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Dead mouse

HalleSHalleS Posts: 105
in Wildlife gardening
I’ve just found a dead mouse in the garden and it has gotten me thinking. It’s on a cement path in plain sight so I wouldn’t think it was a fox because they bury their food. There are no obvious signs of injury so I don’t think it has been attacked by anything. I suppose it could’ve been old but I figured a mouse would hide away somewhere quiet to die. I don’t use any poisons besides the occasional spray of weed killer and it has been months since I’ve used any. I’m wondering what could’ve killed it (if it was killed) and will it potentially come back for it’s meal? That would be handy as I don’t really fancy disposing of it. 😕
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  • Joy*Joy* Posts: 571
    It might have eaten poison elsewhere. They have to find water so if it is in a building it would go outside. Be big and brave and shovel it up and put it in the bin or dig a hole first then bury it in the furthest corner of your garden.
  • HalleSHalleS Posts: 105
    I wish it was a bravery issue @Joy*! I just feel bad for it. In my mind it would be best if something would come and eat it, at least it would’ve died for a reason.
    Perhaps I’m too soft for this gardening thing!
  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,623
    It's really most likely a cat. they don't all eat their dinners and they really do like to leave them lying around, a nice smooth path is the perfect place to play with your catch. There's often no mark on them when the cat has killed them.
    Right now I have many many dead shrews, in my case the culprit is not a cat but Beech Martens the babies have just left home in the attic and do not know that shrews taste bad yet..
  • HalleSHalleS Posts: 105
    Skandi said:
    It's really most likely a cat. they don't all eat their dinners and they really do like to leave them lying around, a nice smooth path is the perfect place to play with your catch. There's often no mark on them when the cat has killed them.
    Right now I have many many dead shrews, in my case the culprit is not a cat but Beech Martens the babies have just left home in the attic and do not know that shrews taste bad yet..
    Yikes! Hopefully I’ll just have the one dead rodent...
  • Joy*Joy* Posts: 571
     If it has eaten poison it wouldn't be good for something else to eat it. It might have been killed by a cat but it's unlikely that it would come back and eat it now. Be safe and dispose of it.
  • islandanchoressislandanchoress Posts: 238
    edited July 2020
    MY cats almost never eat their catch. They leave it where they know I will see it. When I first came over here it had all been empty for years and just the outside was plagued with rats. Every day there would be a corpse left right by the gate; once it was as big as a well grown kitten. Never a mark on them.  Just dispose of it?  Last week it was a dead long tailed vole. Nothing you can do and it is just part of life.  A shovel will work and I usually leave them at the far end of the garden; nature has critters that will see to it. 
  • HalleSHalleS Posts: 105
    Well it has been disposed of. Let’s hope I don’t have to deal with any other dead creatures anytime soon!
  • B3B3 Posts: 24,484
    Mice are mortal, the same as the rest of us. It could have just died.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Fran IOMFran IOM Posts: 2,310
    I had one the other week lying on the pathway with not a mark on it. It had some lovely shades of brown fur. Put it on the trowel and buried it in a corner of the garden. The only predator here would have been a cat but as B3 says it may have just died. 
  • HalleSHalleS Posts: 105
    I was just curious I suppose. I’ve never had cats and always assumed they would leave some marks on their prey. I also read something ages ago that said mice and other small rodents would find a quite place/burrow/nest to die in but who knows. Too bad I can’t ask it what happened!
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