How surprising I have mice in my hay shed. First no it can not be made mouse proof. It is three sided. So apart from baiting, trapping or get a cat are there any other ways of convincing mice to take a hike?
In the days of Sheafed hay (cut for chaff) the stack had salt scattered through as it was built to deal with the mouse problem . Salt is very toxic to mice and rats they get it on their feet and tail and lick it off . Most of the salt falls out as the chaff is cut , may be away to use it for advantage . They will destroy your hay they breed incredibly fast , short term I would catch as many as possible provide a water source in a "safe for mouses" area to draw them in and trap in numbers there . Perhaps next season multiple small stacks with gaps for predators , as with everything "Do less sooner" hammer the mouse numbers every way possible before the hay stack haven arrives . Humans have been battling mice and rats forever with out much luck . Probably not applicable here if they are in under a cement floor (done this for rats many times) Carbon monoxide (petrol motor exhaust) is very effective a heavy gas that sinks to the bottom of holes and pushes fresh air out , end of rats for a long time . So maybe you could build some lovely mouse houses under your stacks all set up for gassing when the times right .
I know snakes have their role in life but sorry hate them. Don't kill them but not going to invite them in either. This could be because in Oz there are so many REALLY poisonous snakes. Just as a piece of trivia the common brown snake is 4 times more deadly than the rattle snake and that is only the common brown that is way down the list when it comes to deadlyness of Aussie snakes I had heard that you can use salt to keep mouse down but thought it was only a myth not that anyone did it. Do you know how much you would have to spread around? At least with salt if it gets in the hay it is not going to be a problem. My sheep and horse both happily attack the salt block I put out for them. Good thought about next year making predator pathways in the hay. I have been thinking of getting a Jack Russell dog just because I like them and friends tell me they will spend every waking moment going after mice and rats.
Jack Russels are great mousers we had one and a Labrador they worked as a tag team the Lab would lift / drag scraps of roof iron that I had laying around to get mice the JR would wiz underneath kill the mice and the Lab would swallow the mice . Hilarious bit sad for the mice the place looked like Western Mining had moved in the dogs worked over every post pile ect.
Sounds like a jack Russel is the way to go, plus i love their personalities. I like dogs with spunk. They seem to live by the motto i may be small but I am strong/brave/ feisty plus they are out to have a good time and are wash and wear dogs. Can't handle dogs that have long hair that needs huge amounts of washing and brushing, got better things to do with my time
Heh, I sure can't blame you there (having forgotten you are in Oz). I agree with the Jack Russell terrier option ... an excellent dog all around.
rat /mice bourn diseases kill many more folk than snakes!!! i used to hate cats untill the rats here started to adversly affect my mental health we got an Emmaville cat and he is gr8 save the fact that he brings his quarry home alive which is good for the native stuff!!! catches heaps of rabbits rats and mice !1
After living 40 years in the Adelaide hills, which is snake heaven, I am not afraid of snakes. I learnt to stamp my foot to tell them to go away and them would. Many more snakes are killed by humans than humans are killed by snakes. But all that doesn't change the fact that snakes creep me out big time. I think i will have to get a dog or a cat. In the old place our first cat was truly amazing. We got him on Good Friday and when talking to our neighbour later he said, "I've never had mice and all of a sudden on Easter Saturday I got all these mice. I don't know why." We didn't tell him, but we laughed about the image of hundreds of mice with little suitcases trudging across the paddock looking for a new home. Later when the rats moved into our ceiling we locked the cat up in the ceiling space for a couple of hours and the rats relocated. After that we would see the cat streaking across the hillside and then dragging a rabbit home between his legs like a panther. He was a great cat! Only problem was he would bring the rabbit into the bathroom and eat half of it and leave the other half for later. Really nice to come into the bathroom and find half a rabbit. Had its funny side though. We would throw the half bunny out and later the cat would mossie into the bathroom for a bit of a snack, find his snack had disappeared and would stomp around saying in no uncertain terms. "I left a rabbit here. Who stole my rabbit!"