Invasion of the shrews

[DonyaQuick]

I'm having more encounters with short tailed shrews than I would like, both indoors and out. I gather it's a time of year thing and that they will vanish again when it warms up. At present though it's getting kind of annoying. I even found a small one in my secure run this morning, which has been rodent-free up to this point as far as I know. There was a recent burrow in the frosty litter that went right up to the hardware cloth and appeared to continue directly on the other side, so I guess some of them are small enough to fit through the 1/2in cloth - they do have very small skulls. Frustrating. I think my girl Brownie also found that particular shrew, since I saw her through a window running off with a dark colored limp thing about the right size. When she came in for a hug later on, her breath had some lovely shrew stink overtones.

Here's a picture of Brownie the mighty huntress, who apparently just had her first successful Jurassic moment.

Oops, wrong one. Sorry, this is Brownie the mighty huntress.

But in all seriousness...I discovered that I'm allergic to something about shrews, so I am not enjoying their presence very much even though I know they're usually beneficial things to have around in small numbers. I don't know if it's their hair/dander or something else, but I ended up looking like a duck when I tried to be kind to the first house shrew I trapped by keeping it in a bucket with food and shavings for a few days until things warmed up a bit (it was sub-zero Fahrenheit at the time). I have read that there are repellent granules for rodents that also supposedly work on shrews. Has anyone here used something like that or know how safe the stuff is?

 

[DonyaQuick]

Dangit! There's already another one in the run tonight! It's noticeably bigger than what Brownie nabbed this morning. I doubt this new one can fit through the hardware cloth so it must have come in before I closed the door to the run extension (the run extension has larger openings since it's daytime only). Pretty much just like the situation I have with ones in the house - get rid of one and another pops up immediately. They don't even survive well in the house so I have to assume they're going for shelter from the nasty weather more than food although they may be finding scraps of food in the run mixed in with the substrate. I'm still not 100% sure what all they eat but I know their diet overlaps somewhat with what the chickens get. Anyway, I'm trying a live trap tonight before going for more serious options. I would leave it be if I wasn't allergic to the darned things.

This is the stuff I have read works to deter shrews. Since my chickens don't free range I'm wondering about putting down a perimeter of it outside the coop/run and extension.

https://www.amazon.com/2853338-Rodent-Repellent-Granules-2-Ounce/dp/B005VZYCK8

It's supposedly just predator urine so doesn't seem like it would be harmful but that also makes me wonder if it would even work in the first place.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Got 'em! Wasn't expecting to get it so fast but they are kind of dumb.

This one would've been too big for Brownie I think; definitely over the eat-in-one-gulp size threshold. My husband is going to take it out tomorrow morning when he goes for a long walk with our dog in the forest, so it'll get dumped a long way from the coop. I gave it a piece of cucumber for moisture and some mixed mealworm & beetle munch stuff I use as a chicken treat since they have high metabolisms. Hopefully I don't end up with another puffy duck face for trying to be kind to this one.

That won't be the last one though. There are too many buzzing about outside. So I still have to figure out how to repel them in a more general way.

Btw if anyone else happens on this thread after having shrew problems, this trap has been serving me pretty well in capturing them.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Victor-...-Outdoor-and-Indoor-Mouse-Trap-M333/202668291

Bait with peanut butter, black oil sunflower seeds, and a bit of dried mealworms or some other bug treat for chickens and place near the burrow entrance. The shrews have just been going straight in for me. Just be sure to check it every hour or so after putting it down so they don't have time to get bombastic and work on escape tactics.

 

[cmom]

Luckily I don't have to deal with them. I think the pee thing is a wives tail. I tried it on other predators and it didn't seem to work. Good luck...

 

[Callender Girl]

I've never had to deal with shrews here (did find one dead one in the yard once) but every year after the fields are harvested all around me, the now-homeless mice high tail it to my house, garage, barn, hay shed and, when possible, chicken coops. Nothing ruins my appetite for breakfast like finding yet more mouse poop in my (clean, I thought) skillet.

I hope you find a solution to the invasion, and I LOVE the Jurassic photos -- proof that you still have at a sense of humor. It helps so much when things are tough!

