Bought some electronic Rodent Repellers which didn’t seem to work in the past, Mice just snickered at me as they scurried about their business. Will be buying DeCon and mouse traps and laying them out now as the field country mice will be surging in to visit my house mice. Read someone was buying mint to deter them. We discussed this last year, but its always good to have newcomers read these threads and put in their own 2 cents. Since so many are stocking up, I’m sure there will be explosions of the mouse population in your houses. If you see one, and I saw one there are many more. I was tempted to pounce on it like a cat, but I restrained myself. The most effective is the old mouse trap that you bait, at least you see the darn thing is dead, whereas the glue traps just vanish with the attatched mouse.
I keep hearing that genuine peppermint oil repels just about everything.
I’ve had to deal with this a couple of months ago when “Charley” took residence in our pantry. As Charley was a fairly well behaved mouse, we first tried to go the humaine way. Bought “humaine” traps, put chocolate in them and waited to take Charley back to the fields. Charley would take the chocolate and leave a nice thank you note behind. Finally, after a week, we came to a Family concensus that Charley could be a “girl” and that her offspring would not be good for our “preps”.
I’m ashamed to admit that we put poison all over the house, and Charley, soon stopped all activity. I then cleaned out our pantry (under the stairs) and found what was left of Charley. He was given a decent burial in the garden and then I set off finding out how he got in. I found a hole in the kitchen door just big enough for a mouse to get through, so I sealed it.
So what have I learned from this? There is no other way to get around the problem than poison. It comes in the form of wheat laced with it. Make sure there no holes around where they can get in. The mice need a way in. Rats are a huge problem as they are very intelligent and will find a way.
In the UK Rentokil sells mouse and rat poison and it’s very cheap. You can buy it at any supermarket. I have put it all over the house, mainly under the floor boards. It works for over a year.
The electric things are a joke. Don’t waste your money. I will look into peppermint oil.
The other thing that work very well are cats, you have to stop feeding them and they will go out and hunt. I’m not a cat lover but I’m glad my neighbors all have them.
I used electronic deterents and they work very well. You just need more of them and also make sure they are not blocked by furniture and stuff, as the ultrasound waves can’t go round corners!
We just discovered evidence of field mice in our house. We tried some traps that use some kind of scented bait but they didn’t work. I hate the thought of killing the poor little critters. I wish I didn’t feel sorry for them. Is there a more humane way to get rid of mice?
I saw some traps online that let you catch the mice alive in a cage so that you can release them back into the wild but I read that mice have a very strong homing instinct and will find their way back. Anyone here ever try them?
Peanut butter is the best thing to use in traps-it has a strong smell, but mice can’t carry it away like they could a piece of chocolate or cheese.
Oh yes, the humane way to deal with mice-thats quite a quandry. On the one hand, I really hate to take the life of a living creature. On the other hand, I hate to lose valuable preps, and risk the chance of my family getting the Hanta Virus, a very small chance to be sure, but one that is still there. Mice are not quite the disease carriers that rats are, but they still carry germs and fleas.
My biggest complaint, however is the damage they can do, plus, I will admit that I am afraid of them. I know I know, They can’t hurt me etc etc, I know all the arguments, but I would ten times rather deal with a snake or a spider than a mouse. So I havn’t used one of the “Hav-a-heart” traps-the idea of picking up a wire basket with a live mouse in it is something out of one of my worst nightmares.
I have found peppermint to be a DETERAINT which means they will chew through the non-peppermint scented stuff before they chew through the peppermint scented stuff.
Look for a product called Rodetrol. It’s a non-poisonous pellet made of corn products and molasses. I used it for a mouse infestation in our garage last fall and it worked quite well. It contains no poison, but instead works to block water absorption in the animals gut. I noticed that their website just has a page saying that they’re reformulating it and it’s unavailable right now but should be back this fall. Some stores may still have it in stock, and if you google *rodetrol* you’ll find some internet places that still have it available.
Before I knew of the Rodetrol I had a SEVERE mouse infestation in my basement pantry. I tried regular wooden spring-loaded mouse traps (slow, tedious, and not very effective when dealing with dozens of mice), poison (Ummm, good candy, I like this almost as much as the other stuff), the metal humane trap (wouldn’t even go near the thing no matter what bait I used), and finally resorted to glue traps, even though I really think they’re inhumane. The glue traps worked, I could catch 3–5 mice on each trap.
Cats are the ticket.
Please don’t stop feeding them. They will hunt even with a bowl of dry cat food available at all times. They really do hunt because their instincts are so strong. There is no need to make them hungry and miserable. Being hungry may make them eat thei mice they catch, but they will catch mice hungry or fed.
When we moved to the country we had mice everywhere, until we got a cat. Now we have 3 cats, and the only mice we see are the “gifts” our cats bring to us and drop nicely on the front step. Our preps are safe in the cellar, so long as we allow the cats access to the cellar for regular kitty patrols.
