[mikea46996]

Ok first some background...

I live out in the country with a barn full of horses and hay and grain, surrounded by corn and bean fields. Every winter I have a field mouse problem, I am a very clean person so please don't assume that is why I have the problem. I have foamed every nock and cranny I could find yet the little bastards still manage to get in my home. (Starting to think they are sneaking in behind me when I am carrying supplies in.)

I have not yet had a problem with them getting into my stores of non-perishable goods but I am worried they may. I have about 5 barn cats on and off so they keep the barn relatively rodent free but I do NOT want a cat in my home. I think these are intelligent mice because the little ****s steal the peanut butter off the traps and never trip them.

Does anyone have any good home made ideas? I do not want some outsider from some pest place in my home I have too many different items I don't want to be seen and don't believe in advertising the fact I could probably survive Armmagedon without bugging out. I also think the fact that I burn wood maybe how they are getting in I bring it in by the arm full so I wouldn't think so but who knows.

 

[FXjohn]

metal boxes.

 

[melody]

You can get some of that mice/rat poison in pellet packets (decon or some other brand) and drop some of the packets on the floor around the preps, as long as you don't have any little people around to pick the packets up.

Or reconsider getting a cat, I can send you one if you want.:

 

[Becka]

Try baiting your traps with bacon and tie with a small string or dental floss so they can't snatch it off. So far, our peanut butter lickin' mice always meet their doom with the bacon. Or, you could get the big sticky rat traps and put them around the preps. Just be prepared to check it often.

 

[birdman]

...Does anyone have any good home made ideas? I do not want some outsider from some pest place in my home I have too many different items I don't want to be seen and don't believe in advertising the fact I could probably survive Armmagedon without bugging out. I also think the fact that I burn wood maybe how they are getting in I bring it in by the arm full so I wouldn't think so but who knows.

I use the Hav-a-hart traps with great success. Keep in mind mice and rats follow the walls and are afraid of new stuff. Leave the traps in place baited or not, for a few days before setting the trap. As mentioned before use strings with bacon fat to make them trip the trap...

Allan

 

[Black Knight]

I've heard that you can fill up a sink half way, then put a plank on the counter that dangles over the water. Place food at the end of the plank. In theory the mouse ventures out on the plank and falls into the water, plank and all. At that point, the mouse drowns.

I don't know if this works, but I can't imagine why it wouldn't.

 

[SteveB]

Don't know if it works, but sounds like a good idea.

http://www.ratzapper.com/

 

[mikea46996]

Walk the plank

I've heard that you can fill up a sink half way, then put a plank on the counter that dangles over the water. Place food at the end of the plank. In theory the mouse ventures out on the plank and falls into the water, plank and all. At that point, the mouse drowns.

I don't know if this works, but I can't imagine why it wouldn't.

Thanks for all the great suggestions I am going to try the sticky trap things I think. I kinda like this one though would make me feel like a pirate.... Eyyyye walk the plank mousy...
:

 

[Texas mom]

You can get some of that mice/rat poison in pellet packets (decon or some other brand) and drop some of the packets on the floor around the preps, as long as you don't have any little people around to pick the packets up.

Or reconsider getting a cat, I can send you one if you want.:

Don't use poison, unless you are prepared for the little critters to die in your wall or some other not-easily-reached place and stink up your house for a few weeks. Not to mention the flies and maggots that will accompany the deceased.

 

[TAKEZO]

You cats may eat poisoned rats--so don't poison them.
Sticky traps may work. But then you have to look them in the eye when you catch them.

Can you do it? lol

t

 

[Highlander]

Try some sticky traps. They are like the roach motel---but for rodents.

 

[Off Grid Survival]

Don't use poison, you don't want that crap in your house.... use the sticky traps, but don't use peanut butter because the fats dissolve the adhesive and the mice won't stick to the trap. Bait the traps with a piece of cereal.

If you use them you want them right up against the baseboards of the wall. They also make traps with one way doors that lets them in and doesn't let them out, just don't get the cheap ones cause hey won't work.

Also if you see one mouse it ussually means there are at least 10-15 as that is how many are usually in a nest.

Keep in mind that the little nasty creatures can squeeze in through a hole about the size of a dime.

 

[1911HeadBanger]

OK, I live in the country and had this type of problem at the barn and later in the storage room of my house. I used rat poison that was the yellow solid brick type. The little guys eat on it and it causes them to be very thirsty as they are dying. They try to get back outside to water. My cats were never harmed by poisoned mice. I did "occassionally" have a small mouse die inside the wall and it smelled a little for a day or two. Most made it back outside, where they moved much slower than normal and were scooped up by hawks.
I stored my dry bulk stuff in plastic 5 and 10 gallon buckets with sealed lids from Home Depot. Canned good of course were no problem. I never had a case of MRE's get attacked by rodents. I don't know if they can't smell the food ot what, but it never happened. A friend of mine was worried about his MRE's so he would open the cases, and put the individual MRE's in a metal foot locker type box and had no problems.
Another thing I did, was use snakes. I've messed around with snakes for years as pets and studied them as a hobby when I was younger. I sometimes would see a rat snake or king snake on the road or in a field. I kept a pillow case in my truck. I would catch them, put them in the pillow case and tie the opening shut, take them home and turn them loose in the barn and my storage sheds out back. The rats and mice haven't got a chance. The snakes will hang around as long as they have a food source and move on after they have anilated the population. And you don't have to worry about rat snakes and king snakes being poisonous. They usually go the other way when they see humans. But you would hardly ever see one. Occassionally I would see a snake eat an egg in the hen house, but what the heck. He earned it. If he kept the rodent population down, he can have an occassional egg out of the 10 or 12 eggs I get a day. I also saw a king snake kill and eat a copperhead once. They can eat all of those they want. I have never had a problem with poisonous snakes. I've seen 2 in the 15 years I've lived here.

