Is there anyway to keep rats and mice away from my Bird Avery and House?
I have just been given a bird avery and would love to put some birds in it. Everyone i have spoken too has told me that it attract rats and mice, as I have a small backyard that mean they will get into my house. I am really scared of rats and mice but would love to have some birds. There has to be something in this world that rats hate and won’t go near. I have cats and a dog so rat poison is out of the question. Does anyone know of a solution.
The only thing that will be attracting rats and mice will be the leftover food on the floor of the avairy. This can be solved by just making sure the aviary is kept really clean (so maybe sweeping out the old seed from the bottom every few days and not leaving fresh foods in overnight).
You can prevent rats getting into the aviary in the first place if you use a small guage wire on the aviary and/or have plastic lining around the base up to a certain point (on the outside so that the rat cannot climb up and in). Remember that rats can slip through a gap about the size of an Aus. 10 cent piece and can jump (as can mice, but rats will do more damage than a mouse).
If you don’t want to use rat poison, maybe traps. But as you don’t yet have a rodent problem, I would just use the advice I’ve given above (prevention is better than a cure).
And I wouldn’t listen to everyone around you, having birds doesn’t necessarily attract rodents, its the leftover scraps that does that. Just like having cattle and horse feed attracts rodents.
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