Over run with mice

[Anonymous Poster]

I had always heard that if you see one mouse, you‘ve got a bunch. Well, now, there‘s a cheery thought. I had one mouse that used to visit me early every morning while I sat at the computer. He and I were taking advantage of a quiet household to get some important stuff done. He would come from under the stove, pause in front of the fridge to blink his morning greeting, I would wave and then he would be on his way. I didn’t see any reason to get all freaked out. Just a little mouse, about as long as my index finger. Kind of cute in fact.

Havoc, our cat, was in the house one morning. He comes in nights and goes out at first light, lest he get too comfortable with soft living. All of a sudden I hear this awful racket and I look up to see this cat ricocheting around the living room like a balloon with a bad air leak, knocking over lamps and pulling down curtains. My first instinct was to be prepared to run, as it looked to me like he was having a fit of some kind and could be dangerous.

Then I spotted what he was after. It was a little bitty baby mouse about maybe two inches long, if that. My early morning mouse was three to four inches long. What does that mean? It means that Mr. Mouse had officially moved in bringing family and belongings and was now taking his mail at my house. That’s what I get for being hospitable, I guess.

Havoc, after having destroyed the living room quite efficiently, caught the mouse. I felt really bad about it but couldn't help being proud of Havoc. I bent down to try and wrestle the mouse away and put it outside as it was so small and helpless, and I really didn't want Havoc to EAT it but no, he wasn't having any of that.

I grabbed the tail and tugged and he clamped down tighter than ever and basically said in cat language, 'you take my mouse, I take your finger'. One look in his fiery green eyes and we came to an understanding.

Havoc had gotten to the toothpick stage when I hear these squeaking sounds coming from under the kitchen cabinet. The cat seemed to hear it too, he cocked his head to the side and licked his lips. I wonder if mice know when one of their own buys the farm, as it was such a coincidence for this to happen just as Havoc was munching down on this mouse. It sounded for all the world like a whole herd of mice engaged in some fairly vociferous grieving.

We bought one of those electronic pest devices and it doesn't seem to be working. I live in an old mobile home, full of entries and exits and no way to plug all these holes. I can't put poison down because I have pets and I don't want them the mice crawling in the walls to die. Traps are filled the minute they're emptied and quite frankly I'm sick of looking at mangled little mice bodies. Havoc has since broken a leg and is temporarily out of commission and wasn't much of a hunter anyway as out of countless mice he's caught one.

I'm open to any helpful suggestions. Please.

 

[Wingnut]

Unfortunately, Cindi, the only people who find the electronic pest machines useful are the conmen who sell them. They make money, we curse their ancestry.
You have several choices ... posinon - D-con and the like, live traps and "dead" traps.
I, personally, feel that catching them (live) and letting them free somwehere just means that you'll have to catrch them again ... they'll be back.
I use a combination of D-Con and glue traps around my place ... don't see them anymore.

pete

 

[Anonymous Poster]

No problem with them getting in the walls and ....smelling bad?

 

[Argee]

Hi Cindi,

Looks like it's time to get Havoc some playmates. Pick up a few ferel cats. Keep them around with plenty of water and just enough feed to exist and they'll supplement their diet with mice and other critters. Or you could turn Havoc into a house cat.

Apparently he's not doing his job outside or you wouldn't have this problem in the first place (or) he's doing such a terrific job that Mr. & Mrs. Mouse fled the savage land outside for the peaceful confines of your house.

 

[Taylortractornut]

We had an old cat here that lived to be 19, he was a mouse killin monster, or anything that could fit in his mouth. He patroled inside and out and took at night mom would leave a cabinet or 2 open for him. In our feed shed we use slick plastic containers with a sich that goes six inches from the feed at an angle the mice walk in and jump and cant hop out or climb the walls. then we put them in jars and take the mto the side yard with 1 or 2 Ratterrier pups and take our old fiest Prissy and turn the mice out. Prissy kills the most but the pups get interested in rodent control mice, moles, chipmunks and such plus it makes trainin them to be squirrel dogs better. Also another fun thing is the chunk them in the pond and watch the bass get them , What can i say its a terribly small town. At the wood waste landfill i used to manage ive seen them roll out of a 40 yard dumpster on bare sand and run almost 1/8 of a mile to the office camper. When they hit the ground the pause 2.8 seconds and look for a human habitat. my cousin thought that catch and releas was kind then i told her to spray one with engineers paint and see how long it took to catch it again. same night she had 5 of 6 orange mice back in the trap.

 

[bgott]

They only smell bad for a day or two. They do make good targets for the pellet gun. You just have to watch shooting them in the living room, the ricochet can be hard on the T.V. screen. You wouldn't be able to tell that I'm single, would you? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Morning Cindi,

We bought some of those electronic devices, little white space travel looking little things, five to a pack from Sam's. They work great. I think the secret is to put about three more than you think is too many in a room.

I've never been one to worry about a little mousey here and or there as long the mousey wasn't sitting at my table eating my food. But the shop office had gotten to the point that oh dear de mousey took your breath away. And just about everything not in metal containers was either knawed on or used for marking or just as mouse toilet.

We put four of them electronic thingy dingys in the office, an eight by ten room, and now it smells like citrus and there's no evidence the mouseys even visit. Of course they have taken over the shop. I guess I'll go buy two more of them five packs and make them move out to the yard where they can fight the chickens and goats along with the rabbits for the good stuff.

I don't know if you would consider bringing in chickens but I do know chickens will kill a mouse if they find one. Awhile back I had a mouse get in the chicken feed container and not be able to get out. I took the barrel outside and called the chickens. When they were almost to me at a dead run I tilted the barrel over and the mice took off dead away from me on a stiff double time. When he got intimate with the chickens he decided I wasn't so bad a guy after all. He found out different. I just look nice. I booted him back to the chickens. They killed and ate him. Good chickens.

 

[EdKing]

<font color="blue">No problem with them getting in the walls and ....smelling bad? </font>

Cindi,
D-Con kills the mice by dehydrating them. They tend to dry up so smell is not an issue. I recomend getting a few more cats. I have several that live outside, and some inside my house. I have found on the rare occasions a mouse makes it in the house, he will last a day or two at best.

 

[Boondox]

Cindi -- Our four dogs are actually better mousers than our three cats, but that many animals in the house is generally not an option for most folks...

I just wanted to say I really enjoy your writing style! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Pete

 

[Egon]

Cindi:

Dito on Pete's comment on writing style. Very Admiral.

Those cute little mice can also carry " Hanta virus " [spelling] which is a not so nice thing and has a serious high termination rate for humans.

I don't have any advice on how to get rid of them but would consider them a threat to the health of your family. Perhaps contact a local advisory group which may be able to lead you to knowledgeable contacts.

Egon