor, says the cold and wet summer weather has pushed mice inside and up from their underground burrows.
But the vermin — mostly of the deer mouse and white-footed variety — can thank “massive crops” for their plentiful population.
“It’s because we had a huge crop of berries and seeds last fall,” Runtz said, adding winter survival depends on the amount of nuts and seeds they store. “Populations can increase dramatically and exponential in less than a year.”
And, the more food, the higher the fertility. Some litters can produce as many as 10 babies.
But he said these numbers can’t last for long. A slight increase in predators – like foxes, weasels and owls – and self-correcting reproduction patterns should correct the influx of mice.
“(High populations) don’t persist too long. Nature is full of cycles like this.”
Until the population is back under control, Babin expects customers will keep calling for ways to seal their homes. But he also says people should take care to minimize the risk in their homes to rodents.
“The first step is to try and prevent them from coming in the first place.”
Babin’s advice:
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“The calls just keep coming in,” says Todd Babin, owner of Nature’s Way wildlife removal company. He said requests for his services are up 30 per cent from last year, anywhere from two to eight calls a day.
“It’s basically been a perfect storm for weather, for food, for shelter,” says Babin, who has been in the business for more than 10 years, mostly as a humane wildlife removal outfit. In the last five years, more and more calls were for mice control.
“The lack of predation in the urban centre is another issue that causes the population to be so high.”
Often people won’t realize they have mice in their home if only one or two scurry in their secret passages, Babin said.
“But when you have six or eight living in a house, that’s where the noises will increase and that’s how people will notice it.”
And that’s what he’s seeing. He said a typical Ottawa home should have six mice or fewer, but now he’s seeing homes that have more than 10.
“The population is that much greater.”
The company typically uses snap traps and in rare cases, poison to kill the creatures. Some request live traps, but that means checking throughout the day because the animals can die from stress. If mice are released in the backyard, they’ll simply head back in and the life span of a mouse moved to a different territory isn’t good, he said.
Michael Runtz, a naturalist and Carleton University professor, says the cold and wet summer weather has pushed mice inside and up from their underground burrows.
But the vermin — mostly of the deer mouse and white-footed variety — can thank “massive crops” for their plentiful population.
“It’s because we had a huge crop of berries and seeds last fall,” Runtz said, adding winter survival depends on the amount of nuts and seeds they store. “Populations can increase dramatically and exponential in less than a year.”
And, the more food, the higher the fertility. Some litters can produce as many as 10 babies.
But he said these numbers can’t last for long. A slight increase in predators – like foxes, weasels and owls – and self-correcting reproduction patterns should correct the influx of mice.
“(High populations) don’t persist too long. Nature is full of cycles like this.”
Until the population is back under control, Babin expects customers will keep calling for ways to seal their homes. But he also says people should take care to minimize the risk in their homes to rodents.
“The first step is to try and prevent them from coming in the first place.”
Babin’s advice:
- Keep food sources, like bird feeders or grass seed, as far from the house as possible
- Be aware of any gaps in your home, the size of a thumb or larger.
- Look at the foundation, around windows as well as air conditioner units going into walls.
- Mice can climb stone and brick, so look for gaps higher in your home if that applies
- These gaps can be stuffed with copper steel wool or fine wire mesh
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