 

[Kalifornia Guy]

I'v had the same problem they would fit thru pipe cut outs and run around, We have 10 cats around that catch most Mice, Rats and Gophers outside the house, then we get one or two mice that are smart so no traps can catch them. Thats when we call for a pro killer named Gizmo, I swear he'll come in and within 5min he knows where the mouse is hiding then the cat just camps out in that area, we go to bed and in the morning he''ll have one or two dead mice laying by his feet just purring away. Same with one out building were I keep feed in I have a cat that lives in the shed (He has his own door) which i have never seen any mice in there since he took it over.

Sorry, I rambled on but Try using one of your cats inside at nite

 

[Grimelda]

I have to say that I think poison and those sticky traps are unnecessarily cruel. I would only use them as a last resort.

We also have a mouse problem in winter because we have an old house with lots of holes in it and they come in out of the cold. We use whole pumpkin seeds as bait. The mice love them and they can't tug them free or chew on them without setting off the trap. I don't use anything else now.

 

[Thedishdoc]

OK, I live in the country and had this type of problem at the barn and later in the storage room of my house. I used rat poison that was the yellow solid brick type. The little guys eat on it and it causes them to be very thirsty as they are dying. They try to get back outside to water. My cats were never harmed by poisoned mice. I did "occassionally" have a small mouse die inside the wall and it smelled a little for a day or two. Most made it back outside, where they moved much slower than normal and were scooped up by hawks.
I stored my dry bulk stuff in plastic 5 and 10 gallon buckets with sealed lids from Home Depot. Canned good of course were no problem. I never had a case of MRE's get attacked by rodents. I don't know if they can't smell the food ot what, but it never happened. A friend of mine was worried about his MRE's so he would open the cases, and put the individual MRE's in a metal foot locker type box and had no problems.
Another thing I did, was use snakes. I've messed around with snakes for years as pets and studied them as a hobby when I was younger. I sometimes would see a rat snake or king snake on the road or in a field. I kept a pillow case in my truck. I would catch them, put them in the pillow case and tie the opening shut, take them home and turn them loose in the barn and my storage sheds out back. The rats and mice haven't got a chance. The snakes will hang around as long as they have a food source and move on after they have anilated the population. And you don't have to worry about rat snakes and king snakes being poisonous. They usually go the other way when they see humans. But you would hardly ever see one. Occassionally I would see a snake eat an egg in the hen house, but what the heck. He earned it. If he kept the rodent population down, he can have an occassional egg out of the 10 or 12 eggs I get a day. I also saw a king snake kill and eat a copperhead once. They can eat all of those they want. I have never had a problem with poisonous snakes. I've seen 2 in the 15 years I've lived here.

LOL, that’s funny about the pillow case. I used to carry one in my vehicle also just for that reason. My wife hates snakes. Once I jumped out of the car on the way home from a dinner with my wife. I was wearing a three piece suit and captured a snake I saw crossing the road and the whole time my wife was yelling at me at the top of her lungs. The other cars passing by thought I was crazy also. She could barely ride home in the car even though I put the snake in the trunk. I have ten acres of pasture surrounding my house and every winter when it gets cold the mice come in. The only thing that has really worked for us is poison. We tried glue traps per the exterminator’s advice and they didn’t work very well because we continued to have a problem. I use traps also and they work OK but since I started with the poison, the mouse problem is solved. I have a barn cat also and he’s good for the outside problem, but we don’t let him in. We have a lot of white oak snakes around that help keep the mice under control. I have one that lives in my barn and one that frequents my well pump house. The wife wanted me to kill them but I wouldn’t because I told her “They eat rats” so now she won’t go into those buildings anymore. I had snakes when I was younger also so I don’t have the irrational fear based on ignorance that lots of people have. It’s pretty funny how freaked out a lot of people are about harmless little snakes.

 

[birdman]

I've heard that you can fill up a sink half way, then put a plank on the counter that dangles over the water. Place food at the end of the plank. In theory the mouse ventures out on the plank and falls into the water, plank and all. At that point, the mouse drowns.

I don't know if this works, but I can't imagine why it wouldn't.

Along the same line I've taken a 5 gal bucket 1/2 full of water, cut a small "V" notch on either side of the upper rim. Lay a small dowel in the 2 "V"s. Shove a small ear of corn onto the dowel thru the center of the cob (you could smear peanut butter or whatever on the dowel instead). Mickey goes out on dowel to eat the corn/peanutbutter, the dowel rotates dropping Mickey into the water and he drowns.

I have used it, it works, but not to the degree I would have liked.

OBTW regarding the cat getting poisoned from eating the poisoned mouse, there are poisons that do not have the secondary effect. One such is called "RAMPAGE" < http://www.motomco.com/p_rampage.htm >

Allan

 

[blowgunsgalore]

i have a haveahart rat model...i catcha mouse every time i put it out,its a hi-qual trap

 

[Humungus]

I know they make electronic devices that emit a frequency that humans can't hear but drives animals away. I have never used one, so I don't know if they are effective. Anybody have any experience with these, or know if they are legit?

 

[Becka]

I know they make electronic devices that emit a frequency that humans can't hear but drives animals away. I have never used one, so I don't know if they are effective. Anybody have any experience with these, or know if they are legit?

They work for a while at first, until the rodents finally figure out the noise won't hurt them.