Well, Garters don't eat mice much. They are more a worm and slug specialist, and love to eat fish and salamanders. But mice aren't on the menu much. Now, if you have moved into a new home in a formerly wooded area, maybe you are seeing brown (instead of gray) mice. These are native woodland mice, and though they may get into the house, they ordinarily don't. If you are seeing small gray mouse like folks with very short tails in the garden, they are the American equivalent of Hamsters, and are called Voles, also native, and almost never go in the house. Now, if they are little gray critters with long tails in the house, they are House Mice, and they are certainly not native. Rodent eating snakes in your area would be difficult to tell, as you do not mention where you live, not even on your profile. Some, like the Black Rat Snake, live in trees, and use tree holes and bird boxes for a home. Racers like to hide under boards and big chunks of bark, as do Corn Snakes, King Snakes, Milk Snakes and Pine and Bull Snakes. These are all eastern snakes I mentioned, as I live in NC. Where you live determines what species of snake live in your area, and what kind of habitat alterations you can perform to attract them. I will also say that rodents usually attract snakes anyway...

Hmm, I thought I responded to this thread this morning, how odd. Anyway, thank you everyone. After the suggestion of vole a lightbulb went off and the picture confirmed that's what it was. We have ample meadow voles around here. The chickens do not do a good enough job of getting the ones in the barn. I think the water buckets do a better job when they climb in there for some reason. I can't even guess how many we've found that way. These guys were in the garden though which is fenced. They are not getting to stay there though. I'm moving the nest today to just outside the garden and mama should hear them and hopefully move them to a new nest. If mama wants a buffet in my garden she is going to have to work for it. I've already lost 3 pepper plants (ok one was from my goat) and a broccoli. They weren't from seed either. I knew it wasn't a mouse or rat because of the tail. Same thing about the red squirrel who takes up residence around the house and in the soffit (tried everything with that one). I hadn't even though of a vole and we have loads of them, but sure that's what it is now.

The 5 day lapse is now 7 and its from the poison. maintenance guy said (when he checked) that the rats are not eating the bait in the drop ceilings but they are eating the poison in the basement. He found no dead rats anywhere as I think they left to look for a water source. However, the rats are still there and alive and well as they must be new rats that have gotten in house from the urine trail smell and see the poison in basement and are eating that and NOT going into the brick wall with a large hole that is behind our bedroom wall. that is how they get into the ceilings and walls. Now maintenance man said this house is too old to fix the hole on brick wall in basement and does not know where to even look for holes on outside of house. I am so pissed and we are looking for a new place to move to but we are still here now and need this fixed. New tenants that look at this apt and decide to rent it are going to be moving into a rat place and will have them in here with them for sure. Where Should the maintenance man look for on outside? Can you give me a list of where he should look and all the things he needs in order to keep the rats out?

I got both the pellets and the smoke-bombs from the County Ag office. The smoke-bombs are literally a large firecraker-looking tube that you light, throw in the hole and quickly fill-in the opening with dirt so the smoke doesn't come out. The smoke is laced with some poison. This is very effective because the dead body/ies stay in the ground. This can only be used when there is no chance of a fire hazard. And, I'm not sure how this would work with the equipment above. You have to be super careful with the pellets so that no other animal gets them. I guess tossing them in the hole might work - unless the squirrels shove them out. I had special containers that were a long, upside-down T-shaped tube; you put the pellets in the top so the pellets stayed in the middle of the tube; the squirrel/rat can get to the pellets from either end of the bottom. This can be used any time of year. Albert, you are correct in that the pellets will be stored this time of year and eaten in the winter. So, no immediate kill, but, no babies in the spring. Or, you can get yourself a dog that loves to kill squirrels. Rosie would catch the squirrel and literally shake it to death. She and DH had a squirrel 'thing'. She would catch and kill them and line them up on the back patio waiting for DH to come home from work and praise her for her efforts; and, no one was allowed to touch those squirrels until he had done so. Then there is a rifle. DH's method of choice. All of which were used to even just keep the critters under control.