Plus, cats are just wonderful animals to have around. They get along great with the dogs too. I recommend adopting a stray. Strays seeem to be better at surviving predators from the woods (coyotes, fishers etc.) and also a bit more scrappy when it comes to hunting rodents. They are also grateful for a home and will demonstrate their feelings by regularly bringing you “food”… after all, humans are such poor hunters and our cats feel they must take care of us. :)
Green Mom – at 08:55 - lol, I couldn’t use chocolate as bait, I’d eat it all myself! I’m also scared of mice yet I think they’re kind of cute even though I know they carry disease and will eat my preps etc. I’d have trouble touching the Have a Heart trap, too. I guess I wasn’t really thinking it through. Eek.
Kim – at 09:38 - it doesn’t surprise me that mice are too smart for to fall for the Have A Heart Traps. They’re clever little things, aren’t they? I know I couldn’t bring myself to use those glue traps, even though they may work well. I think I have to just toughen up and get that Rodentrol, as you suggested. Thanks for the advice!
And I just want to put a NO vote in for poisons.
1) the animal dies somewhere you can’t get at it, and creates and aweful stink. 2) other creatures eat the poison such as your pets or your children. Bad idea. 3) poisoned mice are eaten by wild creatures, who then get poisoned, not good for your local wildlife. 4) Poisons are not pleasant ways to die. Some cause uncontrolled internal bleeding, others equally unpleasant and slow deaths. Why torture the mice? They are creatures too, who feel pain for sure. They are just trying to live their little lives and are not our mortal enemies.
If you won’t get a cat, and you are determined to kill the mice, get spring traps and bait with peanut butter. It always works. You can re-use the traps or toss the trap and the mouse if you don’t want to handle the little corpse. The traps are very inexpensive. Its a quick and humane death, unlike those glue traps that slowly kill the mouse from thirst and starvation. Ugh.
ColdClimatePrepper – at 10:17 - I love cats! My problem is that we don’t live in the house where we keep our preps. We go there every couple of weeks but I’m afraid if we got a cat or 2 they wouldn’t get enough attention, even if we paid a pet sitter to come and feed them, etc.
One more suggestion! (sorry for so many posts in a row)
MOUSE PROOF your preps. That is the simplest most effective solution and avoids having to wage war against rodents.
Plastic bins from Wally world or BJ’s type stores are quite cheap, and you can store lots of bags of rice or whatever in these bins. Another benefit is the bin provides a dry and stable climate for your food that will extend its shelf life.
If the rodents can’t get to your food, they won’t stay and be a problem for you.
knowall: Yeah, I agree the cats would not be happy alone in the house. They are social creatures. Perhaps a combination of plastic bins to mouse proof your preps, and a few strategically placed spring traps, will take care of your problem.
ColdClimatePrepper – at 10:32 - Maybe instead of paying a pet sitter, I’ll pay someone to take the spring traps away for me so I don’t have to touch them! ;) I don’t want to use poison for the reasons you mentioned. The real problem is that I’m a wimp! Its probably best for everyone including the mouse and the environment to just use the spring traps. Thanks for reminding me about that.
knowall: You sound like a really compassionate person (wanting to set hav-a-heart traps) I would bet if you just mouse proof all your stuff, your preps should be safe. Unless the mice are really desparate, they won’t chew through a plastic bin. I’ve had chicken feed and bird seed (sunflower seed is a mouse favorite) stored in a plastic bin in the cellar for several years with no problems. Of course we have cats to keep the mice at bay as well, though there are occational mouse visitors as evident from a dropping here or there.
I figure its like living with bears in the area. Make sure they cannot get at your garbage or bird feeder, and you won’t have problems. Its much easier to mouse-proof than to “bear-proof” and we’ve had to do both. ;)
ColdClimatePrepper – at 10:38 - You’re right about prevention being the best cure. I’ve done my best to mouse-proof the preps, everything is in heavy-duty (food grade!) containers but I think what we really need to do is figure out how they’re getting inside in the first place. They’ve made a big, comfy, 4-star “mouse-hotel” in our attic. We found a couple of entryways and plugged them up with steel wool, but the little guys are still getting in. They’re really persistent! (Bears are too, thank goodness they don’t want to make nests inside our houses!)
In the “other pests” department, we have to make sure that everything in our usual food cupboards as well as in the “other” building where we store our preps, is in glass or heavy plastic food-grade containers with tightly sealing lids. This is required to keep away the little moths we locally call “millers”…they will get into any grain or nut product without fail and leave larvae and webs. Storing anything in cardboard boxes is out of the question because of these lovely little fliers.
Back to mice. When we stored our food supplies in an older building that “leaked mice”, we found that they would chew through plastic milk bottle types of containers, but not the heavier opaque white plastic jugs that we ordered for storage purposes. Also one of the more effective repellents against mice we found to be those little white sheets people put in the dryer (one trade name is “Bounce”). Mice evidently dislike the smell quite alot, as do I, LOL. MY DH spread them around the room in which we were storing our stuff, and they worked quite well at keeping the mice away. Fortunately, we are now storing in a more secure building. No mice, and no time-consuming cleanup, thank goodness! Boy can they make a mess, but we prefer not using poisons.
