As some of you may know, our lovely spot out in the middle of nowhere in NE AZ has a mouse…“problem.”
We have engaged an exterminator, who visits regularly. Even so, one or two brave little shits still manage to find new ways to invade our home.
We’re in thr process of cleaning out the pots-and-pans cabinet right in the middle of T-Day prep.
(pause for growling and snarling)
Mind you, our particular version of mouse is the alien-invader “Deer Mouse.” Go ahead and do a google search. And in this part of the country, deer mice can carry the Hanta virus. Nasty stuff.
The evil part of my brain cooked up an idea: can suitably-dried cat poops be used as mouse deterrent?
Or is this merely a plan to trade Hanta virus for Toxoplasmosis?
Gah! That sounds like the age old question, “Do you want to die by tha gas chamber or the electric chair?”
~VOW
My friends store their travel trailer for the winter. Always had a problem with mice. Then they started putting dryer sheets everywhere and no more mice. Don’t know if it works on the deer variety of mice.
A few months ago I placed a d-CON cube about every 5 feet on the inside perimeter of my barn. No more mice. Those things work great. (One word of caution, though: if you have pets or small children, place the d-CON cubes inside bait stations.)
The poison used by the exterminator is “first generation.” That means it kills the mice, but will not affect any predators that decide to,consume dead mice.
I have an incredibly stupid cat. He wouldn’t know what to do with a mouse if one jumped into his face and said, “Kill me, please.”
Besides, he has no teeth and no claws. If he were even interested in vermin, he’d have to gum it to death.
I’m using dryer sheets when I pack up linens in space bags.
D-Con does work. BUT…for the sheer volume of mice, it’s like a band-aid over arterial bleeding. That’s why we went with a professional exterminator. The volume of invaders decreased remarkably, but they have scouts that can squeeze past their compatriots who are feeding and dying at the bait stations.
Beckdawrek suggested a plethora of mothballs. I can understand that working, but the pervasive scent would drive me away, too.
sigh
The pots-and-pans cabinet! Right before Thanksgiving!
~VOW
We may finally have a handle on our mouse problem after months of trapping.
It’s been weeks since I’ve found any traps sprung in the garage, and two whole days have passed since discovering a dead one in the basement (this reminds me to double-check the trap under the kitchen sink).
Outside of anecdotal folklore I haven’t heard of any dependable rodent repellents, including putting up mini-posters of cats and snakes. Minimize their chances of finding food and trap 'em.
My friends store their travel trailer for the winter. Always had a problem with mice. Then they started putting dryer sheets everywhere and no more mice. Don’t know if it works on the deer variety of mice.
I just nailed two bigass rats out in the crapshack and left them out by the street for the crows. Fuckers. I’m sure there are mice out there too and I’m afraid if one of them goes for the rat trap baits they’re gonna get snapped in half and that’s gonna be super gross.
Deer mice? Get a Jack Russell or rat terrier. That’ll larn them pesky little fucks.
Please, Please, Please do not use mothballs inside the house or where humans, cats, dogs and other pets will be breathing the vapors. If you are smelling them you are breathing them.
A couple inside a sealed garment bag will kill and prevent critters. That is the proper use. They are not to be used outside the label recommendations.
We had a mice problem in my house. My mother was still alive and heard about the mothball thing from friends. So she got a box and had my boys, who were about 10 years old at that time, sprinkle the whole box in the attics upstairs. The whole box. While I was at work.
This old house has attics that run the full length of the house on either side, with two bedrooms in between. And my bedroom is upstairs. Thank god I was not drunk or really sleepy that night because after a short time of lying in bed my tongue, and lips started to go numb and I got out of there. I actually read the warnings on the box in the trash and decided mom was accidentally trying to kill me.
I removed every moth ball I could find and slept downstairs. Had I went to sleep I would have probably died or at least had kidney or liver damage.
Maybe a few under the house, if you can’t smell them. If you can smell them you are poisoning yourself. Find another way. I mean, find another way to get rid of the mice, not another way to poison yourself.
