Moving wild mice who overwintered in my garage

by MN-Mousey Sun 17 Apr 2022, 12:15 am

I live in MN, land of cold! Some wild mice overwintered in the woodpile in my garage. I noticed them in November but it that is too late to expect them to find another winter home and survive so I let them stay there. Unfortunately, I can’t have them as permanent residents. The temperature will finally stay above 50 this week. What is the best thing to do? Should I remove the wood and they’ll go find new homes? I don’t want to wait long because they’re already collecting nesting materials for baby-season. I also feel bad because I’m sure my garage is a sweet set up for them. But I live near a lot of other houses and garages with pets and kids so it’s not a great place for a mouse town.

Thanks!!

by SilverGravity Sun 17 Apr 2022, 3:30 pm

They know the area they live in best, so it would be best to just remove the wood pile and let them go find somewhere else to live. It's not great for them to live near people, that is true, but unfortunately they have a better chance of survival there than if you were to relocate them. They know where food, water, and shelter is there and when relocated they are very likely to die due to lack of knowing where to find these things, and by being attacked by the mice who already have claimed that area as their territory. I would definitely suggest just removing the wood and letting the mice go to find their new homes- mice tend to have multiple nests, so they probably already have somewhere safe to go once you evict them from your garage. Thank you for letting them stay through the winter! I say this as someone training to become a wildlife rehabber- I have many, many hours of experience with rehabbers and this is advice is the same for all species. I know a lot of people recommend relocating mice far from your home but it is often a death sentence for them, so just removing their nesting area and letting them move on is in the best interest of the mice.

by MN-Mousey Sun 17 Apr 2022, 4:13 pm

Thank you so much!

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Moving wild mice who overwintered in my garage

Moving wild mice who overwintered in my garage

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