 

[DonyaQuick]

The snow all melted and the shrews seem to have vanished yesterday and today. No more little dark blurs darting about in the field behind my house. Likely have 10 inches of fresh snow coming in tonight though so will be interesting to see if the invasion resumes with that.

I think the pee thing is a wives tail. I tried it on other predators and it didn't seem to work.

I couldn't find any of those pellets locally to use quickly, so I tried taking my dog to pee where I'd seen shrew trails in the snow. If anything there was an increase in evidence of shrews just after that. Also had one in the house actually attracted to dog vomit (immediately too - it was really weird). They don't say which predators' urine is used but if it's fox or coyote I doubt it would deter a shrew given they actually seem interested in dog-related smells. I guess maybe the pellets could be weasel or something else weird and therefore produce a different response, but I think I'm just going to have to wait it out.

Nothing ruins my appetite for breakfast like finding yet more mouse poop in my (clean, I thought) skillet.

Oh man - I had that mouse poop skillet event this morning, right in the one I like to use for scrambled eggs too. I guess that's what I get for capturing and removing things that would eat them!

 

[cmom]

I have a friend in Maine. She had issues until she got some cats. Her cats are natural hunters and for the most part are outdoor cats but she is also quite rural and lives in a woods. The cats do occasionally bring a prize home but she is of the opinion that the surprises are better dead than alive. She has lost a cat here and there but quite rarely. Some live there for years then one day will disappear or not come home. She feeds them in the evenings and they all come for their supper. They do have a cat door.

 

[DonyaQuick]

I have a friend in Maine. She had issues until she got some cats. Her cats are natural hunters and for the most part are outdoor cats but she is also quite rural and lives in a woods. The cats do occasionally bring a prize home but she is of the opinion that the surprises are better dead than alive. She has lost a cat here and there but quite rarely. Some live there for years then one day will disappear or not come home. She feeds them in the evenings and they all come for their supper. They do have a cat door.

There are two stray cats that regularly come through despite my best efforts and they aren't helping me one bit with the shrews - or any rodents that I've seen. They just want at the wild songbirds and my chickens. A farmer just down the road has a bunch of cats that I assume are his mousers and they also leave his poultry alone. They stick to his land though and don't pay me any visits. I'm allergic to at least some cats (was never sure if it's all cats or not) and don't want the songbirds being eaten so a cat of my own isn't really an option unfortunately.

 

[NatJ]

I couldn't find any of those pellets locally to use quickly, so I tried taking my dog to pee where I'd seen shrew trails in the snow. If anything there was an increase in evidence of shrews just after that. Also had one in the house actually attracted to dog vomit (immediately too - it was really weird). They don't say which predators' urine is used but if it's fox or coyote I doubt it would deter a shrew given they actually seem interested in dog-related smells. I guess maybe the pellets could be weasel or something else weird and therefore produce a different response, but I think I'm just going to have to wait it out.

I like that you experimented with what you had (dog).


I have also been doubtful about whether predator urine would be effective, so it's nice to hear results from your test. (Of course I'm disappointed that it didn't work, but at least you didn't waste a lot of money and time to test it.)

 

[cmom]

I have a friend in Maine. She had issues until she got some cats. Her cats are natural hunters and for the most part are outdoor cats but she is also quite rural and lives in a woods. The cats do occasionally bring a prize home but she is of the opinion that the surprises are better dead than alive. She has lost a cat here and there but quite rarely. Some live there for years then one day will disappear or not come home. She feeds them in the evenings and they all come for their supper. They do have a cat door.

There are two stray cats that regularly come through despite my best efforts and they aren't helping me one bit with the shrews - or any rodents that I've seen. They just want at the wild songbirds and my chickens. A farmer just down the road has a bunch of cats that I assume are his mousers and they also leave his poultry alone. They stick to his land though and don't pay me any visits. I'm allergic to at least some cats (was never sure if it's all cats or not) and don't want the songbirds being eaten so a cat of my own isn't really an option unfortunately.

My friends cats don't stray either but probably because there are enough shrews, and mice they don't need to. Luckily for her they didn't bother her birds and she free ranged them. I don't have any cats but do see some quite often on my game cameras. My birds are well protected. Good luck...