Huge Rodent Problem and I'm crying

Vitamin K doesn't always save the dog and the dog will most likely be at the vet for at least one or two overnight stays which could be very costly. The non warfarin baits are every bit as effective as the warfarin and a mouse that is dying of the non warfarin WILL NOT hurt dogs or cats. It is not opinion, but proven.

I used to sell them.

Yikes!!!! Mice in the car!!!!

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~Jen
Married to my best friend and mother of 5.

A live trap works pretty good for mice.

Do your best to eliminate all food sources. Spilled grain. Crumbs in the kitchen. Don't let anyone take food out of the kitchen. All storage in your kitchen & pantry should be in mouse proof containers. Personally I like the Christmas popcorn tins or hard plastic or glass containers.

I don't care for poisons. I'll use any kind of trap but really prefer the old snap traps. My dh on several occasions has used his b-b gun with good success. We have had a mouse problem since the day we moved into our new house in 1979. Each year we find a new place to block. We used to use steal wool but now use a can of closed cell styro foam insulation to block holes.

Don't bother with a cat. They will spend an hour playing with a mouse then get bored and let it go. Get a rat terrior dog. They will get rid of mice, rats, ground hogs, etc. even if they have to dig half way to China to find them. They also are fun energetic pets and short haired so nicer to have in the house.

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I would only caution the homeowner before going with a bucket trap. She stated she has a 1 and 5 year old running around so make sure you put it where they can't accidentally fall into the pail. Too many kids have accidentally drowned in them (hence the warning label now imprinted on them).
Personally I have always LOVED traplines....inside the house for mice or outside the house for furbearers.
Regarding glue traps- I can't say I've ever had a problem not being alerted to a mouse in one....The little rascals squeals have even woken me in the middle of the night.

P.S. To the OP....Think you're scared now just wait until one of the buggers runs across your face in the middle of the night LOL.

David

Now she's buying traps AND caffeine!

If you get the glue traps and don't want to wait days for the mouse to die throw the trap in the road and squish them with your car. It's a quick death. My old neighbor used to put out rat glue traps at night and then gather them in the AM, line them up and then run his semi over the traps. Four nights of doing this cured his rat problem. Better than making them suffer for days. Just sayin'.


Don't use anything that'll make them want to crawl in your walls and die. I don't know how a teeny mouse can make such a huge stink, but they do.

I lost 2 inside family cats to posion. The cats did not eat the mouse, But just biting them hard enough to break the skin was enough to release the posion into the cays. It was a terrible death. They went into sezures and died slowly. I held one of them all night as she died. There was not a night vet to take her to. I will NEVER have posion in or around my home again.

And this posion was placed in the attic out of the kids and animals reach...............

I would not want my chickens eating a posioned mouse and then us eating her or her eggs?

This is my favorite mouse trap. One fall I caught 55 mice in my house using just 4 of them. The trick is to smear the peanut butter on the underside of the top "jaw". They stand on the trigger to reach it and SNAP!

http://www.victorpest.com/store/rodent-control/b130-2

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Seems I read threads like this 30 times a year.

The best course of action is to deter them in the first place. They simply don't like the smell of peppermint so buy about 10-20 bottles of oil or extract and scatter droplets of it throughout the house and other buildings. Maybe a bakery would sell you a jug of it if there is such a thing.

Works in farm parked cars, tractor cabs, combine cabs, farm trucks, pickups, etc. Much better to deter than to keep fighting them.

Please tell me you're joking. Now I won't sleep. EVER!!!

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~Jen
Married to my best friend and mother of 5.

Does this kill the mice or just catch it. After reading of them crawling on me, I don't know if I want to catch and release.

My legs are asleep and I need to go get dinner and then make it, but I am to scared to get up.

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~Jen
Married to my best friend and mother of 5.

Jennifer Good luck with your mouse problem I've only recently found one in my bathroom of all places. Not to get off the subject but I thought it was funny that your name is Jennifer (so is mine) and my DH's name is Gregg and we just moved from Pennsylvanina lol.

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That is neat!

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~Jen
Married to my best friend and mother of 5.

there is NO inhumane way to kill a mouse or rat...the great plague around 1919 was started and spread by them, not so much the rodent but the fleas they carried...but they acted as the host
get a Jack Russel terrier and your problems are pretty much over...I have never seen a cat that will mouse as well as a terrier
if you do want to use a cat, make sure you feed it well, a hungery cat will not mouse for sport and only take what it needs to survive

I've used the bucket trap without water. Works fine, except you have a live mouse (or two) to dispatch the next morning.

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http://hickahala.blogspot.com/

Snap traps and chocolate frosting. Put a little chocolate frosting (the kind you buy that's in the plastic tubs, cheap as possible) on the trip pan of the trap. Guaranteed to catch the mouse within 12 hours. The last one we had was dead in 2. Fed it to the ducks.

Glue traps are terribly inhumane. Mice also learn to avoid them. Mom had one that got stuck but got off the glue trap. It avoided all the traps after that. She ended up resorting to poison. But, IMO, poison is inhumane also.

ETA, mice will run across you while you are sleeping, especially if you eat in bed. That's just asking them to join you.

I think after living out there awhile you will get used to them. I will try that peppermint oil idea though. With three cats here who are very good hunters I still have mice problems. We can go for a year or two with none at all coming in the house, then all of a sudden I find their "calling cards" in my pantry, on my stove, sink, etc. Makes me sick every time. The year before last we trapped 17 of them in my pantry! (not all at once) They never seemed to get into food, just wanted to dirty up dishes or anything that wasn't covered. I ended up putting everything in plastic bags to protect it. Pet food is the only food I have them get into. So I pick up their dishes at night.

My trouble with the cats is that outside they get them easy. But inside they lose them around furniture and things on the floor that are in the way. I will hear the cat jump from the bed upstairs and down she comes with a mouse in her mouth......then she sets it down to play with it.....and off it goes into the wood pile!

I showed DH cabinfever's photo of that trap and I think he wants to try that.

katlupe

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Like these guys (seriously, this could be a hazard for the very young, especially if you were to use a large pail filled deeply with water)

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Cabin- cute pics.... I suppose in this case though you would have to say the bucket fell on the kid since it is the bucket that is upside down.

No, first he bent over and stuck his head in the bucket...bobbing for mice....a Wiccan Halloween tradition. Once he caught a mouse, he stood up straight.

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