Wildguzzi.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: old head on January 04, 2020, 04:29:43 PM
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we have mice problem. Usually, happens this time of year. In the past put out some DeCon pellets, done and done. Can't get the good stuff anymore, used some "so-called" poison from Tom Cat. Mice won't eat it. Well first night, the mice took it out of the tray and it disappeared, put more out but nothing is chewing on it.
Put out traps with peanut butter, and some with bread. Traps go off, but no mice.
put out the sticky trays with bread and peanut butter, nothing after 2 nights.
suggestions? Tempted to try the high frequency gadgets.
Old Head
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I think you need one or more of these: :wink:
(https://i.ibb.co/gwXs55K/Neighbor-s-cat-003.jpg) (https://ibb.co/gwXs55K)
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used to have some feral cats living around the house, never had mouse problem, then.
For some reason they left.
Not a fan of cats, outside is fine, not in the house.
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I think you need one or more of these: :wink:
(https://i.ibb.co/gwXs55K/Neighbor-s-cat-003.jpg) (https://ibb.co/gwXs55K)
The start of winter always heralds the arrival of mice raiding the larder in my household too. Moggies CAN be efffective, but they in my experience tend to get a bit too well-fed, chubby & lazy as they age. The most effective seem to be nursing mothers: Queens will hunt mercilessly & tirelessly to feed her kittens.
Anthropologists suggest that when Felis silvestris cattus domesticated Homo sapiens in Mesopotamia in about 10.000 BCE it allowed us to safely harvest & store surplus grains over winter. In other words, cats were a necessary step towards human settlement and civilisation.
Rodents spoil & destroy sufficient grain on a global basis to feed an additional 200 million people.
Many people don't like cats. They've been persecuted, maimed, tortured, burned and maligned by the ignorant for centuries. But it's impossible to ignore their economic importance to global food production, or their enabling role in the rise of human civilisation.
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Not a fan of cats, outside is fine, not in the house.
Tell that to your local wild bird population. Or, what's left of it.
Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA
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Moles? Do you mean the underground burrowing, worm eating, hill-forming, near-blind & naked moles, or is it another distinct species merely sharing the name.
Or do you mean Voles?
I'm fairly unfamiliar with many more obscure new-world mammalian spp.
Not surprisingly, due to co-vergent evolution there's several unique spp. populating similar ecological niches in different habitats. Africa has its Naked Mole Rats, and Australia its Marsupial Moles.
But the Q remains: what the hell are these subterranean burrowers doing raiding your larder? That's traditionally more the province of smaller Rodenta: rats, mice et. al.
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Tell that to your local wild bird population. Or, what's left of it.
Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA
My big buddy shown above and his grey companion seem almost totally disinterested in birds, but will sit for long periods where there are holes in the ground waiting and listening. I saw him digging for something the other day.
We have lots of birds, btw.
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My big buddy shown above and his grey companion seem almost totally disinterested in birds, but will sit for long periods where there are holes in the ground waiting and listening. I saw him digging for something the other day.
We have lots of birds, btw.
We had five cats once upon a time, and (of course) zero mice ripping up the soft bits of the house, and zero moles tearing up the yard. I never saw one of them with a bird, though .... The bird feeders were all high in the air, too high for the cats to get. Having cats definitely improved our quality of life in one or two ways.
Lannis
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There are no rodents in or around our house... The last two "shrews" that managed to actually get in...were found "dispatched and dead" in the morning!! :thumb: :wink:
(https://i.ibb.co/vcS3pjx/IMG-0504.jpg) (https://ibb.co/vcS3pjx)
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In my experience (many decades of cat-watching), most outdoor cats specialize, some in birds and some in rodents. The two we have now are rescues and spent their early days feral, so they'll kill anything smaller than themselves.
When not hunting, a cat makes an efficient winter bedwarmer.
(https://i.ibb.co/7QBxhcG/bedwarmersmall.jpg) (https://ibb.co/7QBxhcG)
And some like Guzzis.
(https://i.ibb.co/85HGZDt/guzzipanda3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/85HGZDt)
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Ok.. you said you put out traps with peanut butter. Meeses *love* peanut butter. They will come up to your trap and lick the peanut butter off the trigger. :smiley: I've watched them do it on youtube.
When they find seeds, they will pick them up and take them back to their nest. Bait your trap with peanut butter, and stick a sunflower seed on it.
Mr. Mouse is attracted to the peanut butter, sees the sunflower seed, tries to pick it up and the lights go out.
I prefer a cat.. we never had a meeses problem for 34 years with Ray, and then Radar in the house, but the sunflower seed trick works, and doesn't need a litter box.
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I will pick up some sunflower seeds and give it a try.
I built this also, no mice in 4 nights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SIlYiiCGLI
Old Head
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Tomcats are just ball bearing mousetraps but the mom cats are the real hunters.
But if the mouse problem is bad you need a bucket trap. a large bucket of water about 3 or 4 inches deep.
