Mice Deterrent Tips

[EddieWalker]

I tried every type of trap out there and caught plenty, but nowhere enough to make a dent in the populations. Same thing with poison. They ate it by the case, but all that just made my chickens sick when they ate the dead mice. And since I have over 100 chickens, and they make a mess out of their food, I had a massive mouse issue. That led to a massive snake issue where we killed over 40 snakes in just one year!!!! So out of desperation, we started getting cats. We kept them in my shop, and I put in a cat door for them to come and go, and within a few months, my wife and I both noticed that we hadn't seen a mouse in awhile. We went from seeing several mice every day in our 3 chicken coops, to not seeing any!!! The cats would stay in the coops all night with the chickens and there is no telling how much carnage that created. Now they rarely go into the coops, and we haven't seen a single snake in or around the coops so far this year. We are currently at 8 cats. Sometimes one will show up and sometimes one will disappear. Sometimes one that disappears will come back after a week, or even a few weeks, sometimes we never see it again. As long as they hang out, they get cat food, a warm, dry place to sleep and safety from what's out in the jungle. If they leave, it's their choice.

 

[dragoneggs]

I tried every type of trap out there and caught plenty, but nowhere enough to make a dent in the populations. Same thing with poison. They ate it by the case, but all that just made my chickens sick when they ate the dead mice. And since I have over 100 chickens, and they make a mess out of their food, I had a massive mouse issue. That led to a massive snake issue where we killed over 40 snakes in just one year!!!! So out of desperation, we started getting cats. We kept them in my shop, and I put in a cat door for them to come and go, and within a few months, my wife and I both noticed that we hadn't seen a mouse in awhile. We went from seeing several mice every day in our 3 chicken coops, to not seeing any!!! The cats would stay in the coops all night with the chickens and there is no telling how much carnage that created. Now they rarely go into the coops, and we haven't seen a single snake in or around the coops so far this year. We are currently at 8 cats. Sometimes one will show up and sometimes one will disappear. Sometimes one that disappears will come back after a week, or even a few weeks, sometimes we never see it again. As long as they hang out, they get cat food, a warm, dry place to sleep and safety from what's out in the jungle. If they leave, it's their choice.

Excellent! Did you train them not to leave them on your doormat?

 

[EddieWalker]

Funny, but it does happen. Seems like they do it for a little while, then they do something else with them. What's worse is when they bring in a live one and let it go, they catch it, then let it go, and do this over and over again. It's not so much that they are torturing the mouse, but every now and then, one gets away from them!!!

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Looking at the avatar pic and the guy in the video preview....ya might wanna update your TBN avatar.

I can dye my beard and hair.

 

[s219]

Eddie, you must have a real entertaining group of cats -- hanging out in chicken coops, bringing in live mice to play with, etc. Cats can be real characters.

 

[EddieWalker]

They are. But they can also be too friendly and make it impossible to walk anywhere without stepping on one. They will run to your feet and lay there right where you are about to step. Then do it over and over again, until you pick him or her up.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Here's an owl/cat/goose story for you guys. We haven't had tame cats on the yard for years. One of the neighbors was having issues with one of their cats and the dog. He asked me if I wanted it as we don't have a dog. I said ok we could try it. She came with three kittens. This mother cat wasn't on the yard 5 minutes and the owls were dive bombing her in broad daylight. The owl was threading it's way through people to pull fur off of the cat. My wife said she felt the wind off of the owls wings as it went by. The cat was 3' from my wife. So I gave the cat and kittens to another neighbor as it wasn't to hard to predict the future on this one.

A few days later there was a pair of geese flying low through the yard. Ya they got dive bombed too.

 

[Oldpath05]

I can dye my beard and hair.

I skimmed through this thread to just to see if anyone else noticed the avatar conflict, caver beat me to it, yes dye your hair grey. Someone told me that hair spry will work for rodent deterrent, I might give that a try.

 

[mred2]

Eddie, (my first name is Ed also), I have about 12 cats outside. They will go after mice, rats, and snakes. We used to accept any cat that stayed and did not fight with the other cats or dogs. They went to vet one time for shots and to be fixed. Now, no more. You may think having a mouse left by the door is bad, what about running inside when the door is open with a snake, still alive. Wife gets a little upset.

 

[pmsmechanic]

You may think having a mouse left by the door is bad, what about running inside when the door is open with a snake, still alive. Wife gets a little upset.

Are you sure you didn't train the cat to do that? Having the wife upset with the cat is a lot better than having her upset with you.