I live in a duplex (a house divided into two apartments). Once or twice in the year I’ve been here, I’ve had suspicions about mice, but never any tangible evidence to make me do something about it. (Also I’m incorrigibly lazy.)
So last night, my neighbor (other half of the duplex) calls me up in a panic because he killed a mouse in one of those glue-traps. Have I seen any mice? Well no, but I’ll put out some snap-traps and see what happens. He said I shouldn’t use snaptraps (traditional springloaded traps) because they’re cruel. I’m thinking, What? They’re sudden! They kill by breaking the neck, rather than trapping the critter there until it starves or something! And besides, we’re not talking about cute lil’ Mickey and Minnie here; we’re talking about vermin tracking disease into my home. Their suffering will become an issue when they chip in on the rent.
Anyway, today I put out four traps and went to work. When I came home, BINGO! I got one! Ha! Tomorrow I’m getting some more traps, as I’m certainly not going to reuse one. That would mean possibly touching the dead mouse.
So I guess there’s really not a question here, just a topic; anyone else got advice? Good mousing stories? &c.?
And don’t tell me to get a cat. I have a cat-hating dog, plus I don’t like cats much myself either.
What did you use for bait? The mice I have trapped were partial to Fritos stuck in a dab of peanut butter on the little tab of the spring loaded traps.
Bit o’ Reeses Peanut Butter Cup works great for me. I read somewhere that scientists figured out that gumdrops were supposed to be the number one bait.
Actually, does your dog like to chase and hunt things? sic 'em on the mice! (Although, if it’s a big dog you definately won’t want him diving under the coffee table to get at that mouse!)
I’d stick with traps over putting out poison: for one, you don’t want to chance your dog eating any of it (either directly, or indirectly by munching on a poisoned mouse), and also: you don’t want the mice dying in an inconvient (for you, that is; the mouse is inconvienced no matter what) place… like oh say, somewhere between the walls where you’ll never be able to get it out.
The one mousing story I have is this:
While living in Hawai’i, there was a cat that decided to adopt us. She’d follow us when we’d go out for walks, etc. But, we didn’t want a cat at that time: we had too many other things going on, and it wouldn’t have been fair to her. Anyway. One day, I open up the door, and there’s the cat waiting patiently for some attention. Then suddenly, she’s racing inside of the house and POUNCE! Ah-ha! Mouse is captured! The problem was, she wanted to play with said mouse… and when she pounced, she broke it’s neck. The look I got was priceless: “It’s not playing with me, can you fix it? Pleeeeease? sniff” A few half-hearted attempts to bat it about followed, then she picked up the corpse, took it out side, and promptly ate it. Saved me from finding a baggie to dispose of the corpse with!
The reason they are often called cruel is that they many times fail to snap onto the mouse’s neck, so rather than killing the mouse, the trap badly injures it. Then the mouse has to suffer until someone comes along to finish the job. But capture-and-release traps aren’t really an option with mice, so you do the best you can.
They are indeed an option! There are several types available. I’ve had two “mice cubes” going in our house for a couple months, and have caught 14 mice so far :eek:
I release them on vacant lots at least a couple blocks away (we live in a moderately built up suburban area), so I’m pretty sure we haven’t had any repeat visitors. I suppose I may have to get more traps to “get ahead of the mouse curve” if we have a population that’s breeding faster than I can catch them, but I would fully intend to keep going with live traps rather than any more lethal alternative. I’m not a hard-core animal rights type (I eat meat, though my wife doesn’t), but I like most mammals, and I just think mice are so darned cute…
I have more mousing stories than I could possible relate, but I’m the the Pest Control Biz…
Therefore, some advice…
Nightsong was right about the poisons. Avoid them, especially if you have pets or young children. Use traps. Either glueboards or snaps, I never concern myself with their suffering. They’re vermin, and if they hadn’t gotten into someone’s house, they wouldn’t be in a position for me to make them suffer.
Peanut butter works well as an inducement. So does bacon, and, for some reason, a cotton ball soaked in vanilla extract.
Place the traps in dark corners, especially if you see droppings there. Mice go to corners to eat, so they’re backs are covered and nothing can sneak up behind them. Put food in sealable plastic, metal or glass containers.
And look for entry points. You won’t find all of them, of course, because a mouse can fit through a hole no larger around than a dime. But sometimes you can find a spot where they might be getting in, seal it, and actually accomplish something.
Thanks for the expert advice, Dave! I haven’t caught–or seen–any more since the first one (which makes me suspect they’re onto me), but I’ll check around for entry points and such.
Well my score is still Rodents 1/2, Bunny 1 1/2. I still see evidence of that darn mouse around!. In a one bedroom apartment I now have 4 snap traps (how I caught mouse #1), 3 glue traps, and 2 live capture traps and all I have caught recently is a tail. Any suggestions are more than welcome.
(Although, if it’s a big dog you definately won’t want him diving under the coffee table to get at that mouse!)