*
Yes, a single rodent has made its way into the interior framing of my
parents’ split level home. The mouse is heard at only one spot, an
eastward-facing upper-story bedroom window, inside the framing which
surrounds the window opening. We have no evidence of other mice, but
this persistent creature makes up for a dozen as he returns daily at
11am to munch and crunch loudly from various spots around the window.
We could ignore this single muncher, but for the fact it is relentlessly
chewing a hole through an important part of the house. The mouse has
ambitions, and probably already has a nest elsewhere. My parents are
adamant about avoiding the use of pesticide, and that leaves few options
to handle the mouse.
Already, I have entered the attic to determine possible entry points. The
attic turbine ventilators are blocked firmly with screen-door mesh, and
there appears no way for a mouse to push under, or chew through. I
also have examined the sill plate covering the second-story interior walls,
but have found no obvious opening to the interior. (I continue to look,
however.)
Even were I to find a possible entry point, I still do not know how best
to dispatch this Unruly Rodent, who seems to carry a pocketwatch for his
11am munchings.
Replies
*
My father has a cabin in Idaho and keeping mice out is as futile as stopping the sun from rising, but I think he enjoys the challenge. His latest weapon is expanding foam and it seems to slow them down a bit. Don't overlook the smallest crack-those critters can fit through holes smaller than your pinkie finger. Be generous with the foam because they'll try digging through it for awhile until they give up.
Found one once that crawled into the spout of the coffee pot! Poor guy got percolated.
*There's no way you have just one mouse. And you will never find any mechanical barrier to keep them out.Try steel wool where you see any holes, but this will be futile because they'll find another way.The best thing to do is put bait stations outside in the bushes. The mice will eat the poison out there and will hopefully die outthere.The only thing worse than a live mouse is the smell of a dead one.
*Brian: Here's one place you could look. Jeff
*Get a cat.
*
I dont know about the cat idea. I saw a program last night where a cat was chasing a mouse, the mouse ran into its hole in the wall and when the cat put his paw in the hole to try to catch it the mouse hit him with a hammer. I guess those mice are smarter than cats cuz the cat couldnt get him no matter how many times he tried. he even got blown up once. when the mouse handed the cat a piece of dynamite
*
The trouble with most pesticides is that you often end up hurting a mid to top preditor while you're at it (owls, hawks, fox, coyote, etc.).
Can you get "Rogone" where you live ? It's a pest discourager that actually works. Oil of clove has some effect also. BUT, if after a week or so and the mice are still there: then, IMHO, you need an old-fashioned mousetrap.
*If Rogaine helps with hair gaine, will Rogone cause hair loss ?
*If you think "mice" are a problem, it would appear that the Republicans have a problem with "RATS"
*I'm with Ryan, there's no such thing as ONE mouse.Waste the little bastards.Gabe
*You're Canadian, right? You use handgrenades, too? :)
*We have four cats (and our one Wonder-Dog) and it's still my husband who ends up catching the mice.(And he was declawed some time ago...)Mice have something freakish about their skulls that enables them to get in unbelievably itty-bitty holes.We have them in our kitchen and our basement. Haven't found any in our bedrooms, yet. Except for the one the cat brought upstairs to play with.I don't know what the answer is.Hope this little post was helpful. :-|
*Ron,That's without a doubt the funniest post I've seen here.Bill
*Mice do like warmer surroundings as the winter approaches. If you set out regular cheap wooden traps with cheese or peanut butter in the areas they frequent- along baseboards from the nearest opening to the outdoors on in, you will catch them fairly efficiently. Thing is the traps must be checked in the AM before decomposition sets in or your nose will remind you later on and you will be sorry you forgot. If you persist you will notice a rhythm to it all, first the females, then the males, then the small but now independent young will appear. If you can wipe out an entire generation or nest you will have no more problems for a while. Hopefully if you are new in the neighborhood word won't get around before you have trapped them all.Check dark and corner areas for entrances, closets, back halls etc. Also be sure to set the trap with the bait end against the wall and out of the way of bare toes etc., behind bureaus, bookcases etc. where they know it is safe to run.
