Huge Rodent Problem and I'm crying

If I had a serious problem, I would definitely use the bucket traps, but for the average household, I don't think there's anything better than the plain old Victor snap trap. They work every time, and even though I am normally extremely frugal, these guys are cheap enough to toss the whole horrid thing in the trash. I will not, under any circumstance reuse a mouse trap. I just don't want to handle the smelly, germy thing once it has been successful.

GREAT!!! Actually, they only get the weak and/or stupid ones, so they are improving the breed. I'll take cats over rabbits and birds any day.

Nature and survival is often violent, we don't live in a Disney type world, Rats and mice carry disease and parasites (as can birds and rabbits) that can be deadly to other life, including humans.

I have had really good luck using peppermint essential oil on cotton balls. I put them out in every conceivable corner and under things. I used to have mice bad in this house, and it has all but eliminated them. My friend said she bought peppermint gum and put pieces around in the corner. I was also thinking about Altoids since they are so strong.

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Only by His merciful grace,
Marci

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I am sure that the oil is better but the extract has never failed to work for me and others that I have suggested it to. Much easier to simply get it at the grocery store even if one has to pay extra because of small quantity containers.

I hope we can agree to gently disagree this time.

Mice don't always linger for days on a glue trap. I could smell a mouse in our van and put a glue trap in the evening and the next morning it was caught and dead.

I don't wish to offend cat owners, but they are not very useful in getting rid of rodents. I had a cat lay on the sofa while a mouse ran around the living room. And they certainly are not humane. I've seen cats torture a mouse for ages before the mouse either got away or finally died. Dogs (especially terriers) are death on rodents. The grab, kill, and quickly look for their next prey. One time we were cleaning an old barn and ran into a large nest of mice. The cat caught one and the old cocker spaniel and collie pup eliminated the rest. Personally I'm not looking for a humane way to eliminate rodents just a successful method. If they stay out of my house and garden, I ignore them. If they cross into MY territory, I'll do my very best to eliminate them. We use poison in the attached garage & traps inside. Dh will use his bb gun either inside or out. Mice have also been beaten with a sharpening steel and a cowboy boot, stomped (be sure you tie your pants leg shut before trying this one!), hit with a book thrown at them and I'm sure I'm forgetting other methods. Snap traps are my favorite tool followed by sticky traps for the mice smart enough to avoid snap traps. For bait peanut butter is my favorite although I have tied rancid bacon to a trap and that worked great and you don't have to rebait every time you set the trap. I use gloves to remove dead mice and to reset the trap. I've found I have more success with used traps than new although I have no idea why. Perhaps because mice love filth. BTW if you store paper products, they love to use tp or paper towels for building nests.

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This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Absolutely no idea whether this works or not, but I read it and perhaps it's worth a try!

Related Remedy
NO MICE!

December 2005

I just wanted to give a little advice for mouse irradication. We live in the city and have been getting mice in our house every winter for three years, now. Around 2-4 every winter season. May not be a lot to some, but they gross me out! I have tried vinegar, and I tried tansy. Nothing seemed to keep these little monsters away. No search engines on the internet were of help, either. I was reading your article Vinegar of the Four Theives on your website and caught a glimpse of a nugget of truth. It stated that people used to burn rosemary to rid their house of vermin. I tried it in my basement and put some burnt crumbles in the bottom cupboards where they like to show themselves. I am happy to say that in the cold, Northwest Ohio area, in mid December, for the first time in three years, NO MICE! Even my husband was shocked! Plus, your house will have a very pleasant "camp-fire" like smell to it. Hope this may help someone else.

The best way to get rid of mice on a continuing basis is to have a bunch of outdoor cats - period! We have lived on our 100 acre hobby farm for 5 years now, and we have NO mice! The cats also do a good job getting rid of striped gophers, bugs, rabbits in the garden, as well as meadow voles, shrews, etc. They are my constant companions, friendly, and I welcome new kittens all the time. I usually have around a dozen cats, sometimes a few more, sometimes a few less. They don't always stay with us - out here in the wilderness other animals take their toll on them (like wolves, eagles, foxes, etc.) and some run away to other farms and some meet with accidents. Cats are a necessary commodity on a farm and they live a pretty good life here. I supplement their diet with good quality cat food, milk, leftovers (which they love!) and plenty of fresh water. I worm them from time to time and provide good shelter from the outdoor elements. My cats are my "mouseketeers" or the "mouse patrol". They love it here, I love having them - everybody wins!

We have an inside rat terrier and 9 outside cats. We also have mice in our house.

The terrier will get some of them outside and the cats get some of them in the barn.

It's One-bite baits and the one-hand-set mousetraps, that at least manage, the mouse situation in our house.

Would you be so kind to back up your claim with any research?
I can show you link after link about the perils of cats on wildlife.

Edited to add the first one, if you would be so inclined to further the discussion.

http://icwdm.org/wildlife/housecat.asp

Tell you what, I have the feeling your gonna be ok with your problem when you hear my solution. We have 6 cats and 3 dogs, so fairly few mice to begin with, but I do everything I can to encourage the snake population. Neighbor across the road has three dogs, 4 cats, and a monster rat problem, but no snakes. Snakes stay outside, mice want to be inside, thusly I prefer snakes to mice. We also don't have any rabbits, squirrels, or chipmunks anywhere on the farm. Soon as I find a snake big enough to take care of my groundhog problem I'll be set. FWIW, I bait traps with marshmallow fluff...

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I have to be very vigilent or we get rats bad. I use the one bite bait bars threaded on wire hangers and wired inside a medium dog crate. I even use them where my chickens are (but keep them away from the goats). The rats/mice can get into the crates, but the other animals can't.

You can also sprinkle a little feed (dog, cat, chicken, etc.) into the bottom of a trash can - preferrably metal - and set it up against a wall/side of house, etc. They will crawl up the wall and into the can but won't be able to get out. You do have to dispose of them after that, but it is very cost effective. We used to do that and tip the can forward and let our dogs dispatch them. We got rid of the rats and the dogs had a ball snatching them out of the can.

By the way, I've been using the bait bars for 10 years and have never had a chicken, duck or dog poisoned by eating them. I did lose a duck that got a hold of the bait that was in a pipe trap - that's when I started using the dog crate. Stupid rats had chewed a hole in the side and made it useless for anything else anyway.

As for snakes, I was all for them taking care of some of the mice until I found a huge copperhead in my chicken coop. I've lost many a chick, gosling and duckling to snakes too. I have kept the rodents poisoned (surrounded by fields and pasture here so they are a constant problem) and haven't seen any snakes the last 2 years after 8 years of lots of them.