My folks have a large rural place that’s experienceing a mouse problem. Mice are bad enough but deer mice have spread hantivirus not five miles away. Mom’s hesitant to use poison because some of the dogs might eat the tainted mice (the cats are far too lazy). Could this hurt the dogs? Most rat poisons are the same ingredient in the prescription blood thinner Cumadin. It causes the little suckers to hemmorage to death and has the side benefit of helping the bodies dessicate rather than bloat and rot. Is there any risk to an animal that eats a poisoned mouse? Any other suggestions?
Uh, Padeye, you live about …oh… 90 minutes from your parents and also have a large gun collection. Do the math.
Answer:
M + RS = 22
where
M = mice
RS = rural setting
Probably not. There are a couple reasons for this. First, the active ingredient is probably going to be metabolized somewhat by the target animal. Also, LD50 (the lethal dosage necessary to kill 50% of the test population) is measured in milligrams of active ingredient per kilograms of weight of the target animal. Unless the dogs are really teeny, it would take a lot more of the active ingredient to harm them than it would take for a mouse.
Judicious placement of the bait is a must, however. You don’t want a non-target pest (not just the dogs, but chipmunks, raccoons, even deer) to find the stuff and eat it. Do not (I repeat DO NOT) just open up some packages of d-Con and set them out in the garden. This is not only stupid, it’s probably illegal. You need to treat areas in the house where the mice are likely to get in or travel. Crawlspaces, garages, basements, under kitchen cabinets and possibly in attics. Place the bait in corners (mice love corners) or against the wall where you see mouse droppings (which are about the size and shape of rice grains, only black).
Another alternative is trapping, using either glue boards or snap traps. You can bait either kind using some peanut butter (not cheese, mice don’t really eat cheese except in cartoons). Place the snap traps perpendicular to the wall, with the trigger mechanism closest to the wall. This way, a mouse approaching from either side of the trap will spring it.
I would really recommend traps because **a)**they’re non-toxic and b) you know you’ve got a kill. That’s another drawback to poisons: Mice don’t sit and eat till they’re full. They carry the stuff away and hide it. Using poison can mean that you risk finding nuggets of poison in other places. I know people who have found mouse bait in their children’s slippers, near stored food and even under their pillow. All deposited by Mickey & Co.
Don’t risk potential contamination of food or accidental poisoning of non-target animals. Use traps. You have to check them and replace them on a regular basis, but hey, it’s worth it. You might even start to get results in a day or so. The satisfaction of knowing that for every mouse you catch you have one less mouse to worry about is worth it.
By the way, not every poisoned mouse just dessicates and mummifies with no odor. I’ve been in plenty of places where poisoned rodents have stunk up the joint for a week or more. So don’t believe that blather.
I’m a professional pest control technician (or hired killer, as I prefer to think of myself). So you can trust my advice. Go with traps of some kind. Good luck.
That’s what it says on my roach killer box. One roach stuffs his face, feels woozy and returns to the nest. The others eat his carcass and die. Arsenic doesn’t get “metabolized”.
I have mouse traps hidden in certain places permanently and review them periodically and find the odd mouse there. If you wait until you are seeing them you’ve waited too long and they are much more difficult to get rid of.
Arsenic? ARSENIC??!! Why don’t you just use a hydrogen bomb? Arsenic is not the active ingredient in either roach bait or rodenticides. Not only that, but if you re-read my reply, you’ll see that I mention the LD50. Once again, that’s the lethal dosage required to kill 50% of the test group. This is measured in milligrams of poison versus kilograms of subject’s weight. Roaches are the same size as other roaches, and since they can be cannibalistic, a lethal dosage can be transferred.
Not all stomach poisons are the same. Roach baits are not anti-coagulants, as are most rodenticides, and would probably be metabolized differently. Still, taking LD50 into account, a dog weighing several dozen times more than a mouse would be unlikely to suffer serious ill effects from eating a poisoned mouse. Maybe an upset tummy for a day or so, but nothing serious. Let’s remember, the purpose of this board is to eradicate ignorance, not fuel the fires of doubt with speculation.
At any rate, I urged the OP to use traps, not bait. FTR, if a pet does get into rodenticide, have a vet administer vitamin K. It counteracts the anti-coagulant. Shoulda mentioned that in my first reply, I s’pose.
>> Let’s remember, the purpose of this board is to eradicate ignorance, not fuel the fires of doubt with speculation
By reading most posts I never would have guessed!
Forget the poison. I want to know why the cats are to lazy to catch rats but the dogs are so hungry that they will eat the rats but not the pudgy cats.
Then, riddle me this:
If 3 cats can kill 3 rats in 3 minutes, how long will it take 100 cats to kill 100 rats?
Don’t bother asking Marilyn vos Savant. She doesn’t know.
In my somewhat limited experience, cats who are always inside are much better mousers than cats who go outside. I haven’t seen a live mouse in over 4 years, or a “gift” mouse in several years. I guess mice do learn.
Peace,
mangeorge