Jim Dandy: We live in the woods, everybody comes to call in the winter months - groundhogs, snakes, possums, skunks, raccoons, rabbits, deer, feral cats that used to be somebody's pets (?) - you name it, we've had it come around, we even get an occasional black bear walking thru looking for food.....but what has always worked is never, ever give them a "food source" - if you feed them, they stay put.....maybe that's why the mice in your home died there, or maybe they were poisoned somehow? The only "wild" animal that I've had to bury because they passed away were three cats that actually froze to death from being left outdoors in sub-freezing temps by humankind - wild animals tend to know how to take care of themselves, I guess