to let a mouse live rent-free in my compost bin?

[GeorgianMumto5]

He's a maverick mouse - lives all on his own - who has been there all winter. Dh sees him quite often, but he seldom makes an appearance for me (the mouse, not dh - I see him quite often). Today I was shovelling out some compost and there he was. He's filthy, but seems happy. He shot out while I was working, then back in again when he thought I'd finished.

I don't want to be overrun with mice, but he seems to be a lone mouse and the compost bin is not near the house. I happily coexist alongside all sorts of other wildlife. The mouse is just one more, right? Plus, if I caught Compo, there'd be more out there that I just don't know about, yeah? (Not in the compost though - that is Compo's manor.)

Rats, even.

Why would they come in the house? They have somewhere lovely and warm with regular top ups of food! Leave him be, he's outside!

As long as they're outdoors, I don't mind. I opened the compost bin yesterday and found a small colony of white-tailed bumblebees.
I've closed the lid again and left them to it.

We did recently have some mice in our loft - we've removed one yellow-necked, and about five wood mice. Taken them a long distance and released them. I believe we also have rats in the logpile, but as they're outside, they can stay there too. :)

Iheartdusty, that looks like a cleaner version of my Compo! Thinking about it, he spent all winter in my compost bin and it was a very cold and very long winter. I think if that didn't push him indoors, nothing will.

Loving the idea of a diamanté collar, but he looks more like the sort to wear a leather jerkin and a flat cap, quite possibly with a red neckerchief. Dh says he has a mad look about him, probably due to all the coffee grounds available to him. That's without any accessories, BTW.

I had a mouse (possibly two, probably more) in my compost bin. He was very, very cute and I didn't really mind the thought of him hanging out there. However, I wasn't so keen on the thought of him breeding in there.

I encouraged him to move out by turning the compost every day and also keeping it quite wet. I must have been a bad enough landlady as he moved out. I quite miss him.

I don't know, BornTo, I think I'd rather Compo raised his babies in the compost bin than in the conservatory, or even the shed or garage.

Well, it would be fine if they stayed in the compost bin, wouldn't it? But I'm not sure I'd trust a mouse not to go wandering...

We had a big black rat in our compost bin. He used to glare at us when we went to add clippings or scraps. We've moved house since. I hope the new owners are keeping him fed and warm.

I am loving the cap/ neckerchief/ jerkin combo.

could he have braces and put his paws in them Cockerneee style?

Well, iheartdusty, I could ask him and see what he says.

I had beautiful little field mice that came into the house - so small and fast that they moved in a blur. I set live traps and caught them - huge eyes and big ears - so tame and submissive I could hold them in my hand. Then I released them - but they kept coming. I marked one with a tiny bit of nail varnish and yep, he came back three times into the house. Sadly - the hole they had made got bigger and rats came. They had to go - they are a lot more intrusive. But the mice were so adorable. I know they are not ideal in the house - but I could never hurt them. I don't understand being scared of mice really...so small and vulnerable....

I'm not scared of them, as such, but I do feel slightly nervous of them. I think it's the speed and unpredictability of their movements that puts me on edge. I wonder if that's part of it for people who are really scared of them? (My neighbour, for example. I can't mention any of this to her, or she'd probably move out and she's lovely, so I wouldn't want that.)

Field mice do have gorgeous ears, don't they? Pretty certain Compo is a wood mice. I definitely don't wish him any ill will.