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Do rats and mice go in nesting boxes?

McGoohan
23/12/2020 08:06

We have lots of small garden birds such as sparrows and blue tits in the area and I was thinking about putting up some nesting boxes. I know some people have a problem with rats and mice taking food from bird feeders, but I thought if I was a rodent, I'd think a bird box was heaven! A ready-made base of operations! I think such rodents are mostly good climbers too. They can be pretty aggressive too when they need to be. So what stops them taking over nest boxes?

  • 0 23/12/2020 23:19
    Good question. I wonder if they prefer places with an escape route for when the stoat or weasel shows up? Although that might also suggest most nest boxes would be predated ... and I don't think they are.
  • 0 26/12/2020 09:46
    I was wondering about this too. Every now and then I see a mouse picking up spilled sunflower seeds in our garden. I just got a bird box that I’m hoping our regular blue tit visitors will use for roosting and then nesting but I don’t want the mouse to move in instead! I’ve heard that rubbing mint leaves on the wood may prevent it as they don’t like the smell but I’ve tried putting out cayenne pepper to deter the mouse from the bird feeder and it doesn’t seem bothered so I doubt mint would deter it either!