Mouse Problem - Help!!!

Also you could try Cheap soda in jar lids .....rodents can't burp....ya' need to keep it fresh everyday but it works very well...and if anybody eats the dead critter all they ate was a sweetened mouse : )

The Dirt Weasel

I get both deer mice and field mice. chocolate works for some(a reeses cup is the easiest, soft and conforms to the trigger then hardens) but some don't like it. for those, peanut butter may work but then there are always a few that the only thing I can catch them with is cheese!

also, the little side thing on the trigger that catches the arm that springs. push it over as far as you can so it's a hair trigger. when I get them right from the store, a light mouse can eat at will without tripping it until they get fatter!

mel-
(who catches one or two a day in the fall for several weeks and has two cats residing in her shed but apparently they just like birds and dog food!)

We go with barn cats.

Contact your local animal control officer, since I bet they have a ready supply and probably for free.

moth balls

I use peanut butter and make a hair trigger on the mouse trap by using a bit of oil to lubricate the latch and bending the latch just a bit to snap easier.

Then I toss them outside and people say. "oh look what your kitties brought you," I don't think so! The wild kitties took them away eventually.

HHHEEerrrrrrr Kitty Kitty Kitty!

__________________
"I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me"

Philippians 4:13

Good discussion but I couldn't let the comments re the cats go by. People who rely on so-called "barn cats"or any other kind of cat to take care of the rodent problem are mis informed or lazy or both.

Cats will NEVER controll or eliminate rodents. Although snakes are much better at it, they won't do the job either. All that happens is, you get faster and smarter mice and cat crap in your hay. Which, by the way carries it's own risks of diseases. And cats have fleas too. I don't know anyone who keeps their barn cats dipped, sprayed or on Frontline for fleas(doesn't mean they are not out there, I just haven't met any... ).

So, instead of relying on something so inefficient, listen to gobug and get serious if you have a rodent problem. This doesn't mean that if you love your cats you shouldn't have them. After all, traps and poisons don't look adorable and purr! LOL .

LQ

__________________
" Live in the Sunshine,
Swim the Sea,
Drink the Wild Air"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"There is no such thing as bad weather, only inadequate clothing." D. Duck

I have found cats to be very efficient hunters and killers of rodents, gophers, and just about anything else that moves.

__________________
"I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me"

Philippians 4:13

I cant count the number of homes I have treated for mice that also had cats. Cats will control them, particularly if they must eat mice to survive, but they only eliminate mild problems. Most pet cats don't need mice cause they get good food from you. The best mouser cats are trained by their mom. The others have to learn on their own. This makes a large range of mouser skilled cats. The mice learn to stay out of the cats reach. Generally they only get the weaker less dominant mice, the ones that are forced into the open due to competition. In our business, and nationwide as well, mice have gone from a seasonal problem to a year around problem. The populations have grown significantly.

the problem must be treated agessivly , all out buildings ,garages ,barns ect ... need to ne on a bait and trap program you will never get them out of the house if they can just keep migrating from the shed use secure bait stations and use some traps to get the ones that dont like the bait peanut butter works but alternate with bacon that works great too and gets the mice that are following the adkins diet lol............ dont tolerate even one they multiply rapidly and destroy and dirty so much......... nothing stinks as bad as a mouse!

Somebodies never had a good mouser!

__________________
The 7th Day is still God's Sabbath
ICOG7.ORG
Layton Hollow ADGA Nubians
Taking Reservation for 2015!

I use traps so as to avoid any poisons that could affect my dogs.
The plastic hair trigger traps that look like pac man with serated jaws rarely fail to catch a mouse. A tiny dab of peanut butter or sicky cheese (mozzarella) seems to do the trick for bait. Behind a piano seems to be a spot that gets a high percentage of catches. I don't know what it is, but it doesn't deter the curiousity of mice to be caught there time after time. It's only bad this time of year when field mice find their way in the building. Mostly it's reithrodontymus (deer mice) and the odd paramyscus (vole). Outside the terriers grab the odd mole. I hate the look of those things. shish! :no:

Regarding the cat debate: I've had both good mousers and bad mousers. Depends on the individual cat, I guess.

No Nancy, it doesn't depend on whether a cat is a "good" or "bad" mouser. It's the way nature works. Predators(the cat in this case) hunt and get the weakest/youngest members of the prey group(mice). The strong, smart etc survive to make smarter youngsters.

This is true no matter what the predator/prey is. IF a predator could or would wipe out a population of prey they would eventually starve. Some of the prey always survives(mankind being an exception here..we are the only predator that tries not to do what's good for us). No cat population has ever wiped out a population of mice. Otherwise, after a bit we wouldn't need the cats out there anymore.

The cats would "clean out" the barn then head out into the surrounding countryside and wipe out those mice. Doesn't happen. There are millions of feral/barn/pet cats out there and many more millions of mice, voles etc. All cats do is decimate our song and game birds who did not evolve to manage such a huge population of predators like the house cat. The domestic cat doesn't have to depend on what it hunts to survive. It is supplemented by man.

LQ

__________________
" Live in the Sunshine,
Swim the Sea,
Drink the Wild Air"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"There is no such thing as bad weather, only inadequate clothing." D. Duck

Thanks everyone. I have caught three more so far and those were on prebaited sticky traps. Two of the mice were still alive when I threw them out. EEEWW! I bought bait and will put that out next. I already have a cat. She caught one and brought it into my bedroom to play at 3:00 a.m. Didn't sleep for two nights until I trapped it under a washpan and let it suffocate to death by putting a 20 lb. bag of cat litter on top. I really appreciate all the advice.

Our cat :worship: decided she was a mouser.Catching mice we werent even aware of.As for that creating 'super mice',I think its more a matter of the mice producing more offspring to compensate for the losses.Kind of a quantity over quality thing.Just my opinion,I really couldnt say with scientific certainty.I dont think to extrapolate the bacteria model of survivability in the presence of antibiotics where only the resistant survive to make 'superbug' is quite the same with mice and cats :worship: and snakes.I think thats what the poster is alluding to,dont think its the same thing.
Anyhow,cats :worship: are much nicer to have around than a trap,which isnt very entertaining at all. :haha:
BooBoo

Old Jack is right, the rat zapper is awesome. I always catch the rat by the second night if not the first. We have roof rats that can easily get away from dogs and cats because they run around in the trees. My dog goes crazy trying to hunt them down but she just isn't a good climber. Because the rat smell drives her insane I built a box to put my zapper in and keep her out.

http://www.lazyhousekeeper.com/mr-rat/custom-box.jpg

I once shot a cornered rat in one of my back rooms.
I dont recomend it, no mater how loud the woman is screaming for you to kill it.
for one, you cant hear for a week after.
second a 12 gauge puts a really big hole in your floor and does a job on wires and pipes.

I =solved that problem,when i did the rewire and repipe job last year I put the wire asn pipes on the ceiling.

now when I shoot a rat next time I just have to rememer the earplugs and to use 22 ratshot and not a cannon.

the cats and the traps so far have made mice and rats a rare treat for whoever catches them (cats).

my ears still ring...