*you'll never find the access.. and they'll find a new one if you do..you've got a basement and a main floor, and an attic.....good luck...D-con is my number one choice... they 'll bring it back to the nest.. and they will go to water after eating it..i've trapped 'em.... and catted 'em.. but D-con is the only one that gets 'em all....if you keep the D-con inside.. it will be fairly selective in getting to just the house mice....b but hey, whadda i no ?
*Brian, My family jokes about my constant attempts to rid my home of the mice that have lived there since its construction (I assume, considering the size of the nest we found when we ripped off the shake roof!). I've had some success with products that emit ultrasound for the actual rooms, and one that alters the electric current in the walls. I can't remember the brand name, but I think I either bought them at Harmony (www.gaiam.com) or Real Goods (www.realgoods.com). Last fall I combined this with traditional traps (crunchy peanut butter). However, I never found a dead mouse and the droppings stopped appearing. I only wish I weren't allergic to cats.p.s. Astrid - can't you let the dead mice have their dignity? Do you REALLY have to know what sex they are?
*Traps ... lots and lots of traps, the more the better in my book ... and none of that "humane" B.S., just the plain old-fashioned wooden ones, kill those little suckers but good. Ditto on the peanut butter bait. Then, nail their teeny corpses to the outside of the house as a warning to all who may dare to approach.The best feeling in the world was the next winter, when we had rebuilt the house, new SOLID concrete foundation, first snow, little teeny-tiny footy-prints in the snow, madly circling, circling, searching, searching, NO WAY IN!! Aaaaiiiiieeeeee! I just stood there, laughing maniacally, chanting "freeze, you little bastards, freeze" ... hmmm, seems to me that shortly after that the neighbours started avoiding me ...
*i nail their teeny corpses to the outside of the house as a warning Since mice are cannibalistic, this would violate the TAASTAAFL rule.Jeff
*Bill said: "That's without a doubt the funniest post I've seen here."Ditto re: Ron's post. Sad thing is, it had me going for a moment...Jeff - what is the TAASTAAFL rule?Rose
*Sorry, purists, it's TANSTAAFLb Thereb Ain'tb Nob Suchb Thingb Asb A b Freeb LunchRobert A. Heinlein, from i The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
*Re:Dekon and other blood curdling creations, I find thet the little creatures rarely make it out the door before expiring and end up disintegrating rapidly and really making a mess of it all. I prefer old fashioned traps. Are you sure it is mice and not squirrels? Dekon'd squirrels make an awful stink. As to their sex, well, it is God's chosen method, best reserved for the married.
*Got to thinking on my way to the Post Office, another danger with using bait for mice is that household pets might find it and consume it without your knowing it right away. Several years ago we had to rush our dog to the vet, 70mph. to get a shot to stop her from hemorhaging to death after we caught her gobbling up mouse bait in the hall closet.We have a great vet and she was a great dog, but that was almost the end of her that time. She had to be put down at 13, couldn't stand up anymore. She had walked many miles with us bird hunting and enjoying the outdoors.
*good points astrid.. be careful with D-con..especially with dogs and goats and lambs.. those three will eat anything.... i always found the traps lost their effectiveness before the mice disappeared..the D-con always got 'em all..it doesn't take long for a mouse carcass to dessicate. so the smell is only a temp. inconvenience.... compared to the year in-- year out of SURVIVORS with their cute little pumpernickel seeds mixed in with the rice....oh well....better than rats and squirrels...
*Decon didn't work for me. I put it out, saw they'd been eating it, and then started to find little blue poops in the living room. The bait trap was empty, and the mice were inviting their friends. More blue poops. Traps and things that make it unpleasant (such as ultrasound) were the best. For poison the only thing that seems to kill ours is professional strength.
