Where have all the mice and voles gone? Until yesterday, I had seen no evidence of any for a couple of months. Now I have seen one dive for its nest. That's it. Likely, they are still out there, it's just that all the signs are missing. Not that I miss them exactly, but they are an important part of the ecosystem.

Last fall, casual conversations often included a mouse count. One person would give their total catch count, and others would compare. Twenty inside the house was my max, but I heard up to eighty. The population had exploded in this area.

There is one drawer in my kitchen which had mouse droppings when we first looked at the house. No other evidence. So, it is a junk drawer with two mouse traps. A few times in the fall, the cat brought one up from the furnace room to the bedroom so I could help him dispose of it. Eventually, he did manage to do the deed himself a couple times. And eventually, we stopped catching them. No sign of them in the house since December.

Sometimes through the winter, there were snake-like trails in the snow. These showed where the mice have tunneled looking for food.

One morning, a fox stood perfectly still in our backyard. It moved a little, then stood, head cocked, not moving. Eventually, it sprang straight in the air, came down nose first, and stood with a mouse (or vole, too far for me to tell) and trotted away to have its meal. It was amazing that it could hear the little creature moving well enough to catch it in a single, swooping dive.

As the snow began to melt this spring, I found four saplings that had been girdled. Walking along the road and through the forest nearby, I saw many others the same. A good-sized sumac next door was also stripped of its bark all the way around. More evidence of a strong mouse and vole population in the area. I was so glad I had taken the time to wrap my young apple trees.

As the snow melted further, snake-like indentations showed where mice had travelled from warm nest to food storage. Some of these were significantly deep paths.

But those paths did not last. As the ground melted and rain softened the earth, as grass and other plants grew, the pathways filled in. Now, there is no sign of where home is, where food is stored.

Moles I can find, or at least, I know where they have been. They leave holes in the yard. I don't see the creatures themselves very often, but I know when they have been around.

So where are the mice? Fortunately, there are varied food sources now, so trees are safe for the moment. It's warm outside, so they have not come back in the house. Their pathways are under the cover of grass and wildflowers. I can almost convince myself the population is much diminished.

Except, logically, I know that about now, the population is growing. Breeding season is well underway. And I've read that a female born now may well produce her first litter this fall. Likely, all around my house, the population is expanding.

I expect my dog has some idea where the mice and voles are hanging out. Foxes and the coyotes have a very good idea where they are. The weasel that I saw tunneling under the snow likely can find them as well. Which is a good thing. The mice and voles are a major food source for these hunting creatures.

I don't like mice in the house. I work hard to get rid of them and to clean up where they have been. But outside, they play an essential role in the ecosystem around me.

Cathy Hird lives on the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibway