We have mice in the house. We have a LOT of mice in the house. We have mice that are smarter than the dog--since the mice now ignore mousetraps, and the dog does not.

Have you ever seen a black lab with a mousetrap on his tongue? It's not a pretty sight. But that's not important right now.

We're about to give up and go nuclear on the little bastards. They're getting into the cupboards. They're eating the dog treats (further proof that they're smarter than the dog).

I've tried snap traps, and got about five kills before the mice started ignoring them. I've got an ultrasonic thingie in the attic, but they ignore it, too. I tried a large "tin cat" trap, but all it has in it, night after night, is a lump of peanut butter--no mice.

The wife wants to call in an exterminator ($$$). I'm afraid all he'll do is put out a bunch of poison. I can do that myself for cheap, but either way, then we'll have a house full of rotting mouse corpses, just in time for summer. In Atlanta.

Does anybody have any last suggestions before I'm forced to go one of these unpalatable routes? I have found entry points, but I'm afraid if I fill them up, the little bastards will just chew around the repairs.

Next thing you know, they'll find out that I'm going online for help, and start chewing on my Mac's power cor



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2006 01:54PM by Will Collier.

Mouse Zapper? [www.multiscope.com]

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=DH
Donkey (Ye Olde Farte of ye Internette) Hotay is a Tilted Windmill® enterprise.

Before we got the cats, another possible solution, we had mice, lots of mice. I finally went the poison route. While not a perfect solution, it did work. We are in Atlanta, too and we didn't notice much, if any, odor from mousie corpses, but YMMV. The DeCon in the little yellow boxes is what we used.

Now for a funny story. I once had to do a catalog for a company that supplied all types of chemicals and such to industrial clients. One of their products was the, I kid you not, "Ban-A-Rat" glue board. It was this board coated with some super sticky glue and, you guessed it, the rat, mouse, whatever happened to be unlucky enough to step on it, was trapped until you came and threw the critter and board away. Yech! But, the guys working in our darkroom got a huge kick out of it.

I can ask BunBun what her hourly rate would be for the job, assuming that she gets to eat what she catches, she might do it for cheap. If it is a big job, she could bring along her sister Boo and they could double team those mousies.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

Ever see a tom and jerry cartoon? Of course mice are smarter than both cats and dogs. Ever see Mouse Hunt? They're also smarter than exterminators.

if it's that bad, get an exterminator. they will seal up your place and get the little critters.

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Not getting a cat. For one thing, I don't like cats. For another thing (and more important, since I like mice even less), I'm allergic to them.

Blasphemy!



But seriously, it does sound like a professional exterminator is your best solution. Plunk down the cash, because at least if they don't do their job, you can hold them to their contract. Not so if you DIY.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

hm, think the rat zapper will kill squirrels? is it safe around mice?

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Many years ago I heard this advice:

If you poison mice, do it in the spring, the decomposing corpses won't be as large.

I also understand that mice quickly learn that something is poisonous. The first batch of poison will kill a bunch; the others will not consume what's left.

Be prepared to switch brands, if necessary.


Todd's keyboard

Make sure you place the traps along the edge of the rooms. Mice are supposed to have poor vision and travel very closely to walls. If you put a trap in their path, they may just run right over it, no food needed. Give it a try while you search out other methods.

Oh and to add to what Grimmy said, mice LOVE peanut butter... it's one of their favorite foods, they cannot resist it...

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

They're resisting the hell out of it in my house.

Will, then they're probably getting their food somewhere else. Get rid of any open sources of food, remove standing water, etc. Unfortunately though, as others have said, once they're firmly entrenched (and in your walls, etc.) it's very hard to get rid of them.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

If you have lots of mice, you need lots of traps. If you think you have 6 mice, I think you need two dozen traps. Buy different brands if you can. My mom used to boil them to help remove the smell of the factory they were made in and the smell of the packaging. If your area is drying out, a bottlecap with water might work as bait too.

Smear a tiny amount of peanut butter on them just for the smell and leave them out without being set so the mice get used to them. Set up cardboard tubes along the walls so they can use them to hide in and put the trap at the end of the tube so they walk across the trigger. Use their instincts against them. Victor has a page on bait tips for their traps. [www.victorpest.com]

Getting them with multiple methods is not a bad idea either. Make your house a killing zone for mice. Snap traps, electronic traps, glue traps, d-CON Baitbits.

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In tha 360. MRF User Map



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2006 03:28PM by Filliam H. Muffman.

you also have to seal up the holes. use glass shards wrapped with steel wool to stuff the holes and then plaster them shut. Make sure the areas where pipes enter from the walls are flush.

once you use poison, leave the holes open for a while. they go back to their nests to die and then the others eat them and they die (nasty i know but it works). then seal up the holes with the method described above.

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Change brands of peanut butter!

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LOL DaviDC.

Actually, they really like the Reese's peanut butter-- probably because it has extra sugar in it.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

rgG,
My ex gave our eldest one of those sticky things to catch roaches in her first NYC apt. Of course it caught a mouse. Chelse was thoroughly grossed out because the mouse was still alive and she felt sorry for it, tho not that sorry. She scooped the board and mouse up into a paper bag and took it downstairs, set it on the stoop of the apt. building and went back in to ask the doorman where to dispose of it. When she came back, the bag was gone. Someone had stolen it!

