I hate them meeces to pieces!

[Looking4new]

We have no shortage of yotes and bob cats here. Believe me, they have been known to get a cat or three. Plenty of owls and many red tail and chicken hawks here too.

They will take out a house cat, too.

 

[jimmysisson]

Someone shut this name-calling down please

 

[fidowanttobe]

Back to the subject.
Has anyone tried to or succeeded in making a cat into a mouser? Acquired 2 kittens and all I have is pets. About 10 months old now. Even live trapped a couple to try and get them to bite. Nope. Just play them to death. Hunger don't work either. Both are Toms.

 

[nickmags]

If you figure it out pass it on. Wife has turned our four cats into pets as well. I think a mouse could run up and sit in front of a couple of them with little to no reaction.

Back to the subject.
Has anyone tried to or succeeded in making a cat into a mouser? Acquired 2 kittens and all I have is pets. About 10 months old now. Even live trapped a couple to try and get them to bite. Nope. Just play them to death. Hunger don't work either. Both are Toms.

 

[Musdalen]

As a mouse biologist (really), I always wonder why folks feel the need to kill everything that inconveniences them using unnecessarily cruel methods (that includes sticky traps and poison by almost anyone's standards that stops to think about it). I expect it from city folks I guess, but I always thought folks that live in the country were a little more accustomed to the real world. No, I don't much like it when mice kill off my car's electrical system, but heck, if I kept a bit neater garage that wouldn't have happened.

A few suggestions about bait for kill traps - cheese is just expensive and a product of fairytales, not reality. Generally some sort of grain, oatmeal works great, made into a paste, with or without peanut butter, works really well. Sticks well to the treadle of the trap, doesn't go bad very fast at all, and it's cheap, not to mention **** effective.

In any event, predator pee won't work - got the tests to prove it myself. They condition to it really fast.

Lights help. but removing cover is better. I know some folks can't be bothered, but if you want to deal with a recurring problem, that's the problem. Don't make great habitat and then expect nothing to use it.

Cats are a bit PITA and killers of lots of non-target species you might actually like (such as cardinals for instance) or would rather kill yourself (like quail). But then again, why not just kill everything - so much simpler (sorry I get a bit cynical sometimes). I used to work on deer and remember all the suburban soccer moms that wanted us to kill all the deer, because they made the world too dangerous for Little Johnny and Jane.

But the best solution is to hunt around for wiring and tubing that has been made with an embedded compound that is extremely distasteful to mice. It is available, and not even uncommon, but not often well labeled. Just search around for what you are looking for in the "rodent proof" or "rodent resistant" variety and you should be good to go. That's pretty easy for most plastic tubing solutions. Wiring harnesses on any modern, well thought out tractor should already have rodent resistant wiring harnessed built into them. Just as the dealer; I'm sure they are all knowledgeable about those features ( not ).

Anyway, I prefer to deal with the cause of the problem, not the symptoms, and the mice are a symptom.

 

[Looking4new]

A well fed cat is not a hungry cat. A hungry cat will hunt. Whether it plays with its' food until the food dies or it kills it outright, what do you care? The cat is doing its' job.

 

[Oldpath05]

How do farmers deal with mice problems or are mice a problem on farms, maybe the farmers feed the mice the extra milk from the cows so they so all the creatures can live in joyful harmony, along with the rats and cats with no sticky fly traps.......

 

[moriboy]

How do farmers deal with mice problems or are mice a problem on farms, maybe the farmers feed the mice the extra milk from the cows so they so all the creatures can live in joyful harmony, along with the rats and cats with no sticky fly traps.......

Mice are a problem on our farm. 2 of our tractors need some wiring fixed before hay season starts this year. We have barn cats, but they just can't keep up with the mice population.

 

[Plantation Paul]

As a mouse biologist (really), I always wonder why folks feel the need to kill everything that inconveniences them using unnecessarily cruel methods (that includes sticky traps and poison by almost anyone's standards that stops to think about it). I expect it from city folks I guess, but I always thought folks that live in the country were a little more accustomed to the real world. No, I don't much like it when mice kill off my car's electrical system, but heck, if I kept a bit neater garage that wouldn't have happened.

A few suggestions about bait for kill traps - cheese is just expensive and a product of fairytales, not reality. Generally some sort of grain, oatmeal works great, made into a paste, with or without peanut butter, works really well. Sticks well to the treadle of the trap, doesn't go bad very fast at all, and it's cheap, not to mention **** effective.

In any event, predator pee won't work - got the tests to prove it myself. They condition to it really fast.

Lights help. but removing cover is better. I know some folks can't be bothered, but if you want to deal with a recurring problem, that's the problem. Don't make great habitat and then expect nothing to use it.

Cats are a bit PITA and killers of lots of non-target species you might actually like (such as cardinals for instance) or would rather kill yourself (like quail). But then again, why not just kill everything - so much simpler (sorry I get a bit cynical sometimes). I used to work on deer and remember all the suburban soccer moms that wanted us to kill all the deer, because they made the world too dangerous for Little Johnny and Jane.

But the best solution is to hunt around for wiring and tubing that has been made with an embedded compound that is extremely distasteful to mice. It is available, and not even uncommon, but not often well labeled. Just search around for what you are looking for in the "rodent proof" or "rodent resistant" variety and you should be good to go. That's pretty easy for most plastic tubing solutions. Wiring harnesses on any modern, well thought out tractor should already have rodent resistant wiring harnessed built into them. Just as the dealer; I'm sure they are all knowledgeable about those features ( not ).

Anyway, I prefer to deal with the cause of the problem, not the symptoms, and the mice are a symptom.

I use traps in my home. And bait them with Toosie Roll candy. Just a small pinch. The love the smell and it will last longer than any bait I have used, and I have been catching rodents for a LONG time.

As far as removing cover, that isn't 100% effective. And out here in the country, the rodents still come. After your house/shop is surrounded by soybean fields and the combine comes through, guess where all the rodents go? They don't stay in the field where the hawks get them. They are coming to the shop, house, boat or truck sitting in the yard.

Cats are the most effective against rats that I have ever seen. Stopped using traps and poison long ago. They may catch a bird to three, but mostly black birds and pigeons where my shop is.

As far as rodent resistant wire... LMAO.. Maybe you should talk John Deere into using it!!!

BTW I leave all the rat snakes be.

 

[Plantation Paul]

A well fed cat is not a hungry cat. A hungry cat will hunt. Whether it plays with its' food until the food dies or it kills it outright, what do you care? The cat is doing its' job.

Exactly. They are natural hunters anyway. No need to "teach" them! Our stay a bit hungry. We see a part of a large rat as evidence they are doing their job. During the winter we do feed more and when a female is pregnant.