*My woodworking shop is in the porch that is between the house and garage shop. On Friday I saw a mouse going from the garage to the wood shop. A buddy was over and asked why I didn't let the cats into the shop. Too much sawdust in the corner that is too inviting as a litter box subsitute.I am going to try a new mousetrap. Take a square plastic bucket from kitty litter and fill it with at least six inches of water. Put the bucket tight to the wall. Put a piece of tubing against the wall and pn the top rim of the bucket. The mice travel along the wall, climb up the tubing and PLOP! drop into the bucket and drown! I might try using a lath to make sure that they have good traction. I might even add a gob of peanut butter on a string at the top of the ramp.If you use mouse traps and find that you have really smart mice, they sometimes jump over anything along the wall, put two traps side by side. Bait with chunky p-butter and put the trigger towards the wall. They might jump over the one but not two.I hates them meeces to pieces!Tom the Tree Guy
*Living on a farm, we were always dealing with mice. It was just a question of how many there were at any point in time. I've tried to catch mice in most every way imaginable. I'm 100% with whomever said the wooden traps were the best way to go. And Peanut butter seems to be the best bait. Ya gota cram it in there where they have to dig for it a bit, though. I remember once someone told me that mice have a hard time finding anything to drink. They said you could solder a bottle cap (upside down) to the trigger on a trap, put a few drops of water in it, and catch all kinds of mice. While their theory made sense, I never once caught a mouse that way.
*Had a problem once with a seasonal house with an open foundation. Removed the lattice work and spread flour heavily a foot either side the perimeter of the building. Took a few attempts to get a clean imprint that led me to a hole between the sill plate and a beam that allowed easy access into an interior wall. And don't worry about the flour; it is totally safe. Whenever I seed or fertilize a lawn I add flour to indicate where I have walked.
*It has been my experience with mice that there is no consistency. I keep thinking I've finally found the best way to catch them, but then the next mouse ignores that trap/bait and I have to find the "best way" again!Sometimes the glue traps work, sometimes the wooden spring traps, sometimes the plastic live trap, or the covered spring trap, etc. etc.I used to swear by peanut butter, but lately I've had better luck with a peanut M $ M cut in half or a small piece of Mr Goodbar. Chocolate and peanuts seems to be a good combo.Rich Beckman
*Anyone ever tried using a ferret?
*Naw, those little wooden traps don't work for ferrets.
*In college I use to work in the "rat lab", feeding, caring and killing the little guys. Mice and rats are cauious critters with regular habits, which is why Decon doesn't always work (if a little bit of anything makes them sick, they will NEVER try it again). For what it's worth, here are my suggestions. First of all, there has to be some sorce food for the mouse to be eating, try to find out where it is. If you can find it, THAT is going to be the best place to set a trap. Second, the best thing on the traditional mouse trap is a bit of hard candy moistened with water so it will dry to the trap trigger (don't suck on it yourself because they can smell and taste your saliva, which can warn them off). They have to work to get the hard candy off so it gives you the best chance of triggering the trap. Third, it could be that a female is nest building, if so, you have about 21 days before the pups are born. Fourth, if there is a female nesting, there is most likely a male and the rest of the harem around too. If it is a solo animal, then it is likely a male who got kicked out of a CROWDED colony. Fifth, if you can find a can that sprays an evaporative coolant, drill a small hole where the intruder is going to be and wait. When Mickey comes back, blast the cavity with the coolant until there is no movement. To remove the mouse, drill a hole about 1" in diameter and put the vacuumn to work. Hope this helps!
*Some of my family in England were contractors and, while they were still using cart horses, used polecats and stoats to rid the stables of rats. Very effective. While "pet" ferrets are basically domesticated polecats, they seem to have most of their aggressiveness selectively bred out of them. Polecats are much larger than stoats, so it was usually the stoats that went after the mice. In addition to being surprisingly viscious little animals, they belong to family Mustelidae and have a pungent odour about them. I've heard that in some places in the US they refer to skunks as "polecats": although related (as are badgers), they are not the same animal.
*Y'all are scary, specially Kathryn! I rely on my four dogs and three cats for a never-ending supply of fresh rodents brought in from the outdoors in their catch-and-release program. Doing a Farley Mowat here, hides and all for a balanced diet. Sometimes i boil them for a change of pace; saving the skeletons to clarify the coffee is a boon though it takes a lot of planning and freezer burn to get enough bodies for a sit-down dinner for more than three or four. Begonias get a charge out of the droppings, and i've made teeny gun racks out of their up-turned feet.
*Scary??! Me????!! Why, whatever gave you that idea, SG? (batting eyelashes demurely)Scary is using a can of hairspray and a lighter to make a flame-thrower and chasing the little furry bastard around the room (mouse, I mean, not the husband .... althoooooooo, that does give one an idea) ... but I digress ... true story, my ex-husband was the torcher. Not the sharpest pencil in the box.