Duck tape a flat piece of yardstick to the rim of the bucket so that about 40% of it extends over the water and it pivot easily. Set the bucket so that the stick extends to something solid that the mice can get on.
put a wad of peanut butter on the end of the stick that is over the water. The mice will walk out the stick to get the peanut butter and the stick will tilt under the mouses weight dumping him into the water. Theater makes it so the mouse cannot jump up out of the bucket and he drowns. Each morning you can dump out the dead mice and refill the water in the bucket and make sure there is fresh peanut butter on the stick. If you have a bad mouse problem, this can kill about
2 dozen mice a night. Until there are enough mice in the bucket for them to stand on without sinking into the water.
then they might be able to jump out and get away. Be sure and put this trap where your dog can't eat the bait off the stick cause he will.
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I just bought a big box of bait and tossed it around the attic.
For the garage I set traps where my dogs couldn't reach.
Then there protecting all the food that's attracting them.
Mine was rice in the garage, dog food/treats in my pheasant hunting vest (also a new vest) and generally making any garage stored food unavailable to mice
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First off I love that tuxedo cat
Second. Good ol’ victor rat trap with the peanut butter.
Key is set the trigger super “hair”! If they get the butter and make it out alive they’ll be back for the next “ snack” lol
You gotta bait em” sometimes.
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get a outside cat or inside dog a Terrier, they(some) are rat dogs. Our cat of 20 yrs died and we got a rat dog, nothing lives in the fenced in area. THey don't come off the fence.
(https://i.ibb.co/LkpxYp2/0826181407-00.jpg) (https://ibb.co/LkpxYp2)
2014 porsche cayenne gts 0 60 (https://statewideinventory.org/porsche-0-60-times)
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Back in the day, when we had a lot more sled dogs, we bought dog food by the ton. Well the mice liked that just fine, but our old barn cat had a cure for it. She'd hang out in the shed and dispatch the mice as fast as they arrived. Now a days, we don't have so many dogs, so a lot less dog food. So the cats have to find other stuff to do...
(https://i.ibb.co/nPqYtFF/IMG-2316.jpg) (https://ibb.co/nPqYtFF)
Entertain the sled dogs.
(https://i.ibb.co/CKRK4kd/IMG-2324.jpg) (https://ibb.co/CKRK4kd)
Exercise on the TP, then sleep in the sink. But they still take out mice, voles, shrews, squirrels. or anything else that's smaller than they are. Pest removal system.
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Make a bucket trap, don't need to reload often, use a smear of peanut butter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SIlYiiCGLI
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Old Head
Those aren't mice your dealing with !
get yourself a couple of those small Live traps made like an oblong box with a trap door on one end , and a bait/trigger station on the other. Yea they cost $15.oo ... But ... They last a life time .
:grin:https://www.amazon.com/Kensizer-Animal-Humane-Chipmunk-Outdoor/dp/B07331WZ6G/ref=sr_1_12?keywords=live+trap&qid=1578206314&sr=8-12
I've got them and a mouse can trigger them but they are big enough for a big rat . Money well spent , but they are only 5" or so and too small for catching cats ??? :laugh:
even lower $$$$ : https://www.amazon.com/Fasmov-Hamsters-Weasels-Gophers-Rodents/dp/B075FRQ78W/ref=sr_1_40?keywords=live+trap&qid=1578206314&sr=8-40
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How cold does it get there, a few bobtails and maybe a carpet python might be helpful.
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Years ago a friend told me the best mouse trap bait were chocolate chips and I thought he was pulling my leg. I put 3 or 4 chips on a plate and soften them, not melt, in the microwave and then glue one to the trap where the bait goes. They like chocolate and can't get the bait off without tripping the trap. Plus the bait normally stays on the trap. I have caught as many as 3 mice on one chip. Very Guzzi-like economy.
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Leroy, the 20-pound Tom cat.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/4392/36276766612_0b3ef4bc40_b.jpg)
Squeaky The Enforcer.
We ran out of mice
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48897122238_54ec373a8f_b.jpg)
They catch mice and squirrels and moles and other four-legged creatures - and they eat pretty much what they catch.
Except moles
Moles taste like dirt.
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(https://i.ibb.co/vDvzW02/5-FE3-F73-E-B96-D-429-A-9-CEE-93-DAC10-FF678.jpg) (https://ibb.co/vDvzW02)
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ditto on the cats solution. cats are a superior life form, for all those humans who don't like cats, just imagine how the cats feel about you!
Lots of great experiences with cats over he decades. I watched Azeem once eat a rabbit that must have been 3/4 of the size of his own body. Terry Tiger had legs that seemed a couple inches too long for his body. I threw out a moldy orange one day and witnessed the fastest land animal I had ever seen. Hundreds of kills over 15 years, very affectionate, yet came inside only about 20 hours a year. Spara who is a bit chunky, is an efficient killer, likes to show off by bringing the trophies into house, occasionally even the live snake.
Some day, when the aliens or SkyNet decide to wipe out humanity, we will once again be praying to the Cat gods to save us.
http://www.onthenatureofthings.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=977
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Tell that to your local wild bird population. Or, what's left of it.
Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA
Wind turbines take out more birds and bats than cats ever will. Look it up.
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Tomcats are just ball bearing mousetraps but the mom cats are the real hunters.
But if the mouse problem is bad you need a bucket trap. a large bucket of water about 3 or 4 inches deep.
Duck tape a flat piece of yardstick to the rim of the bucket so that about 40% of it extends over the water and it pivot easily. Set the bucket so that the stick extends to something solid that the mice can get on.
put a wad of peanut butter on the end of the stick that is over the water. The mice will walk out the stick to get the peanut butter and the stick will tilt under the mouses weight dumping him into the water. Theater makes it so the mouse cannot jump up out of the bucket and he drowns. Each morning you can dump out the dead mice and refill the water in the bucket and make sure there is fresh peanut butter on the stick. If you have a bad mouse problem, this can kill about
2 dozen mice a night. Until there are enough mice in the bucket for them to stand on without sinking into the water.
then they might be able to jump out and get away. Be sure and put this trap where your dog can't eat the bait off the stick cause he will.
Hilarious in a perverse way.
I am laughing my ass off but feel guilty for it.
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Noticed no mice this year in the basement.Maybe the 4 foot snake skin I found down there has something to do with it. Luckily where I'm at really no poisonous snakes.
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The cat is to lazy to bother with them, and I think they're eating the cat's food. Looks like its time to clean out all the junk in the garage.
You don't have a rodent problem. You have a cat food problem. Solve the latter and the cat will take care of the former.
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We have a farm, so we have rodents, but they don't come near our quarters. We carefully sealed our house, have two cats on the porch and a Jack Russell Terrier inside. The only time we see rats or mice is when our pets deliver them to the stoop...quite limp and devoid of life. However, the Jack Russell once brought me an adolescent opossum that was faking!. That was interesting...
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I had good luck this year using peanuts in the old fashioned wooden mouse traps. I spread the clip apart enough to wedge a peanut into it. Caught a whole mouse family (7) with two traps in a week in my garage. My four shiftless layabouts are too old and fat to care about mice.
Larry
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Wind turbines take out more birds and bats than cats ever will. Look it up.
I looked it up. And not trusting one study, I looked it up again. And again.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-27/tall-buildings-are-bigger-threat-to-birds-than-wind-power (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-27/tall-buildings-are-bigger-threat-to-birds-than-wind-power) (2018 data)
Causes of Bird Deaths in the U.S. Annually (2015 data)
Cats 2,407,000,000
Buildings 599,000,000
Cars 199,600,000
Power Line Collisions 22,800,000
Communication Towers 6,581,945
Power Line Electrocutions 5,630,000
Wind Turbines 573,093
Number are for independent birds only. Estimates do not include eggs or nestlings.
Chart: Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder Source: Loss et al. 2015 Get the data Created with Datawrapper
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/09/15/wind-turbines-kill-fewer-birds-than-cell-towers-cats/15683843/ (https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/09/15/wind-turbines-kill-fewer-birds-than-cell-towers-cats/15683843/) (2014 data)
https://www.sibleyguides.com/conservation/causes-of-bird-mortality/ (https://www.sibleyguides.com/conservation/causes-of-bird-mortality/) (2003 data)
https://www.wintuaudubon.org/feral-cats-drive-songbird-decline/ (https://www.wintuaudubon.org/feral-cats-drive-songbird-decline/)
https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2014/study-cats-cell-towers-are-more-deadly-birds-wind-turbines/40671 (https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2014/study-cats-cell-towers-are-more-deadly-birds-wind-turbines/40671)
Bottom line: The National Audubon Society endorses wind power as of 2006, saying that habitat loss due to climate change,, fossil fuel extraction and air pollution is a far more potent killer of birds than any renewable energy source.
Look it up.
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I hit one bird with the truck and one on the windshield of that big Yamaha and another one hit me in the helmet. THAT hurts.
I am also responsible for two turkeys, and countless chickens.
Although, I would like to think that Walmart is at least complicit in the deaths of those turkeys and chickens.
:boozing:
Getting back to the mouse issue, I would love to hear if anyone has used one of those electronic mouse zapper things.
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Ramik bait blocks and a DIY PVC pipe dispenser to keep other animal from ingesting it.
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I've done the water bucket thing and old style traps with a variety of baits.
What made the biggest difference for my situation, was getting a dog that I only feed on demand, and keep control of the dog food in a tight closed closet.
Mice love dog food kibble, so that's what I use for bait, I jam it under the metal clip on the trap so they really have to work to get it out.
I learned to place my traps like a hunter, close to whatever food sources there's evidence the mice are attracted to, close to openings that appear to be likely nesting areas, plumbing openings etc, and funnels or runways behind appliances, furniture etc that they like to use.
Last year, I still had my old male German Shepherd dog, he had no predatory instinct, and I left food out for him all the time,,, the mice were in heaven running circles around us, lol.
My new German Shepherd female is a very motivated predator and only eats kibble on demand,,, made a huge difference in bringing the mice numbers down this year.
Good luck with it
Kelly
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I looked it up. And not trusting one study, I looked it up again. And again.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-27/tall-buildings-are-bigger-threat-to-birds-than-wind-power (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-27/tall-buildings-are-bigger-threat-to-birds-than-wind-power) (2018 data)
Causes of Bird Deaths in the U.S. Annually (2015 data)
Cats 2,407,000,000
Buildings 599,000,000
Cars 199,600,000
Power Line Collisions 22,800,000
Communication Towers 6,581,945
Power Line Electrocutions 5,630,000
Wind Turbines 573,093
Number are for independent birds only. Estimates do not include eggs or nestlings.
Chart: Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder Source: Loss et al. 2015 Get the data Created with Datawrapper
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/09/15/wind-turbines-kill-fewer-birds-than-cell-towers-cats/15683843/ (https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/09/15/wind-turbines-kill-fewer-birds-than-cell-towers-cats/15683843/) (2014 data)
https://www.sibleyguides.com/conservation/causes-of-bird-mortality/ (https://www.sibleyguides.com/conservation/causes-of-bird-mortality/) (2003 data)
https://www.wintuaudubon.org/feral-cats-drive-songbird-decline/ (https://www.wintuaudubon.org/feral-cats-drive-songbird-decline/)
https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2014/study-cats-cell-towers-are-more-deadly-birds-wind-turbines/40671 (https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2014/study-cats-cell-towers-are-more-deadly-birds-wind-turbines/40671)
Bottom line: The National Audubon Society endorses wind power as of 2006, saying that habitat loss due to climate change,, fossil fuel extraction and air pollution is a far more potent killer of birds than any renewable energy source.
Look it up.
i thought so, thanks for looking that up.. keep your cats indoors.
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i thought so, thanks for looking that up.. keep your cats indoors.
Agreed have as many cats as you like as long as you keep them confined to your property. If you allow them to roam free do not get upset or mad if they don't make it back from their latest killing spree.
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last night I mixed up some flour, baking soda and sugar. I put equal amount of each.
put the mixture in 2 different lids where I seen droppings.
About 4am we heard what sounded like squealing from the laundry room. I got up thinking a mouse had be caught in the sticky trap. Nope.
both lids of mixture had definitely been messed with, so maybe one bit the dirt last night.
Old Head
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Jack Russel terrorists were bred to kill rodents. They're good at it.
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We had cats for many years. Loved them all and they took care of bugs and varmints. I think they are the perfect pet that can pretty much take care of themselves. Just feed and water them, clean the box and let them go. They're much more affectionate pets than non cat owners would think. We loved all our cats and enjoyed them.
When we lost our last one a few years ago it was pretty traumatic. We think that he might've been poisoned by some of that Chinese cat food. We just didn't have to the inclination to replace him. Now we have many birds and feeders in out backyard. So birding has taken some of the slack. We still have no varmints in the house- knock wood.
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Jack Russel terrorists were bred to kill rodents. They're good at it.
I always thought JRTs were bred to bite Postmen!
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Wind turbines take out more birds and bats than cats ever will. Look it up.
Sorry bubba , that isn't true .
Dusty
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I
Communication Towers 6,581,945
Power Line Electrocutions 5,630,000
Wind Turbines 573,093
I don't know, I heard that the number killed by communications towers was 6,581,942. Perhaps 3 of them were just wounded.
Seriously, who comes up with these things? Numbers accurate to one part in ten million? Are we pretty sure that they got them all?
We know that 74.03984582% of statistics are just made up anyway ....
Lannis
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It stands to reason since there are more buildings than windmills birds would hit more buildings.
I like cats. Other people's cats.
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We know that 74.03984582% of statistics are just made up anyway ....
Lannis
Well that's just on average, you know that political statistics are close to 100% false.
But I also wonder how they collected these numbers. Our cats, buildings, and cars have taken a toll of birds over the years and nobody ever polled me. And how about the resident hawks and owls, they look pretty well fed around here. But given the relative scarcity of wind turbines compared to the other factors, it seems improbable that they would rank first.
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I have nothing constructive to contribute, only two intoxicant related tales.
Back in the previous century a rat helped himself to a LARGE portion of my high grade Jamaican marijuana. One of my roommates saw him wander through the living room in broad daylight twice in an hour. That night he died eating peanut butter from a trap.
Recently my bird feeding efforts drew a mouse to our patio - I set casual traps, and bait was stolen but no kills were made. I then followed Youtube counsel and arranged the traps between barriers influencing approach angles - but no kills.
I had some free samples of some marijuana sugar from one of the local dispensaries - it was too cheap for my tastes but I sprinkled some on the trap baits.
The local ants were very interested but could not remember how to get home after consumption, and just went in circles. I never saw the mouse again - he may have gotten lost, or slow enough for a cat to take.
So I don't know what your local laws are on such matters, but you may want to consider it.
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^^^^^ :grin:
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Not me. I don't mind killing pests, or killing for food, but I do it quick and clean. I've used Warfarin poison before, and I've used sticky sheets before, but I hate the idea of torturing animals with poison or letting them starve to death or die of thirst. I especially don't like leg-hold traps for pelts, either, and don't let trappers use them on my property any more.
Once we had fixed some Christmas eggnog for my grandma, who always enjoyed it and so I made it to her recipe. After Christmas, we had some left over, and we don't drink it, so I poured some in the dog's and the cat's bowl, figuring it's all eggs and cream and they'd probably enjoy it.
Never again! It was pitiful to see them staggering around the house and falling down. I thought I'd killed them, and I know they didn't understand what was going on, unlike a human who enjoys having his intelligence level knocked down to that of a smart dog with intoxicants.
Luckily they got over it .... but no more fooling with the pets' food, and mice, moles, and coyotes are not going to know what hit them ....
Lannis
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I agree as regards poison and sticky traps - both are cruel, and with poison there is the risk of some predator you want to encourage to stick around being killed. I cherish my local raptor population.
As for mice, if they'd give me a clear shot I'd take it, but that's rare.
I did have a rat come in during a hot dry summer when we left the slider open often. He would not leave, and a snap trap with food did not interest him. After he knocked over a bud vase I figured out he was after water.
I caught him in a live trap with a bowl of water in it. I filled a small barrel in the brewery washing area and gave him a lifetime supply.
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Drowning them in a bucket was exactly a kind death either. Still.............
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Aye, thar be a moose in yer hoose.
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I agree as regards poison and sticky traps - both are cruel, and with poison there is the risk of some predator you want to encourage to stick around being killed. I cherish my local raptor population.
I like the hawks, falcons, and owls too, but then again I don't keep chickens, pigeons, and rabbits like my grandpa or my brother-in-law used to keep!
A spring-trap or a projectile is a fast, easy death for an animal .... even drowning is WAY better than what's going to happen if they die in the wild. Drowning, in 90 seconds it's over with. Gradually sickening, slowing down, and then getting eaten alive by a bird or dog or cat or coyote, that's the "natural" way, so I try for improvements over that if I can ....
Lannis
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Wind turbines take out more birds and bats than cats ever will. Look it up.
http://infographic.statista.com/normal/chartoftheday_15195_wind_turbines_are_not_killing_fields_for_birds_n.jpg
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Aye, thar be a moose in yer hoose.
A Møøse once bit my sister...
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A Møøse once bit my sister...
We have a Moose lodge in town - I'll make sure the girls go 'round it ....
Lannis
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No realli! She was Karving her initials øn the møøse with the sharpened end
of an interspace tøøthbrush given her by Svenge - her brother-in-law -an Oslo
dentist and star of many Norwegian møvies: "The Høt Hands of an Oslo
Dentist", "Fillings of Passion", "The Huge Mølars of Horst Nordfink"...
EDIT:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SII-jhEd-a0
:thumb:
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Well, the flour with baking soda and sugar isn't working. The critters ate some the first night, nothing since.
Rebated all traps, both spring and sticky traps, nothing.
Bought some moth balls hoping the smell will drive them out of the house, placed them where I see droppings.
Tomorrow I will reworking the 5 gallon bucket trap with a wooden ramp instead of a plastic one, and not as steep. I don't want to be cruel, but enough is enough.
baring that, I will borrow a cat for a week or so. Several of my friends have cats and I am sure they won't mind me using the cat for a week or so.
The last few nights, I have only heard 1 mouse moving when it gets quite, so maybe the rest are gone?
Old Head
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Odds on the cat/s will complain (very) loudly all night about their new environs, spray-mark your furniture & take a dump or 3 behind the sofa.
That's if they don't just sleep around all day & night, leaving copious amounts of fur on all your darker coloured soft furnishings, & the escape home at the first available opportunity!
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A borrowed cat gathers no mice.
What are you using for bait?
Using new traps that don't smell like dead mice?
I like the bucket trap design ...
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I agree as regards poison and sticky traps - both are cruel, and with poison there is the risk of some predator you want to encourage to stick around being killed.
I lost one of my cats from him eating a poisoned mouse. I never used poison as we had a number of house cats and several half feral barn cats. I suspect that my neighbor was using poison for his mouse problem.
Larry
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OK, growing up on a farm, we had mice. Cats did a lot, but I got to be pretty good at setting traps for the really skittish ones.
One thing that frustrated me was setting traps only to find a mouse had visited and licked all the peanut butter off the bait bar without triggering the trap. Here is the solution to that problem.
Step 1 - get a good old Victor style mousetrap.
Step 2 - put a dab of peanut butter on the bait bar.
Step 3 - tear apart a cotton ball and wrap a bit of the fluff around the bait bar.
Step 4 - set the trap, arm it, and wait.
Mice like food, but they absolutely LOVE nesting materials! The peanut butter smell will attract them, but they will grab the cotton fluff and pull it... setting off the trap.
BTW, I despise using poison... lost a few good barn cats because they ate too many mice that had been poisoned. Snap traps are much better, more humane, and safer for all the other critters.
Good luck!
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Odds on the cat/s will complain (very) loudly all night about their new environs, spray-mark your furniture & take a dump or 3 behind the sofa.
That's if they don't just sleep around all day & night, leaving copious amounts of fur on all your darker coloured soft furnishings, & the escape home at the first available opportunity!
Cat's will use their box. They may scratch stuff if they haven't been declawed, depends on the cat. I've dropped my cats off on several occasions to friends rather than a kennel and never had a complaint. Cats are pretty instinctive hunting for small critters.
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A borrowed cat gathers no mice.
What are you using for bait?
Using new traps that don't smell like dead mice?
I like the bucket trap design ...
Never have tried the bucket trap, although it sounds interesting in a Rube Goldberg sort of way.
As far as using new traps that don't smell like dead mice, you don't need to do that around here, anyway. The last traps I emptied (yesterday), the dead mouse had no more than touched the cheese, but after it tripped, another mouse came by and ate it, 1/4 inch from the smashed head of the dead one (hence the saying "The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese).
I've used those six-spring circular traps before, and filled them up in a night, which means the last mouse stuck his head into a trap that already had 5 dead mice in it.
I don't think they much care. I'm sure that Gary Larsen made a "Far Side" cartoon about that propensity of mice at some point ....
Lannis
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UPDATE
Lets see, I started with TOM CAT bricks poison, not a single chew mark, and I bought some Victor old fashioned mouse traps with peanut butter. they kept getting sprung but no mouse?
next I got some TOM CAT pellets different chemical, very little interest, some, but hardly noticeable.
I made up a bucket trap, rolling log. put about 6 inches of water in the bucket. 2 nights in a row I heard water splash, but nothing in the bucket in the morning, I suspect it was the rat failing in and since I didn't have enough water in the bucket, it was able to jump out. I put it half full the next night, but nothing. I will but the bucket out in the shed and see what happens.
Next I made up some flour, sugar, and baking soda. Put it in every room in the house. First every container was hit.
Next night, refilled all the containers, again every container was eaten, not quite as much gone but definitely eaten.
Next night, refilled again, very little eaten. But wife still hearing the critters at night. I was up late watching EXPANSE on Prime and I saw a rat run across the kitchen floor. not a mouse but big rat. that night the rat got into the trash and pulled out an empty cheetos bag, its on.
Next night I made up some cocca, sugar, plaster of paris and peanut butter into little balls. something ate the balls, but I did't see or any little critters last night. Wife says there is some new scat in the bathroom, so I will rebait one more time.
Last night only had one ball of peanut butter gone, so I will keep rebaiting for a week or so, but I believe the invaders are gone.
Told the wife, if I see that rat again, I will be buying a pellet gun and sitting up till he comes out and blast him.
So my take, leave the poison at the store, don't even mess with the traps. Go right to the DIY bait, it worked for me.
Old Head
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UPDATE
Lets see, I started with TOM CAT bricks poison, not a single chew mark, and I bought some Victor old fashioned mouse traps with peanut butter. they kept getting sprung but no mouse?
If you shove a piece of hard cheese into the bait holder of the Victor trap, where they have to worry it out with their teeth, it'll spring on them. Peanut butter, they just lick it off and it doesn't spring the trap.
I'm glad what you're doing is working for you, but as I read your experience and what you had to do to get there, I was not encouraged at all that that method would do anything for any rodents I've ever had .... !
Lannis
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Cats are good, but mine actually brings them in and lets them go . . . :rolleyes:
Literally hundreds of good designs for traps on You Tube, this one has to be the most effective I've seen, and easy to make.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QTdqLvD6NA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QTdqLvD6NA)
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Rats! I had one old tom cat (long past) who liked big game. No mice for him. He liked hunting chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, and rats. Even once found a dead weasel out by the chicken coop. Funny thing was that he would eat the chipmunks, squirrels, and rabbits but he never ate a rat. I would find the rats dead in the yard.
Larry
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" I was up late watching EXPANSE on Prime and I saw a rat run across the kitchen floor. not a mouse but big rat. that night the rat got into the trash and pulled out an empty cheetos bag, its on."
...................
Told the wife, if I see that rat again, I will be buying a pellet gun and sitting up till he comes out and blast him."
Sounds like a good Saturday night to me. And everybody should have a pellet gun - my ex has mine.
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https://www.ebay.com/i/303350444350?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=303350444350&targetid=858317652168&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9033175&poi=&campaignid=8080424524&mkgroupid=89344395112&rlsatarget=pla-858317652168&abcId=1139446&merchantid=118879063&gclid=CjwKCAiA66_xBRBhEiwAhrMuLdeWxqwqaY6SwKEwg3cSjhORt7O6Ex6HqgDsB4ngdanzonQWiGrBNBoCcAQQAvD_BwE
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" I was up late watching EXPANSE on Prime and I saw a rat run across the kitchen floor. not a mouse but big rat. that night the rat got into the trash and pulled out an empty cheetos bag, its on."
...................
Told the wife, if I see that rat again, I will be buying a pellet gun and sitting up till he comes out and blast him."
We had a big Rat take up residence in our Boiler Casing.
It had chewed through a wire, so the Boiler was playing up.
I removed the front cover to find the whole of the insides stuffed with chewed-up carrier bags and paper, and a long pink Tail poking out.
I grabbed my late Father's 1927 BSA .22 Airsporter, and poked the mass of plastic with a long stick.
It shot out, one of our Cats had a go at it, but wisely chickened out almost immediately.
It ran into a corner, and just sat there with it's back to me.
One shot from a couple of yards and it was 'toast'.
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It's a little bit of thread drift, but I just learned something interesting about mice&squirrels in vehicles the other day I wasn't aware of.
Here in the north land, mice,squirrels and all sorts or rodents like to set up home in all sorts of different vehicles, if given the chance for the winter; I've had it happen many times, usually without causing too much damage, but that is apparently changing with new Eco friendly vehicles.
In an effort to be kinder to the planet, a lot of the new wiring is now made with some type of Soy product mixed in with the plastics in the wiring insulation. The critters apparently all love the taste of it, causing huge damage; it's a problem that the manufactures are aware of, and apparently they all have fine print in their warranties, not covering rodent damage.
I drive old beaters that probably have nasty tasting wires, but some moth balls sprinkled around your new Eco friendly vehicle as a preventative, might be a good idea.
fwiw
Kelly
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I have a friend who is an expert on megalithic cultures, he assures me that for many millenia we have used barn owls for this very purpose.
He says proof of their long term domestication is their cuteness (relative to other owls)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_owl
thread drift over. :laugh:
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90 seconds in mouse years is a while?
