Good job OP! You're now in the running for a "Best of DCUM" Dundie

Mmm, it's cold outside and they are looking for any warm place to go.

It's not that complicated. Put our some rodent repellent to keep them away.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe your cat is sending a message you are not feeding it enough with the advent of cooler weather.

All cats believe that regardless of weather.

Of the 10 years you've lived in the house, how many have you had the cat? My guess is that there have been mice on the porch before, but you never saw them until the cat started chasing them.

Interesting to me that your reaction is to keep the cat inside. I would do the opposite, put the cat on the porch 24/7 until the mice are gone.

Mice are harder to get rid of than rats. They breed fast and they get everywhere.

If you can't afford or don't want an exteriminator (I recommend you go this route). You can leave traps, its probably wise to leave a few underneath the porch.

Their preferred bait is dark chocolate and / or peanut butter.

Maybe your cat is sending a message you are not feeding it enough with the advent of cooler weather.

What is puzzling about this situation?

Anonymous wrote:It's been 4 years since we had mice and have them now. Caught two with traps last week and hope that's kt. I was cleaning behind my couch yesterday and found a half eaten chocolate bar I left on a table eaten away at. Ugh.

According to OP, that would be impossible.

It's been 4 years since we had mice and have them now. Caught two with traps last week and hope that's kt. I was cleaning behind my couch yesterday and found a half eaten chocolate bar I left on a table eaten away at. Ugh.

Appalling that numerous mice have found their way into a screened in porch. Who ever heard of such a thing?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tough crowd. Sorry if I’m not a mouse expert. We’ve been in this house for 10 years and have never had a mouse before this week. We had mice once in 5 years at our old house.

This isn’t a tough crowd. This is common sense. What are you puzzled about?

About why we’d have mice coming into the porch two days in a row when we’ve never had mice on the porch before. I have a preference for it not to keep happening, so I’m wondering what could be different now vs. before so we can try to fix it.

I promise you, you've had mice on the porch before. Probably many mice.

Anonymous wrote:If you’ve seen 2 you have 20.

Obviously, more cats are necessary. He's out numbered. Some cats aren't very good at killing. Almost all like to chase and catch, but the killing part has to learned.

Anonymous wrote:If you’ve seen 2 you have 20.

This thread has been quite entertaining, but I was waiting for this piece of bad news to drop.

If you’ve seen 2 you have 20.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tough crowd. Sorry if I’m not a mouse expert. We’ve been in this house for 10 years and have never had a mouse before this week. We had mice once in 5 years at our old house.

This isn’t a tough crowd. This is common sense. What are you puzzled about?

About why we’d have mice coming into the porch two days in a row when we’ve never had mice on the porch before. I have a preference for it not to keep happening, so I’m wondering what could be different now vs. before so we can try to fix it.

There isn't much you can do, except let your cat earn its keep. You can try to identify and close all the holes in your home, but they could be teeny-weeny. You're bound to miss one. You should know that there are boom and bust years for rodents. Some years there are many, because climate and food conditions were favorable all year in your neighborhood with few predators (ex: some local predators moved away or died); and some years there are much fewer, because conditions were bad (harsh winter, extended summer drought, restaurant closures if you're near restaurants, etc). As a poster said, right now they're feeling the cold creeping in and are looking for warm areas in which to shelter.