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I found a dead mouse or possibly a vole in my yard yesterday. This morning when I took the dogs out I found another one.

They are all in one piece. If a cat or other animal killed them wouldn't they eat them or at least do what I am familiar with what cats do to them?

I have some neighbors but also live surrounded by farm land so seeing mice is not unheard of but I have never seen them in the open, intact dead.

Is it possible somebody is using poison? What if my dogs had gotten into them?

Thanks! I always appreciate all who take time to respond!!!

Does it look like they were tossed into your yard? As if someone is trying to poison your dog?

We have plenty of voles, moles, mice, squirrels and chipmunks and never once have i seen any laying around dead.

Be cautious.

I don't think they were tossed in the yard because one was pretty close to the front door and the other was in the front yard but close to the road.

I'm wondering if they came from the neighbors that live next door. I have seen an exterminator over there. I would like to ask them but they would probably get offended if I asked.

Now my husband can't let the dogs out because he hurt his back and can't bend over to put their harnesses on. Normally they can go loose but supervised. Definitely not taking a chance with dead rodents in the yard.

Oh well if the exterminator set poison traps the rodents could travel a ways before dying. I think you are within your right to ask what they used.

It shouldn't be a big deal to nicely ask but you know, people.

They have lots of pets so I wouldn't want to insult them by asking but then again they let their dog run loose and go in the road all the time.

If they are using poison and endangering MY dogs I will be upset and I don't hide my feelings very well.

and I don't hide my feelings very well.

Lol. We share that in common.

Even with a mask on i can apparently get across the "oh fuck off and die" face without even meaning to

I understand that rodents are a pain, oh trust me i know but i saw a post once of an owl that died from eating poisoned mice. So i wont do that.

A simple bucket is very effective. Coat the inside if a tall bucket with vegetable oil. Place a glob if peanut butter inside on the bottom. Mice get in but cannot get out. Want them dead, just put some water in the bucket.

"Even with a mask on i can apparently get across the "oh fuck off and die" face without even meaning to"

I would love to be your neighbor except I think one of your winters would kill me.

I love to be your neighbor except I think one of your winters would kill me.

I wonder each year if our winter is going to kill me too.

Funny enough even with the deep chill there was small footprints in the snow. Resident rabbit i think, happy to make his home close since we get carrots dropped off each week.

Also have red squirrels and weasels around. Not mice. Those suckers have made it into the basement. DD's cat takes every opportunity to run down there and takes care of any that make it upstairs. Theres "something" hiding in the sunroom. Not sure if its mice (seems to large) a chipmunk, squirrel or even one of the weasels. Praying it isnt a raccoon. The attic entrance door in the sunroom is open. Gotta get a ladder and close that up.

Possibly could be a cat. I have a cat that catches mice and what I thought were voles but turned out to be short-tailed shrews. Look up the short-tailed shrews online to see if that’s what you saw. My cat never eats them. From what I read, the shrews don’t taste very good to cats, but cats enjoy catching them. She never eats the mice either. I think it’s because she just likes to play with them.

When I was a kid, my grandparents adopted a stray cat that ended up having a litter, and when the kittens were old enough to learn how to hunt, the mamma cat started bringing them mice to play with. I went outside to play in their yard an there were like 10 dead mice lined up. She was a prolific hunter.

Could be poison too though. Maybe set up a trail cam.

[This message edited by LizM at 5:01 AM, Wednesday, November 24th]

There are some mice plagues going on around different parts of the globe right now, as you mentioned you're near farmland it could be pesticides at work. That or your neighbors have a pest issue.

If the animal has a blackened look to it's mouth it's likely pesticide, same if you found them near a water source (water bowl, pond, pool, leaking tap etc.)

If the fur looks spiky it's likely a kill because cats, for example, don't always eat or chew their prey, sometimes they just walk with it around, play with it then leave it.

If there are blood dots on the carcass it's likely a prey bird dropped their kill (gross fact but same if you find them without a head, it's a owl thing.)

(yeah I live in a farm zone and I've seen all of above)

As for pesticides unfortunately there is no good news with pets, the readily used cheap stuff can cause secondary poisoning, there are pet safe baits but they are more expensive so rarely used. It's going to be annoying but it is short term but before you let pups out do a sweep on the ground, if night time is a issue unfortunately you might have to let them out on a lead.

Early warning signs to watch out for his heavy panting, excessive drinking, drooling, wobbly legs and lethargy, the drinking is the major one because this is what the poison does, it hyper dehydrates the animal.

It's gross when this happens, sorry you're experiencing it.

FWIW I had a cat that killed, but never ate its kills, and I had a dog that killed voles on the regular, he would stand still listen, and then pounce, and dig dig, grab the vole, crunch and shake, and then drop it.
You could not visibly see any damage to the creature, and would often find them dead.
So like you until you determine the source I would encourage not allowing dogs out unwatched.
Also my MIL has 2 terrier dogs and they kill voles on the regular as well.

Thanks for all the input!!

There is no visible damage.

We have security cameras that should have picked up an animal leaving them where they were but possibly not at night.

I will definitely keep the dogs on a leash.

Over the summer we kept finding dead birds in our yard and on the road. The also had no damage and their eyes looked good.

We don't use ant pesticides or chemicals.

Birds now rodents?
I'd recommend that you call your DNR, and ask them to test the animals.

If the birds are prey birds then someone is definitely using baits (rodent poison), the prey birds fall victim to secondary poisoning when they eat the poisoned rodents and just drop dead from the sky.

If there are a mix of dead birds, especially little grassland birds, then it's likely someone has over dusted their crop but has been doing it excessively.

Either way I agree tushnurse because you don't know what's being carried on the wind or falling into your water supply, always better to be safe than sorry. It's not a overreaction, just a concern.

What does DNR stand for?

You make very good points.

We tried to get the birds tested this summer but were unsuccessful. I have not seen anymore birds since the summer. They were all small birds.

Stupid and gross question. I have the mice bagged up and sealed in my garbage can so no animals can get at them. How many days before they are foo far gone to be tested? It is above freezing here.

I'd freeze them. Then again i have chicks and rats frozen for our reptiles in the downstairs freezer lol

Not sure what DNR us but up here MNR is ministry of natural resources. Perhaps same sort of thing.

My feral cats kill, but often don't eat voles, moles, mice. They leave them as trophies. They catch and kill bunnies, squirrels and chipmunks often eating half and going back for it later.
There was a continent wide bird plague going around this summer, we took our feeders down for several months. It seemed to affect sparrows and finches particularly
But I'd err on the side of caution and think poison. Poisoned animals will travel a fair way, usually looking for water, before they die.
Bite the bullet and ask them, out of concern for their dogs, lol. And keep yours contained.

I only have one freezer and those gross things are not going in there.

I was aware of the bird plague. I was wondering about that when I found them. As an animal lover it was kind of disturbing to see so many beautiful birds dead.

How far can a poisoned mouse travel? The neighbors two houses down and across the street use poison. (They also put bird feeders out). I just assumed that was too far for them to travel.

DNR = Department of Natural Resources.
They are responsible for testing all ground water and resources. Since you live in the country and it seems this has crossed species which very different eating habits it is important to notify them or your counties extension office or conservation dept.
In my state the DNR does all of these things.
If you have a contaminated watersource near you that can be a big problem.
It if some qsshole neighbor is baiting animals with poison they need to get it under control