I like to tally my mouse kills, just to be sure of the risk of being over run by ninja mouse hoards....
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I have a friend who is an expert on megalithic cultures, he assures me that for many millenia we have used barn owls for this very purpose.
He says proof of their long term domestication is their cuteness (relative to other owls)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_owl
thread drift over. :laugh:
The owls work well for taking out cats too.. Least around here. I keep my cats inside, and really watch where I nail up the bait.. Right Inside both shop, and garage doors work well for me. I really got tired of cleaning out my Wirefeed/and other electronic things from mouse piss/etc...
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oh yea owls would be cool to watch., hide the chickens...
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oh yea owls would be cool to watch.,
I was out skiing one day and watched a big owl take out a grouse that was basking in the sun on the frozen stream in front of me.
Feathers exploded everywhere, and watching him hook his talons in and get his wings out to full spread so he could lift up and fly off with dinner was very impressive.
I hear owls quite often, but very rarely see one.
Kelly
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The only serious incident I've had with mice occurred when, after a January annual, an A&P tied my Comanche down on frozen ground. I was away for a six weeks skiing, and when I came back in March the upholstery was chewed up and the cabin smelled of mouse turds. No electrical or structural damage but it was a nasty clean-up.
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Quote from: 80CX100 on Today at 01:52:46 AM (https://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=104034.msg1651598#msg1651598)
I hear owls quite often, but very rarely see one.
Likewise but my Mother-in-law has twice had an Owl in the living room - it could only have fallen down the chimney as they often sit on the top.
Last time I went to get it out of the house and there was also a (dead) crow in there with it - not sure if it was the Owl's food or if just a coincidence?
It had knocked over many things and wasn't an easy thing to catch/expel from the house, I went in equipped with a broom and a large cushion and eventually got it to fly out of an opened doorway but only after it had flown head first into a couple of windows.
We have mainly Tawny and Barn owls around here and luckily it was only a (small) Tawny Owl but then I suppose a Barn Owl wouldn't fit down the chimney!!
>(https://thumbsnap.com/s/p2voMRbp.jpg)
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If an owl as majestic as that one came down my chimney with a dead crow I'd be calling the local druids for a spot of divination consultation!!
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Beat em and eat em. Soup is always good.
(https://i.ibb.co/JFdg0NT/Mouse-Blender.jpg) (https://ibb.co/JFdg0NT)
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In a logic class I took, the instructor explained that the existence of mice proves that there are no invisible flying cats.
Obvious nonsense. Nature provides invisible flying cats in the form of owls. Yet mice persist.
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Update
the peanut butter balls stopped being eaten, thought I had gotten them all. Then I got a glimpse of something much bigger than a mouse.
Did some chocolate with plaster of paris, made 14 marble sized balls the first night. They all got eaten. Did 12 more today. 2 were eaten within an hour of being placed.
I went to LOWES and bought 2 rat traps, Victory wooden traps.
came home baited one with an almond, and the other with some chocolate.
Within an hour the trap went off and I got a rat, with a body about 8" I would guess, big sucker. I took a picture to show the wife in the morning, she goes to bed early.
Hope that's the last one, but I reset the trap and we will see what happens.
Old Head
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Congratulations, a confirmed kill !
:thumb:
Is the plaster of paris supposed to mess them up internally or something?
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theory is that when they drink water the plaster hardens up and stops up their digestive track. This sucker was tough.
baking soda is supposed to create gas when their stomach acid interacts, and since rodents can't pass gas, it is supposed to expand and kill them.
the plaster and baking soda got rid of the mice pretty quick, but this guy ate everything I gave him and kept coming back for more.
I don't know how long it is supposed to take, but it was taking too long.
Hopefully, he was the last one. Time will tell.
Old Head
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I was told by an old farmer that if you see one rat, there are at least six more...
Larry
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theory is that when they drink water the plaster hardens up and stops up their digestive track. This sucker was tough.
baking soda is supposed to create gas when their stomach acid interacts, and since rodents can't pass gas, it is supposed to expand and kill them.
the plaster and baking soda got rid of the mice pretty quick, but this guy ate everything I gave him and kept coming back for more.
I don't know how long it is supposed to take, but it was taking too long.
Hopefully, he was the last one. Time will tell.
Old Head
That's a pretty hard way to go, come to think of it. He might prefer getting played with by a cat and then eaten while he's still breathing.
On the other hand, he's a rat, and he doesn't get many choices ... !
Lannis
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theory is that when they drink water the plaster hardens up and stops up their digestive track. This sucker was tough.
baking soda is supposed to create gas when their stomach acid interacts, and since rodents can't pass gas, it is supposed to expand and kill them.
the plaster and baking soda got rid of the mice pretty quick, but this guy ate everything I gave him and kept coming back for more.
I don't know how long it is supposed to take, but it was taking too long.
Hopefully, he was the last one. Time will tell.
Old Head
That's quite the complicated game plan, I'm thinking you did well in chemistry class in school,huh? lol :laugh:
Congrats on your first big game kill :bow:
What's the gestation period for a big rat like that, in other words how soon before the young'uns start foraging? :evil:
Glad to hear you went for the sure thing and brought out the big guns, V for Victory ! :thumb:
Kelly
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The only serious incident I've had with mice occurred when, after a January annual, an A&P tied my Comanche down on frozen ground. I was away for a six weeks skiing, and when I came back in March the upholstery was chewed up and the cabin smelled of mouse turds. No electrical or structural damage but it was a nasty clean-up.