I had a white tailed mouse I called Super Mouse. It became a game of sorts, I would catch him or her in a Have a Heart trap, mark its fur so I would know it, realeased it further and further from the house. On his 3rd return, I ended up flushing him down a toilet, not without a struggle. He kept leaping out, finally I slammed down the lid quickly and down he went. I figured he was a three time loser. Now I don’t feel any compunction on getting rid of them, though I hate the spring traps, and the glue traps. Now with the avian flu virus, ticks on white tailed field mice and Hanta Virus I feel less magnaminious. Just looking at the rats drinking the milk from bowls in India at a temple that reveres life gave me the willies.I think we all have soft hearts, and don’t want to destroy life, or cause uneeded agony in any creature, but they are alive, they do excrete, they are destructive, and if you are storing anything, they will chew it or eat it if at all chewable. So I overcame my squeemishness. It’s the start of their search for warm snug quarters, Not ready to adopt a homeless cat yet. Their urine does discourage mice… A new product for someone to develope synthetically cat, tiger and lion urine. I’m sure that a good whiff would discourage even us..
If you’ve ever had a mouse or rat infestation you know just how much destruction they can cause. It’s not only the food and storage containers that they destroy, but their urine and feces (which there is a LOT of) stink to high heaven. I’m normally a live and let live kind of person, and have a truly soft spot for animals, but when dozens of them move in my attitude is “it’s them or me, and I’m not moving”. I don’t like using poison because I think many times it causes the animal to suffer, I’m afraid my dog will get into it, and it usually kills them fairly quickly so they die inside the house and cause a *stinking* problem. The Hav-A-Hart traps seem worthless. Sticky traps do work, and actually fairly quickly. I think the critters die of a heart attack long before they starve or dehydrate. I do like the Rodetrol because it works fairly slowly (they have to eat it for about 3 days before it starts making them feel icky, then they wander away somewhere to die), it won’t hurt my dog if he eats it (affects mice, rats and ground squirrels only… something about the way their intestines absorb water & nutrients), and won’t hurt any other animal that may eat an animal that’s ingested the Rodetrol. I can’t have a cat again because DH is allergic to them.
And beehiver, thanks for the tip on the Bounce dryer sheets being a deterrent to mice. They’re also supposed to be good for repelling flies and mosquitoes. I’ll have to stock up on the Bounce dryer sheets and spread them around in my prep storage area just before the weather turns cool.
Black Kat sticky traps!
We had a pretty bad field mouse problem in the house we had in North FL. Problem was we weren’t there but a week out of a month so they felt that the place was more their’s than ours. <grin> Reckon we spent all that time and money to build them a house all their own and actually stock it with gourmet food items … avoiding owls and having breakfast in bed, naturally they didn’t get evicted without a battle royale. <grin>
The thing about traps of any variety means that you kind of have to know their travel patterns. Got “lucky” enough to figure this out from sight as well as shavings and other “evidence.” So I left sticky pads out and caught at least a dozen of the little boogers. Then I found places to fill with steel wool and then caulk it in with expanding foam. No more holes … but we still had mouse already in residence.
We used (and use) the electronic rodent repeller thingies. They do work …. drove them into another area of the house where we caught the last few.
The other thing to remember is to keep your traps — of any variety — “fresh.” Dust will settle on sticky pads and make them useless. Food left in manual traps becomes stale and less appealing that “fresh” food from other sources. Etc.
Be vigilant and don’t let a problem fester … varmints of any flavor have a bad habit of multiplying exponentially unless their breeding cycle is broken.
I know I said that before, but I’m curious that no one else seems to have used electronic pest control successfully. I bought a couple of these gadgets and from that day onwards our vermin problem disappeared. So I just thought I will post this again in case any of you haven’t tried it yet.
These ones work by a dual mechanism, first by turning the whole electric circuit of your house into some electromagnetic field, and secondly emitting ultrasonic waves in the room where the unit is. I have a fairly large house, and 2 sets of these did the job perfectly. I don’t know if you have the same product in the US, but make sure you look for the ones that have that dual function.
anon_22 – at 13:56
Oh … those electronic thingies do work, or worked for us. But due to the design of the house we are using them in we were only using them in the areas that were being affected by the mice.
The result was … so obviously they were working … that the mice stopped frequenting the areas that the electronic devices were covering and moved into areas of the house that should have been less hospitable for them; a poor, second choice so to speak.
Beehiver-thanks for the Bounce tip-you know I had to store some blankets in a chest of drawers in our basement-(where the mice are)I put several dryer sheets in each drawer to keep the blankets from smelling musty, but now that I think about it-hey! no mice! Cool.
Ive been lucky NOT too have the “millers” (we call them “Pantry Moths” I’m sure theyre the same thing. But have had them in other houses. You are so right- DO NOT store stuff in cardboard! Also larger cardboard boxes can harbour roaches. I will hardly let any kind of cardboard box into my house-I compost them in the garden. I also use Bay leaves stufed in tiny cracks in my pantry-along the door frame, etc. That also really works on pantry bugs.
Kathy in FL – at 14:09
:-)
I got clever. I bought more than one set.
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