I don't have a mouse or rat problem but I do have a vole problem which some years are so bad it makes you want to give up on growing anything outdoors. I know it sounds odd but I now live in a city that outlaws free range cats (as do most of the neighboring cities) so all my cat experience is from when I lived somewhere else. My experience has been that some cats are good hunters and some are not. I've had cats that were only interested in hunting birds and left everything on the ground alone and I've cats that only wanted to kill lizards and snakes and ignored birds and I've had cats that were great hunters but only for a portion of their long lives, when they get old they tend to sleep most of the day (my current housecat is 21 years old and shows no sign of dying anytime soon). Two things that I do that help with voles is I encourage snakes to live in my yard by keeping brush piles and rock piles near the fruit trees and bushes and around the edge of the garden. That only helps in the summer when snakes are active. I also build bucket traps by sinking a 5 gallon bucket down into the ground so that the top rim is level with the ground. I put an inch or so of soil in the bottom and bait it with fruit bits and peanut butter crackers or fig newtons. I put an old board or a large flat rock over the top so that it is completely covered. Voles and all sorts of small mammals fall into the trap and can't climb out. Snakes can climb in and eat the voles and then climb out. Least shrews also fall in and will eat anything that falls in also including voles which are bigger than the shrew. The only problem is the shrews die in a few hours if they don't have food so you either have to check the traps often or leave a lot of bait in them or accept that your trap is also going to kill a primary killer of voles.

Thanks for the responses, Rusty, I don't have much luck with dryer sheets, smell goes away in a week or so and I don't remember to replace them. "fruit" now that's an idea, moth balls tend to hold their scent a lot longer don't they. And "the boss" just mentioned she was going to pick up some to scatter in the garden to deter rabbits from eating the beans, so it all comes together. Embarassing, I qualified rifle sharpshooter and pistol expert in the marines and I gotta watch bunnies hopping around the garden eating stuff..... However, "the one who must be obeyed" has said no "bunnycide" ..... :-) Thanks again, Ev

Ladies... Cats certainly do have a place around the garden, preferably not IN IT! I have 2 cats, who make my garden into a race track. They love to hang out there, and when it's cool, (ha ha, comparatively speaking) in the evening, they chase each other all through the garden while I'm holding my breath as they race through the baby tomato plants I've just set out, sometimes breaking a stem, or knocking over a pepper plant. The plus side is that mice, rats, small snakes, or moles don't stand a chance. Fortunately for me, I'm not allergic to them, but some people are, or for other reasons can't have cats. Anyways, gamebird, are you sure it's mice and not rabbits? Until I got my fence put up, they were eating me out of house and home. Don't know about mice ever eating anything. Some folks say that squirrels like garden veggies. But I was wondering if perhaps you could have a 'special place' somewhere in the corner of your garden where you could toss out an amount of bean seeds, or whatever it is you think the culprits like to eat and let them have at it. I saw a turtle in my garden yesterday and I've been rather concerned about him eating the tomatos, or cucumbers. I may have to find him a different home if I start seeing damage. I know it can be very discouraging to work so hard trying to have garden and then seeing it destroyed no sooner than it breaks ground. I agree with Dawn that cayenne pepper may not work. Hopefully, you'll find out for sure what's doing the damage and find a solution. Good luck! Barbara

Boy. You've all covered a lot. I live in the country and there are no surrounding buildings. I have 4 cats, none of whom give a darn about the mice. One is a bar parking lot rescue, so I'm willing to bet if he could get ahold of one, he'd eat it. Snakes: I love them. I have even had them falling out of the holes where the pot lights were to be installed. During the summer, I have no mice. I don't know what kind of a trade off it is, but I'll take the snakes. (Have you ever seen a cat stalk a snake? If it moves the cat jumps up and takes a 90 degree angle in the air backwards. Every time. ) Owl houses. Coumadin or Brodifacoum. check. Food supply. I work in a restaurant and don't buy food. Nothing to eat in my house. Not even for me. These *#&@(#* ers just run around, grab the mouse poison, drag it under the cabinets from the back, and rattle around. My cats stalk the cabinet baseboards. Hm... I run my dishwasher about once a month. I have enough dishes I don't need to run it more often than that. I rinse well, but really, there's no food on them because I know I won't run it for a while. If I don't latch the DW, it's full of mouse poop. I might have to look into a blower test. My house is better than it used to be, with lights now in their ceiling holes. It's underneath that's my trouble. At least that's what I believe. Oh - traps are out of the question. I can't touch them. I think I'd fall over dead with AWFUL when I see they're not dead or the other mice have eaten their heads. Don't ask me how I know that. I have a really nice man who does my termite spraying every couple of years. I think I'll give him a call tomorrow to see what the process would be. Do mice become immune to the poison ?