*Never tried 'em BBQ style...what kinda sauce you use, Dippity-Do?
*
Here's a good one: I once had a mouse that was a real pain to catch. I then decided to get some glue traps. Well sure enough they worked. A day after I placed them along the baseboard, I come home to be greeted by our dog. He is all excited, tail wagging. It all seemed a little misplaced, until I found the glue trap stuck to his front paw, and a live mouse also stuck to the trap. That mouse sure got the ride of his life!
*
We just got a mouse this last week. Went to the store for glue traps and couldn't find any, so I bought some pre-baited disposable traps. Caught the mouse immediately! Less than four hours I'd guess. Trap was baited with a sunflower seed.
While putting these traps out, I found an old trap from the last go around. That trap is a six sided plastic rectangle, with one end hinged to swing in but too big to swing out. The mouse pushes in to get the bait and then can't get out. Except that the bait disappeared with no mouse caught! (twice!)
Rich Beckman
*Ah yes, now I remember.... A good friend of mine brought over 4 glue traps which have been placed in the camp kitchen. I should check them today, perhaps it will be the day. The last live victim I had was dispatched with a quick blow of a hammer on the head. I still prefer the old fashioned spring traps.Just a note from experience, if you don't know what to do for a mouse caught in glue.
*Well, the original idea of the glue traps was to be able to let the mouse go without doing it a lot of harm. Put the trap in about 1/2" of warm water outside somewhere in a shallow pan and the mouse will be zipping off in about 10 minutes.
*Hmm, interesting method for the soft of heart - except around here the local cats would be there inside of about 10 seconds having a nice snack...
*Now your talking Phill,A MOVING TARGET!!!!!!!Gabe
*Luckily, not too many people are callous enough to inflict their cats on their neighbours around here. If the hawks, eagles, and raccoons don't get them, the coyotes will. But even so, returning them to nature and perhaps feeding another creature isn't so bad. If all else fails, then we use the spring traps: they're quick and hopefully painless; but, to trap an animal for hours in a glue trap and then dispatch it when it knows it's going to die seems like cruel and unusual punishment.
*Jeepers, Phill ... I thought that cruel & unusual punishment was half the fun of mouse traps!! ;-) Somehow, I could just never see myself trapping the thing alive, then confining myself in my vehicle with it, just to drive God knows how long out to "nature", all the while using valuable gas and contributing to global warming, so that oh-so-rare-and-elusive mousy can go running into the forest to be with Bambi, tra-la-la. Snow White, I'm not. For some reason, being kept up all night by scratching and nibbling, and little teeny feet running back and forth, and then more scratching and nibbling, just removes all thoughts of the "circle of life" from my mind, sadly leaving only murderous revenge. It is this frame of mind that fuels my purchase in the mouse trap aisle.;->
*Phil, thank you for your kind advice.
*I live in a city where "nature" is never much more than a short walk away so I can't relate to the concrete jungle that you seem to have voluntarily confined yourself to. Even so, a backyard is enough nature for a creature as small as a mouse. But even after all that Kathryn, what I was pointing out was that if you need/intend to kill the mouse, then do it upfront with the old-style trap; there's absolutely no need to knowingly torment any creature.
*
Yes, a single rodent has made its way into the interior framing of my
parents' split level home. The mouse is heard at only one spot, an
eastward-facing upper-story bedroom window, inside the framing which
surrounds the window opening. We have no evidence of other mice, but
this persistent creature makes up for a dozen as he returns daily at
11am to munch and crunch loudly from various spots around the window.
We could ignore this single muncher, but for the fact it is relentlessly
chewing a hole through an important part of the house. The mouse has
ambitions, and probably already has a nest elsewhere. My parents are
adamant about avoiding the use of pesticide, and that leaves few options
to handle the mouse.
Already, I have entered the attic to determine possible entry points. The
attic turbine ventilators are blocked firmly with screen-door mesh, and
there appears no way for a mouse to push under, or chew through. I
also have examined the sill plate covering the second-story interior walls,
but have found no obvious opening to the interior. (I continue to look,
however.)
Even were I to find a possible entry point, I still do not know how best
to dispatch this Unruly Rodent, who seems to carry a pocketwatch for his
11am munchings.