Back in the day, I was doing a pre flight walk around on Dorcia's Stinson, and noticed a hole in the fabric where the main lift strut attaches. The little barstid had walked up the strut, ate a hole in the fabric, went inside, and started chewing the rib stitch cords. :evil: After that, the only good mouse is a dead mouse..
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(https://i.ibb.co/yyhGd8S/Photo-96.jpg) (https://ibb.co/yyhGd8S)
Went to move my 66 Anglia one day and found this bastid had moved in to the engine compartment as his new winter home. I promptly evicted him and it took about two hours to remove all his furnishings. Luckily nothing had been chewed up.
Paul B :boozing:
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I was having this same problem, as we live in a 120 year old house that mice and bats just love, until I discovered this magic trick! This really works well.
For once there actually IS a better mouse trap! You can even buy kits on eBay for a few $ now and you supply the bucket.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMZaJZ6x3bA
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My mother next door saw a mouse and droppings. My wife set a plain trap with a little cheese. About a week ago, she caught two at once. Should've took a picture.
she just smiled and said "ok, now its your turn to impress me....."
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Borrow / rent an energetic cat. Only permanent solution I've found is doing a proper (which can be exhaustive) exclusion. There's always a way they're getting in to be found. One house I had two companies go through the entire structure, they couldn't find the hole, then I pulled a grating outside the house and noticed droppings. They had tunneled across 8 feet under concrete deck to find a little opening where wires were routing into the house behind the siding. Solved.
Look for droppings to trace the entry/exit.
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I was having this same problem, as we live in a 120 year old house that mice and bats just love, until I discovered this magic trick! This really works well.
For once there actually IS a better mouse trap! You can even buy kits on eBay for a few $ now and you supply the bucket.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMZaJZ6x3bA
I did that, but with a 1" wood dowel, not a single mouse. I did hear something big hit the water, but I had only put about 5" inches of water in the bucket and I think he was able to jump out.
I am going to keep by mouse and rat traps out and baited, along with fresh poison bait for awhile. Haven't seen any signs the last 2 nights, but you never know.
Old Head
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I was setting down a freshly baited trap in a somewhat tight area when it snapped with my fingers still holding the side of the trap. Guess I had scared a mouse and it has simply ran into the trap while still holding it. Now that is a quick kill!
GliderJohn
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(https://i.ibb.co/JWLW4md/IMG-0584-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/JWLW4md)
Its hard to tell how big it is, but that is a rat trap 3-½ x 7
Old Head
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Don't know if this has been suggested before but take a look at this Canadian method of getting rid of mice and rats:
https://www.automatictrap.com/collections/shop/products/a24-rat-and-mouse-trap-kit
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Don't know if this has been suggested before but take a look at this Canadian method of getting rid of mice and rats:
https://www.automatictrap.com/collections/shop/products/a24-rat-and-mouse-trap-kit
They do say "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door!"
Although they didn't say anything about the world bringing $170 each to your door, so based on that, this MIGHT not be "better" .... ?
Sounds fun and effective, though!
Lannis
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(https://i.ibb.co/JWLW4md/IMG-0584-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/JWLW4md)
Its hard to tell how big it is, but that is a rat trap 3-½ x 7
Old Head
I've used those big Victory rat traps a few times, watch your fingers with those suckers.
Thank god you put it out of it's misery, it's poor belly looks like it was ready to blow up with that chocolate concoction you were feeding it lol :evil:
That is a BIG looking rodent, I'm guessing from nose to tail it had to be at least 18" long.
I caught a lucky break with the mice here, I thought a couple had got caught in traps and crawled under my kitchen cupboards and died there hidden. I could smell them but couldn't see them.
Yesterday I was rooting around under the sink and found 2 traps with mice carcasses wedged behind the cupboards against the plumbing pipes, very easy to retrieve them and the smell is gone already :thumb: :bow:
Hope you're rodent free until spring time. :grin:
Kelly
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Looks like the DIY bait is working, found a dead mouse and dead Rat on the kitchen floor this morning.
Old Head
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Try adding a broken wooden toothpick to a standard mousetrap with peanut butter. The peanut oil soaks into the toothpick, after the mouse has eaten all of the peanut butter it gets greedy and goes after the toothpick. Bam!
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We have three cats in our house, so the last two little "shrews" that entered were dispatched quickly... :wink: :thumb: :cool:
However, outside, we have the AZ Grey Fox which patrols nightly...and he takes care of business outside!!
Nature's own "Rat Patrol!! :thumb: :smiley: :wink:
(https://i.ibb.co/d2jjXXf/Screen-Shot-2020-02-07-at-7-05-50-PM.png) (https://ibb.co/d2jjXXf)
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Romeo, our 13-lb tabby, brought a fat mouse into the kitchen this morning. Already dead, I'm glad to say. I put it out on the deck and he's still gleefully tossing it around. Update: Late in the afternoon he brought in a live one. We discourage this practice, but it happens. He hunts the 20-acre spread south of our fence. His brother Zorro hunts mostly the thicket on the north side of our road.