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And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.
—Friedrich Nietzsche
Western Massachusetts

Mice (especially field mice) look for warmer winter homes in the Fall.
They store lots of grass seed.
They also go in and out of your house.
I've found that if you can find their entry/egress, that's the best place to put poison.
Fortunate if they die outside, unless a cat eats them.
Don't put poison outside unless you can ensure other animals (especially pets) can't eat it.
They can have several litters of young a year.

They travel along walls instinctually, avoiding bird and animal of prey. They prefer not to be out in the open where they are more vulnerable.

You can also use a tall shop vac as a trap.
Nice smelly food in the vac, hose left on the ground.
They jump down from the hose entry and then can't get back out.
You'll hear them jumping.

Multi-pronged attack...

First: Lots of traps. Different kinds.
Snap traps, glue traps, mouse hotels, and miniature claymore mines for the really nasty combat veteran mice.

Second: research poisons... use as directed.

Thrid: See if you can borrow some cats from friends. Select good hunters that are well groomed (to hold down your allergy problem). Even if you don't like cats (and yes, you are a heathen... ;) ), employ a couple. Take care to keep them out of the traps and poison!!!! Maybe just cat-sit on the weekends or something.

Fourth;
Air pistol, .177 caliber, right behind their little ears... Blindfold is optional.

Fifth; Build a water-bucket trap. Food hanging from a string near the edge of a plastic bucket. Mouse reaches for his peany-butter on a string, and falls in the bucket. Filling the bucket with a couple inches of water to drown the little fscker is optional.


Sixth; Hire an exterminator.

Seven; Move (if all else fails).

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Paul F.
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A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
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Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
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Eureka, CA

I've had good luck using a 5 gal plastic bucket. Put next to a wall and put some bird seed on the bottom. Mice climb up and jump in and can't get out. Do what you will with them when caught. I've had as many as 3 at a time in the bucket.

The Grim Ninja Wrote:
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> Make sure you place the traps along the edge of
> the rooms. Mice are supposed to have poor vision
> and travel very closely to walls. If you put a
> trap in their path, they may just run right over
> it, no food needed. Give it a try while you
> search out other methods.


How do you know they have bad vision? I've never seen any with eyeglasses.

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blooz Wrote:
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> rgG,
> My ex gave our eldest one of those sticky things
> to catch roaches in her first NYC apt. Of course
> it caught a mouse. Chelse was thoroughly grossed
> out because the mouse was still alive and she felt
> sorry for it, tho not that sorry. She scooped the
> board and mouse up into a paper bag and took it
> downstairs, set it on the stoop of the apt.
> building and went back in to ask the doorman where
> to dispose of it. When she came back, the bag was
> gone. Someone had stolen it!
>
>


Typical NYC. Pay a fortune for a doorman bldg and you still have mice.

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Makes me glad to have my three skilled mousers in the house. I'm always amazed when there's a mouse that is dumb enough to even try living here for just one night!

Kathy

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Oh, I just thought of a living "mouser" solution that you are likely not allergic to, snakes! Buy a 4 foot long model 747, put some one way doors on it so that the mice can get in but not get out, fill it with seeds, and put a couple of hungry corn snake in it. Presto, you have your own version of "Snakes On A Plane." [www.imdb.com]

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In tha 360. MRF User Map

Bait those snap traps with bacon, raw. Mice can't resist.

Guitarman,
it wan't all that fancy. Down on w. 9th by 6th or seventh ave. Dumpy building actually, ridiculous apt. I don't imagine the doorman was well paid.

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And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.
—Friedrich Nietzsche
Western Massachusetts

I'll third the 5 gallon bucket advice. Put some water in it. They can't tread water for long. About 20 years ago, I found 3 mice in a bucket in my basement that had water in it before I even knew I had a mouse problem.

Also, I believe that most mouse poisons have a drying quality that will make the corpses dry up and not smell.

Blooz, I think you have hit on a wonderful way to dispose of the little buggers, get them stuck to the sticky boards then get someone to steal them. What a hoot.

Oh and I forgot one other thing, if all else fails, call in the Pied Piper. It worked for those people in Hamlin.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

Will Collier Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Next thing you know, they'll find out that I'm
> going online for help, and start chewing on my
> Mac's power cor

I thought this was pretty funny!

blooz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Guitarman,
> it wan't all that fancy. Down on w. 9th by 6th or
> seventh ave. Dumpy building actually, ridiculous
> apt. I don't imagine the doorman was well paid.
>
>


Do you understand how expensive that neighborhood is?

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Filliam H. Muffman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oh, I just thought of a living "mouser" solution
> that you are likely not allergic to, snakes! Buy a
> 4 foot long model 747, put some one way doors on
> it so that the mice can get in but not get out,
> fill it with seeds, and put a couple of hungry
> corn snake in it. Presto, you have your own
> version of "Snakes On A Plane."

You know, I'd certainly second that...only, I'd recommend a bull, pine or gopher snake instead. They have bigger appetites and are bigger & bulkier than corns. They can eat bigger prey and more of 'em ;)

Be careful with the poisons--our Atlanta area mice really stunk when they died after poison.

We use glue traps and those little gray tilting boxes that automatically trap the mouse when they enter--about 1-1/2" square and about 3" long.

I am a big fan of the glue traps. I live in an older house and every year as the weather turns a few venture into the warmth from somewhere.

I put about a 1/2 dozen around the kitchen and breakfast nook plus doorways leading to the kitchen. I usually put some peanut butter or a piece cookie in the center.

Works very well.

I think these are great compared to the old snap traps.

No mess! Even if the buggers are still alive just swoop them up on the dustpan and out to the can they go, dead or alive.