This is an riddle. I know a word of letters three. Add two, and fewer there will be!

Whoever answers correctly gets

Afarmer began a new method of reducing grain spills. this reduced the number of mice on the farm. the number of snakes in the surrounding area decreased at the same time. the snakes depended on the mice that lived in the field. what’s the likely reason the snake population decreased? a. the number of snake predators increased. b. the number of mice increased. c. the number of mice decreased. d. the pesticides affected the snakes. e. a new breed of mice moved into the field.