Yard of the living dead

October 10, 2021 12:19 PM

Just in time for spooky season, we have found in our yard a dead bird, three dead mice, and today a dead baby mouse. We had a mouse problem outside before, but they never made it in and we don’t use poison. Most of the mice look like they’ve died peacefully, but we find them in the same spot. Confounding factor: the neighborhood cat has taken a liking to us. Should we be worried there’s a curse or mouse plague happening near our house?

A couple of the mice and the bird were a bit bloody, so I thought…well maybe the neighborhood cat who comes to visit us every day for the past year was hunting and leaving us gifts. But the rest look like nothing happened to them, like they just laid down and died. And when I saw a live mouse run across our yard, the cat was right next to me staring at it, but instead rolled over asking to be pet. I thought this meant that the cat doesn’t hunt and gets enough treats at home.

So now I’m wondering…should we be worried that we’re finding so many dead animals in our yard in the past couple of weeks? I am not sure the cat is leaving them… killing them… or if the plague has struck the mice. I also thought a neighbor might have mice poison somewhere and they’re just dying in our yard. They have been acting strange (the live baby mouse) like that mouse nearly came up to the cat and just tried to hang around us. It didn’t try to run and hide in the middle of the day.

Since they haven’t made it inside, I’m just doing my best to prevent them from making it inside, but not sure if this is something to be concerned about. Hopefully not!

posted by buttonedup to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

A couple of years ago, I found a dead rat outside my barn. I hate rats and immediately called the pest control. They told me they had been putting out rat poison at a farm 400 meters away, and that is was normal for rats to run away to die after being poisoned.
posted by mumimor at 12:29 PM on October 10, 2021

It could be that cat or another cat, who is leaving you gifts? Cats are nocturnal/diurnal, so they won't necessarily hunt during the day. We used to get barn cats standing at the door, with the characteristic sideways, "Meooooow" -- that noise they make when they are carrying something in their mouths.

Maybe your cat is standing proud, knowing they will catch and kill them for you later on. Too much bother, during the day, you know.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 12:37 PM on October 10, 2021 [2 favorites]

I would post something on Nextdoor, if you use it, because someone might be using rat poison and not know that they shouldn't be using it (because it can kill owls, etc). Where I live if you find a dead bird the city will actually send someone out to test it for disease- maybe check with your city to see if they do anything similar.
posted by pinochiette at 12:54 PM on October 10, 2021 [2 favorites]

Is the landing spot under a tree, eaves, or other place a bird or other predator might have taken its dinner, dropped it, and not been willing to go down and retrieve it? I periodically find a rat at the base of my palm tree, and the crows/ravens who like it up there won't come down into my yard because of the dogs.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:57 PM on October 10, 2021

Treats for neighborhood cat, who's decided you're the next terrible-cat beings this cat has taken under its care.
posted by k3ninho at 2:35 PM on October 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

Cats kill a lot of birds and mice. Check your home carefully for signs of mice; they can be stealthy at 1st, can ruin a lot of stuff. I would ask the neighbors to put a collar with bell on the cat, to save birds.
posted by theora55 at 5:05 PM on October 10, 2021

Yeah, cats don’t always bloody up their kills, so it is possible that the peaceful-looking mice are being left by the cat. I’ve seen a barn cat catch a mouse, shake it to death, and leave it.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:35 PM on October 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

It sounds like my cat has visited, but had a light day of it
posted by armoir from antproof case at 7:11 PM on October 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

If the animals are acting strange before they die (showing no fear, coming right up to you) this could really indicate they have ingested poison. This is similar behaviour to how I have seen poisoned rodents acting.
posted by fourpotatoes at 3:54 AM on October 11, 2021

The mouse running up to you and the cat sounds like toxoplasmosis, which is a parasite that makes mice and other rodents lose their fear of cats because the parasite can only complete its life cycle in a cat.
posted by hazel79 at 9:04 PM on October 11, 2021