How To Control a Mouse Population
Friday, August 1st, 2008
It’s a common problem for homeowners. How do you get rid of the critters you don’t want while at the same time attracting those you do? My neighborhood is plagued with mice and rats, creatures I prefer to admire from a distance. Once they start trying to get into my house, I feel the need to start taking direct action.
The most effective remedy I’ve come up with is the brother-sister cat combo I adopted two years ago. Thanks to Zephyr’s incredibly logical system of naming things, they are named Brother and Sister. Compared to his skittish sister, Brother is quite a showman. Here you can see him proudly showing off the rat he has just eaten three-quarters of.
Like most female cats, Sister is actually the better mouser. They become particularly efficient, I have found, the less I feed them. Unfortunately, their utilitarian value dips every time I discover that mice and rats aren’t their only prey. I used to have far more birds and lizards visit my backyard before I decided to adopt two kitties. Oh well. Everything in life is a trade-off, isn’t it?