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<\/p>\nA PEST expert has debunked the myth that cats keep your homes mouse-free.<\/p>\n
But they're not completely hopeless. He said they still have a role to play in keeping unwanted critters at bay.<\/p>\n
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He was commenting on one woman's experience on the front line of pest control in her house.<\/p>\n
Her cat had taken its role seriously and was engaged in hunting down a mini rodent.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo in our last home, we had a mouse infestation," she said. But she figured it was under control because of her moggy.<\/p>\n
Think again said the experts. Felines do not fully address a mice infestation.<\/p>\n
While this lady's cat successfully hunted down its prey, there were, in all likelihood, many more where that one came from. <\/p>\n
Many many more, according to Pest World (@pestworld), the official TikTok account for the National Pest Management Association.<\/p>\n
The numbers were scary: \u201cMice have an extremely fast reproductive rate. And so families will grow very quickly in a house," said one of the experts.<\/p>\n
Don't think you've solved the problem if you have captured one.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf you see one there\u2019s probably more to be found," he revealed.<\/p>\n Predatory cats are not the solution to a rodent problem.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople tend to think that having a cat is going to keep their house mouse-free. But cats are not enough."<\/p>\n They might just move the issue around. But cats could help to protect your home, as their presence makes the mice "migrate" to other places.<\/p>\n \u201cCats can sometimes suppress mouse activity," he said. "The mice will be active where the cat isn\u2019t."<\/p>\n To back up his theory, he quoted some work done looking at attempts to control the population of rats.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was some research in New York City that showed oftentimes, the populations of rats and feral cats, would overlap.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it wasn\u2019t because the cats were keeping those rats at bay. They were just making those rats move to different areas."<\/p>\n It was unpleasant reading: \u201cOnce the cats were gone the rats came back."<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tp-composite-kat-and-the-killer-2.jpg\")
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