The only reason I am not pitting the furry thing(s) is because i’m just too tired.
We’ve got a smart one this time… it’s managed to eat the cheesespray off the traps without tripping it. I told the SO to use peanutbutter, not spray cheese. That time the trap went off, but it didnt catch the disgusting thing. SO is away for the weekend & I am snap-trap challenged so I bought a couple of those easy set traps… we’ll see how that goes.
Oh - and i saw the damn thing run across the kitchen floor. I screamed. i’m tired of the cycle - We get rid of them and then a short time later I find tracks again. I’m about to tell the SO to mouse proof his home or I’ll go back to my mouse free rental! I’ll be nice and ask him to work on it this week/weekend instead.
Anyways, I ran across this information and thought :dubious: (see #1):
Other uses for Bounce dryer sheets:
It will chase ants away when you lay a sheet near them. It also repels mice.
Spread sheets around foundation areas, or in trailers, or cars that
are sitting and it keeps mice from entering your vehicle.
It takes the odor out of books and photo albums that don’t get opened too often.
It repels mosquitoes. Tie a sheet of Bounce through a belt loop when outdoors during mosquito season.
Eliminate static electricity from your television (or computer) screen.
Since Bounce is designed to help eliminate static cling, wipe your television screen with a used sheet of Bounce to keep dust from resettling.
Dissolve soap scum from shower doors. Clean with a sheet of Bounce.
To freshen the air in your home - Place an individual sheet of Bounce in a drawer or hang in the closet.
Put Bounce sheet in vacuum cleaner.
Prevent thread from tangling-Run a threaded needle through a sheet of Bounce before beginning to sew.
Prevent musty suitcases. Place an individual sheet of Bounce inside empty luggage before storing.
To freshen the air in your car - Place a sheet of Bounce under the front seat.
Clean baked-on foods from a cooking pan. Put a sheet in a pan, fill with water, let sit overnight, and sponge clean. The anti-static agent apparently weakens the bond between the food and the pan.
Eliminate odors in wastebaskets. Place a sheet of Bounce at the bottom of the wastebasket.
Collect cat hair. Rubbing the area with a sheet of Bounce will magnetically attract all the lose hairs.
Eliminate static electricity from Venetian blinds. Wipe the blinds with a sheet of Bounce to prevent dust from resettling.
Wipe up sawdust from drilling or sand papering. A used sheet of Bounce will collect sawdust like a tack cloth.
Eliminate odors in dirty laundry. Place an individual sheet of Bounce at the bottom of a laundry bag or hamper.
Deodorize shoes or sneakers. Place a sheet of Bounce in your shoes or sneakers overnight.
Golfers put a Bounce sheet in their back pocket to keep the bees away.
Put a Bounce sheet in your sleeping bag and tent before folding and storing them. It will keep them smelling fresh.
The guy I bought traps from a long time ago told me to tie a short bit of dental floss to the mechanism. According to him, mice like string and such for nesting materials and may trip the trap by trying to take the floss. Especially if it smells like spray cheese or peanut butter I suppose.
I’ve also heard that peppermint essential oil repels mice. I haven’t read about Bounce repelling them, but I suppose there’s no harm in trying it. Maybe you could add peppermint essential oil to a bounce sheet and cover all the bases that way.
Spread dryer sheets around your foundation? How’s that supposed to work? I can already hear my neighbors complaining about my dryer sheets blowing across their yard…
I wonder if spraying Febreeze would do the trick instead?
I take a bit of flour tortilla, and fold a shmear of peanut butter or nutella into it, like a mouse quesadilla. Wedge it firmly into the bait “clip”. The tortilla is a bit leathery, and the mouse must tug on it a bit in order to free it. Ka-shnap!
I want a cat. Cant have an outdoor cat until I figure out how to get the outdoor dogs to not harm it. The leader of the pack is very big and very territorial.
As for an indoor cat, the SO’s youngest is allergic. However… I’m thinking once the house is clutter-free and carpets replaced with wood or laminate flooring and regular dusting takes place, the allergies(reactions) will not be as severe and perhaps we will be able to accomodate a cat. My ex was allergic & he had cats at his parents. They made him take his medicine & kept a child gate in front of his bedroom door to keep the cats out of his room
Someone tried it out and here’s a linky from Snopes:
Many of the suggestions just don’t work. Your list appears to have had other uses added to it since the original one showed up on Snopes.
Honestly I can’t imagine that fabric softener will repel mice or rats. I have done battle with roof rats and looking at the godawful messes that they leave I don’t think that a critter which isn’t repulsed by its buddies pee and poop will go “Fresh clean scent? Pack the kids Helen, we’re moving out!”
You’ll have far better luck in the long run with your first idea - get the SO to mouseproof his home. Better yet help him out because he’ll need to find every possible opening larger than about 1/4" (for mice) and seal it up. That’s a lot of crawling around with a flashlight, emptying out cupboards, tacking fine wire mesh into place, boarding up bigger holes, getting busy with the expanding foam sealant, etc. Mice are annoying but they aren’t as imposing as rats.
If he’s allergic to cats how about a nice cuddly snake? FOAF had their snake get loose and crawl into the walls. It stayed there for about a month, came out looking quite well fed and they had no more rodent problems…
I highly doubt dryer sheets repel mice. I keep catching them in my garage, coming in the former hole for the dryer vent hose around which there are always several dropped dryer sheets.
I don’t know if Bounce repels mice, but I do know that when I lived in a very dry climate, I used to put a sheet inside my computer CPU case to help keep the static electricity down. I have no idea if it really worked or not, but it made me feel better.
I’d send you my cat if you could figure out a way to keep her safe from nasty dogs. She’s a terrific mouser, as well as wreaking havoc on the chipmunk population one place we lived.
Wish I would’ve read the post before throwing those damn wheets around… oh well, maybe the closets and cupboards will smell a little better.
Teela - gonna try your suggestion. I think the SO needs a little convincing that spray-cheese from a can is not the best bait to use.
Opalcat - I luv ya, and i appreciate your ability to empathize with the small furry creatures. These mice are wild and can carry diseases (or carry hosts that carry diseases). I’m sorry, what was that - humans carry diseases? Why yes, yes they do! But guess what - they are easier to catch & treat. And, most humans do not scratch out your walls to get in and pee and poop on your countertops, pans, floors, etc. and contanimate your food supply. They also do not multiply as fast as mice. Sure, I could catch and release, but i prefer to practice “population control”.
I do not have a problem with rodents or bugs as long as they stay outside with nature & dont bother me (ants and misquitos that bite me are going to be smashed - ok?!)
Between the time I posted that and now, this has occurred:
I saw a big fat rat in our backyard, in the vicinity of my raised bed which contains several rows of French carrots just ready to harvest.
I went to the store and bought some rattraps and tortillas.
I did the tortilla bait thing described above, using Nutella.
SNAP
One big fat dead rat. It was fat because it looks like it was a mama rat just getting ready to spawn a litter of ratlings. Got her just in time.
So I can testify to the effectiveness of this bait. Hey, I can barely resist Nutella, so I can understand the rats’ eagerness to go for this temptation.
Bounce is awesomeness. A Doper once kindly mailed me a hugemongous box of Bounce since I am deprived of it here. It went into storage when I moved a couple of years ago, and when we finally got our stuff out, one suitcase smelled of heavenly, wonderful spring freshness.
Made me wish I had been smart enough to stick a few sheets in all of the suitcases and boxes!
You may have a mouse trap that does not trip at the slightest movement or applied pressure. Went through a couple spoonfuls of PB to learn that lately.
Tweakage of the existing release mechanism will do the trick- test your efforts with a skewer or such.