Mice!

[nybirdman]

I read some where that "mice" are the biggest carrier of ticks..........not good if you have LYME disease in the area.Kill them quick.Peanut butter and traps seems to work the best for me.

 

[JerryK]

I had mice getting into my new house for about five years. Got good at trapping them under my sinks when they first came in. Each time, I would spend endless hours crawling around on hands/knees with a flashlight/mirror/etc... feeling around on the perimeter of my house foundation for entry points, filling ANYTHING that even looked like a hole with fresh mixed mortar. Cussing in bewilderment at the whole process. Finally noticed that they had put the vinyl corner pieces on my house first before they did the upper trim, and the little c_suckers were actually crawling up inside the corner piece and getting into the attic.... then down somehow into the crawl... up under the sinks/etc. Stuffed some 1/4 mesh hardware cloth up into the corners then filled the corners with low expanding window foam.... NOT A CRITTER SINCE. But, I still fight them outside, year round....... religiously.... It has not effected me mentally a bit, it has not effected me mentally a bit, it has not ..........

 

[photogman]

M

I had mice getting into my new house for about five years. Got good at trapping them under my sinks when they first came in. Each time, I would spend endless hours crawling around on hands/knees with a flashlight/mirror/etc... feeling around on the perimeter of my house foundation for entry points, filling ANYTHING that even looked like a hole with fresh mixed mortar. Cussing in bewilderment at the whole process. Finally noticed that they had put the vinyl corner pieces on my house first before they did the upper trim, and the little c_suckers were actually crawling up inside the corner piece and getting into the attic.... then down somehow into the crawl... up under the sinks/etc. Stuffed some 1/4 mesh hardware cloth up into the corners then filled the corners with low expanding window foam.... NOT A CRITTER SINCE. But, I still fight them outside, year round....... religiously.... It has not effected me mentally a bit, it has not effected me mentally a bit, it has not ..........

Jerry, I love your attitude throughout all this. I'm not there yet. After I find that magical hole, maybe then I will be able to look back and take it in stride. Right now the stage I'm at is im strapping on my .45 and my Ka-bar Companion and ready to do battle.

 

[txdon]

If you have a brick or rock house make sure all the weep holes are stuffed with copper mesh. It lets the water out and keeps the mice and insects out.

 

[JerryK]

M

Jerry, I love your attitude throughout all this. I'm not there yet. After I find that magical hole, maybe then I will be able to look back and take it in stride. Right now the stage I'm at is im strapping on my .45 and my Ka-bar Companion and ready to do battle.

[ The mice did not know who they were Fn with. I had just got thru with a twenty year battle with moles at my old acreage. And, though I finally ran defeated off the battlefield, steeled me for mice. No mice in my 40x80 barn, either.. ]

 

[RedNeckGeek]

At about three o'clock one morning I was awakened by what sounded like a machine gun in the kitchen. The noise was coming from behind and above the range hood. I took out the access panel to reach the vent pipe, pulled the pipe, and was poking around with the flashlight. Of course the noise stopped as soon as I started this, but when I spun the fan on the range hood one of the little mouse bastids came flying at my face. It was a little high and inside, but one swing with the flashlight put him right out into left field and permanently out of the game. That happened for two successive nights, but the new mice were caught above the flapper in the vent pipe and I just set it aside until morning when I could wander up to the idiot neighbor's property and let the little guy go where he can do some good . Finally I went up on the roof and pulled the weather cap off the vent pipe. I found out that the contractor had left the pipe open and anything that came under the roof tiles had a free shot down the pipe. I'd also found the remains of a little lizard in there. All it took was a piece of hardware cloth over the pipe and I haven't had any machine guns in the kitchen since. They do get up into the attic through the porch pillars, but since I started spraying with a dilute solution of peppermint oil every couple of months I haven't seen any further sign of them. I'll probably use that same peppermint spray when I start bringing pallets of firewood into the garage this winter. It smells nice and I don't have to worry about finding their little dead bodies in unwanted locations.

 

[FTG-05]

Get a cat - or two!

I've got two right now and am looking to perhaps get pair of calico sisters.

 

[tallyho8]

Just get one of these to control your mouse population. The only problem is that when you run out of mice, they start on your eggs, then chicks, then chickens, then turkeys.

 

[davrow]

The local Orkin guy wants about $588.00 for a years worth of treatment. Any thoughts?

First thought? Highway robbery.

Second thought? He's going to use poison. I don't like poison in my house, we use traps.

 

[FTG-05]

Just got two sister Calico's from one of the local shelter/rescue places. Cost was less for two kittens than for one "free" Craigslist kitten.

Pics tomorrow!