Retailers in Williams Lake have seen a dramatic increase in the number of mouse traps being sold.
When contacted by the Tribune Canadian Tire, Home Hardware and Rona confirmed they have been ordering more supplies than normal because it is a busy year for mice.
“We sold two years worth in two months,” said Scott Tucker who owns Home Hardware. “Every week I’m ordering. About a month and a half ago, the staff warned me they were selling by the 100s.”
Across town at Canadian Tire, store manager Sharon Webstad said they normally sell lots of mouse traps and when she checked the records saw the numbers were ‘way up’ for 2019.
“We had a lady in yesterday who said there is construction behind her place and more mice are coming onto her property.”
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Rona’s head cashier Sherri Landry responded ‘oh yah — huge,’ when asked the if the mouse trap sales were up.
“It has doubled, if not tripled,” Landry said of the numbers. “We haven’t run out, but we’ve also made sure we are stocked up.”
All three stores said the biggest seller is the standard wooden mouse trap, while there are other products to choose from.
Tucker was recently away and learned about a product that is made up of scent pouches meant to deter rodents that he is going to try ordering in.
They contain plant fibres from corn cobs, essential oils of cedar wood, balsam fir, lavender and rosemary.
“Farm dealers sell them for farmers who put them in combines and things like that so rodents don’t get in there. I talked to one person who has been using it for a couple of years.”
He said there are probably 20 other products like it as well.
On a personal note, this reporter has seen more mice around the property than in the previous four years.
Normally they start showing up when it is cold, but the numbers remained steady all summer, including one pack rat delivered at the door step by the cats as a gift.
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