Avoiding mice, not enough snakes up here!

[slowrev]

Probably, they say they work on all rodents. Don't have pet gerbils or hamsters /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I believe they actually run roaches out as well. I have had none in my home since I started using the repellers about 4 years or so ago. They were here before and are still in some outbuildings around.

Ben

 

[EddieWalker]

CaptainJack,

I've used powdered peppers for dogs chewing with good results, but never thought about it for mice. Very clever!!

I have mouse poison all around my house. They are eating it on two sides, so I know it's working. It got so bad that when Golfgar was here visiting, one walked right past them while were were eating. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

After that embarrasment, I went to tractor supply and bought a bunch of poison. I haven's seen a mouse or any dropings since. I don't know where the dead bodies are, but haven't smelled any either, so for me, poison has worked very well.

I know how they are getting in, but have left it open so I know where they are. This might sound dumb, but my logic is that they will find another way in if I close this one off and it's a good place to put the poison.

I killed 6 of them with traps right there before the poison and that didn't seem to make any difference in their activity. The poison works!!!

Eddie

 

[Farwell]

Eddie,
If you are using the green pellet rat/mice poison a handy water supply helps them die faster. Water accelerates the action of the poison.
I find the bodies once in a while and on occasion smell them in my basement. The rodent damage has pretty well stopped in my barns since I started using the poison.
Farwell

 

[midlf]

Will the green pellet mouse poison work on chipmunks?

 

[Westonium]

You can typically get a good barn cat(nearly feral or feral) that is already spayed for free. Just call the local vets. I was overrun with mice due to the weird weather (the mice wreaked havoc on the nearby farmers too). There were mice, voles, gophers, and moles EVERYWHERE. Thanks to an ex- neighbor that let their barn cats breed and then moved I had 2 very young female cats hanging around that both had a litter each. Realizing that this was the makings for a population explosion I shelled out the coin for a nice big live trap, and caught em (all 12). Every county around here has some place you can take feral cats (not tame) to and have them spayed/neutered for free. The notch one ear so they can be identified in the wild. I gave some away, and let one group just go their own way. I now have at least 5 mousing cats on 8 acres working every single day.

As for poison - I still think the poison might kill beneficial critters like snakes and owls and such. I need all the help I can get so I see no reason to shoot myself in the foot.

The mothball thing WILL work.

 

[3RRL]

Where their are those kind of varmints there are bound to be snakes too. We have some problem with rattlesnakes and those same barn cats will control their population too.

 

[Farwell]

The chipmunks will take the green poison and store it in anything they can find. I have found it in my work gloves, water pipe and tool boxes. I live trap chipmunks and take them for a ride of about 5 miles away. I use black sunflower seeds for bait. They are very easy to catch, it will frequently take about 5 minutes after I see one and set the trap before I catch it. You will have to keep up the trapping for a couple of years before you get rid of most of them. I have caught as many as 50 in one season.
Chipmunks do a tremendous amount of damage to equipment, tools and property. They will dig tunnels that are sometimes as long as 40 feet causing serious erosion if water enters the tunnel. The tunnels also make great homes for yellow jackets after the chipmunks leave.
Hope this helps.
Farwell

 

[deere755]

I use moth flakes or you could use moth balls around my seed corn mice just love seed corn. I have no problems since I started using the flakes around the seed. I also sprinkle some out all over the boat in the off season and also the combine cab. Seems to really work then in the spring just vac them up. I don't really like the smell but beats letting the mice tear everything up.

 

[CBB]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Well my suggestion was the mothball trick; my wife's grandfather used to set onion bags/discarded nylon stockings with them all over his tractor. He claimed it worked. He'd just pull them off before he mowed. I don't recall them disolving all that quickly...?

I use your grandfathers mothball idea for all our stored winter vehicles and it works great. Our Trans Am has them strategically located in 4 different locations and it keeps the mice away.

 

[3RRL]

I tried the mothballs and it didn't work for me. Everytime I came to camp, there would be a rat's nest on the head of the motor. Right next to the mothballs! One TBN member suggested I leave the hood up. This has worked great to keep them from building their nest under the hood. But they're still there. This weekend this is what I found in my toolbox.

 

[tinsnip]

I ran across an ingenious trap in a hunting camp in the Allagash. Since the camp is left unattended for long periods of time, this device is a pretty elegant solution, and wicked cheap. A bucket, a stick (or dowel), and an empty soda can.

1. Fill bucket 2/3 full with water.
2. punch hole in bottom of empty can
3. push smooth,straight stick (dowel) through hole in bottom and out open pop top.
4. rest stick/can arrangement over bucket (possibly secure ends with duct tape if you want the deluxe model).

The mice walk out the dowel to the can to investigate the sweet cola smell, jump up on the can, and the can spins on the dowel depositing them in the water. Mice are not good swimmers and can't scale the smooth surface of the bucket so it's R.I.P. mouse.

 

[3RRL]

Very clever. I'll try that one.

 

[midlf]

We use a similar system. But with a regular can with top and bottom removed and a ring of peanut butter around the middle. Bucket is 1/3 filled with 50/50 antifreeze so it can be used in winter in unheated spaces. Put a small board up to the bucket as a mouse ramp.

Do not use the antifreeze if domestic animals can get at the bucket.