Rodent causes not covered by the insurance, as I found out to my cost recently when my windscreen washer duct got chewed through and I kept losing all of my washer fluid…what was even more surprising was that the garage told me that the duct was made in part from oat husk fibre, so not really surprising that it attracts rodents, eh ?
IME living and storing things in a few places I discovered rats or mice (not sure which) love scented soap. I don’t know if it’s only natural flower extracts and oils which attract them but I do know they had luxury tastes as stored soaps fron Harrods (I used to work there) were a major target.
Since supporting cats no new problems but I know you’ve said that’s not a solution for you.
@David_Spardo was recomnending a device called The Big Cheese in another thread Perhaps you could lock up all the soap in your bathroom overnight except for a chunk in The Big Cheese.
Pre-cats I also got some stunning rodenticide off Ebay that deadened activity season by season but cats have been the lasting solution.
@Jef_Groby have you got a dog? I have had 2 dogs that have eaten soap, no trace left.
@KarenLot The Big Cheese is not suitable for animals larger than mice, and apparently it isn’t mice that Jef has got. But he has given me an idea, perhaps a piece of soap in my Big Cheese tonight. 
But my Marauder has shown no inclination to enter the chamber of death, so still working on how to make an irresistible ‘official’ feeding station. 
Big problem if considering garaging your car, little blighters love the warmth.
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How long ago did the Ancient Egyptians introduce cats into their granaries to deal with rodent marauders? The problem wasn’t solved then and will never be solved - because we hoard food in our houses. We invite them in.
I only have mice, voles, or shrews in the house when one of my blighters brings them in unharmed and releases them, to be hunted down and played with later! Then I do my best to catch them and take them back outside.
Personally, I would do one of two things – be scrupulously clean – no bread crumbs – or, if the problem is a real problem, give them their own larder outside.
Birds get their bird-feeders – why not give mice their mouse-feeders? Start a trend!
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No dogs myself, although those of my neighbours freely cross the property. I had a wonderful cat for ten years that adopted us after tasting life in the other homes in our hamlet and finding them wanting apparently. My peripatetic lifestyle and the aging of the neighbours who once took care of her during my absences makes a replacement problematic. I am also noticing a greater variety of avian life in the garden since her passing.
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@Bonzocat yes, I have a plate of tasty Comte cheese rinds, treats for the dog when he comes back to me on recall while out walking, but since I passed on his last companion to adoption, we have rather a surfeit of it. If I remember I will put it out on the kitchen veranda where Jules can’t get at it and set the video to see what, if anything happens. Failing that I could use it to see if he visits the worktop if it is devoid of crumbs. I don’t object to him being in the house if he isn’t a nuisance.
@Jef_Groby I have never had a cat as a pet, would be too worried if they are out and about at night, but the bird comment is a valid one. I have great flocks of Tits, Robbins, Sparrows just outside my window and only slightly further, around the pond, Blackbirds, Thrushes and even the occasional Jay and Magpie. Once a Heron even visited to see if there were any fish, but, on seeing none, never returned. Ours is an entirely natural pond, no introduced species of any kind.
I so agree. We had a drawer under our sink (which seemed a good idea at the time) where our recycling and household waste and compost bins were kept. Kitchen designers think this is a good idea! In fact it was a mouse magnet. We NEVER managed to keep our kitchen mouse free. They always got in where the pipes came into the house. They chewed through the pipe insulation. They chewed through the water pipe at the back of our big fridge freezer that was supposed to supply fresh water.
Didn’t matter how many traps I set.
That drawer is now empty. Recycling is outside, waste bin is one of these pedal bins and the compost waste goes straight out onto the compost heap.
OH used to make his own sourdough bread and I left a loaf under a tea towel down at the cottage for our guests who were arriving the following day. Don’t know what made me look, but just before they arrived I was doing a final check round and looked under the tea-towel. Thank heavens I did! A mouse had taken a serious lump out of one end. Never did that again!
Yes, it has to!
People used to encourage these lovely creatures to keep rodents down, the Romans introduced them for that purpose, they are very rare now alas but not on the red list.
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Glorious photo.
Reminds me of a genet we used to see from time to time… but that had ringed tail markings…
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Beautiful picture and animal.
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This one probably does too but is cunningly obscuring them by fluffing its tail up.
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What exactly is it?
A genet/ genette 
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In addition to the birds you mention we have owls living in our pigeon tower and hoopoes that I used to see in my garden in Senegal. I have yet to see a heron in the vicinity, but then again there is no lake. The hoopoes have only returned since the cat is gone. As for my cat, the 15 cars max that traverse our hamlet on a daily basis posed her no real danger. In any event, up until her health started to decline, she would spend the nights outdoors, even in winter, stealthing whatever moved.
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Here the dog and cat live in relative harmony but keep intruders at bay. Humans as well.
Isn’t the problem here that regular meals result in large population growth?
Yes, there will be mouse population growth, but the natural result of that is greater predation. If the ‘mouse feeders’ are placed in the open, away from the house, in the middle of a lawn for example, they will attract predators - no doubt about that.
Left a plate of cheese rinds in the kitchen veranda to see if the mouse would come. Apparently he did not, but a much larger Marauder did. Jules, looking for the mouse so he must have heard it. I can’t explain how one large piece of cheese disappeared from the plate though without the culprit triggering the camera. 
He arrives 3 times, starting at 4am.
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