I’ve read that professional ratters in the Middle Ages used to release “ferrets” (technically European Polecats) into ratholes and under buildings, while rat terriers waited at the other exits. Rats would flee the scent of ferrets in such fear they would lose their usual wariness of other predators, and run right into the waiting dogs.
I don’t know if mice are affected the same way, but a good stinky ferret in the house might effectively deter all sorts of rodents from coming near the place.
One very stupid cat is my limit on four-legged critters allowed in my home. If I were a dog person, I might consider one of the many terriers suggested throughout the internet.
We HAVE traps. Occasionally, we get a mouse in one. Mostly, the little shits steal the bait without springing the trap. Mr VOW increased the sensitivity until he almost snapped his fingers off setting the traps.
They are pervasive. They are disease carriers. They are alien invaders, with their big-ass eyes that creep me out.
I agree. Inside the house moth balls will hurt you. Under the house or around openings in your crawl space. I’ve been doing it for years. Might explain the weird twitch I have (:))
Use good judgement and know that mothballs are poisonous. Use at your own risk.
Basically, you’re restricted to mechanical (traps,) chemical (poison) and biological (dogs, cats and ferrets) means to control mice. Ideally you’d deploy all three in the appropriate places and with diligence and practice you’ll get the little fuckers under control. Ruling out any of the three means you have to work a lot harder on the ones you can manage. Personally, if I were in a hanta virus area I’d be vigilant with all three methods, with the caveat that I’d be very careful about using only poisons that aren’t going to hurt anything aside from the mice.
A fourth category is prevention, which means going over your house with a fine toothed comb plugging up every single hole and crevice no matter how tiny and nailing sheet tin over them. This is really hard and the little fuckers are better at making new holes than you’ll be with finding them but it’s still a valid avenue to pursue.
VOW my Sister-In-Arms
Together we stand in solidarity against the verminous pests of the world. Sigh, wish I had more to offer than that. Gave up on the idea of getting a four legged mouse trap out of consideration for Miss Roomie who has allergies/high levels of sensitivity to both cats and dogs
KEEP FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT. I stand with you
Saaaaay you know what I do have, is an owl or two that live in the area…how can I attract and entice an owl to roost at or nearer my home…hmmmm
We are getting new flooring throughout the house, after the beginning of the New Year! All holes will be barricaded, and new, hefty baseboards shall be installed. Any openings for necessities (plumbing, propane) will be tightly snugged with mouse-proof materials. All floor vents, which have been freeways for the little shits, will be removed and new subfloor put in place.
The exterminator flat-out told us, mice eat through drywall. That means we are ultimately up the proverbial creek, because our substandard mobile home boasts 1/4" wallboard instead of regular drywall.
Deer mice, oh yeah, I remember those little fuckers. They can squeeze through a straw sized hole and chew through thick plastic storage bins. They used to get into a metal storage shed and actually chewed through a plastic storage bin, destroy the contents and then fill it with mesquite seed pods from the tree a quarter acre away.
I was in the Cordes Junction area whilst doing battle with them. I had a feral cat colony living on the property between the tree and the shed. They were about as useful as cats usually are.
A friend brought his rat terrier over (3 years old, raised by hand, never saw a rodent in its life) and the dog peed all over the place but didn’t actually engage with anything living.
The Heritage Park Zoo sells cougar poop and pee as rodent and rabbit repellents. Total waste of money.
Chemical warfare started with mothballs. It wasn’t the best idea I have ever had, but not the worse. It didn’t work, though.
I tried bear spray, which did seem to work, but was expensive and wore off fairly quickly.
Ammonia was not as costly and did seem to work much better, but I had to renew it after every rain.
I finally gave up and ran a hose line to the edge of the property and put a dripper over a shallow trough so they could find water elsewhere. The fuckers chewed through the hose by the house in less than a week.
I got married and sold the house/property when I left the state.