Topic: Mouses (Read 7751 times)

Demosthenes · « **on:** May 07, 2007, 11:38:34 AM »

So... any of you enterprising individuals have some good vermin hunting advice?

I have mouse problems all of the sudden, and so far only my four-legged mousetraps (read: my two cats) have been effective in killing the little rodents.

Every morning I find that the bastards have stolen my bait from my traps without setting them off at all.

I'm using the traditional spring driven mousetraps, and peanut butter as the bait. These little bastards must have a light touch, because the traps are set off just by bumping the base a little bit, much less the bait pan.

Any ideas?

BTW, I have sealed up the one area by which I believe they've been getting in; I'm just dealing with the ones that must still be in the house.

hackess · « **Reply #1 on:** May 07, 2007, 11:44:34 AM »

Meeces!

We accidentally caught a mouse once with a roach trap. Super sticky pad + fur = not going anywhere.

ivan · « **Reply #2 on:** May 07, 2007, 12:00:13 PM »

Poison is out if you have cats. The sticky pads made for mice are gruesome -- the poor things slowly suffocate. There are modern variations on the old spring-style trap that might be more reliable. Also, there are box traps that allow the mouse to crawl in, but not out.

When we lived in our rustic cabin, I had problems with larger rodents, so I used the big spring-loaded rat traps. One time, this big rat got his hind leg caught in one, and then he ran head-long into a second one. So there he was, at 3 o'clock in the morning, runing around the place like a maniac banging the traps against the furniture. I had to catch him, take him outside and chop his head off with an axe.

BizB · « **Reply #3 on:** May 07, 2007, 12:29:23 PM »

Were you naked?

Demosthenes · « **Reply #4 on:** May 07, 2007, 12:34:29 PM »

Yeah, the glue trap is one area I won't go... not with mammals anyway.

I have a live trap that I think I might try. I figure I can put peanut butter on both sides of the bait pan and the mouse would pretty much have to trigger the trap just to reach the bait.

TheJudge · « **Reply #5 on:** May 07, 2007, 12:43:30 PM »

Try putting a peanut on the mouse trap.

RelandR · « **Reply #6 on:** May 07, 2007, 12:53:06 PM »

Poisons suck even for the intended victim because as often as not, they crawl off into some inaccessable part of the building to die ... giving your home that "Ode de Dead Crittair" smell forever.

I'd vote for the live trap idea.

Demosthenes · « **Reply #7 on:** May 07, 2007, 12:58:07 PM »

Quote from: RelandR on May 07, 2007, 12:53:06 PM

Poisons suck even for the intended victim because as often as not, they crawl off into some inaccessable part of the building to die ... giving your home that "Ode de Dead Crittair" smell forever.

I can vouch for that. The other day I noticed a rather sour odor coming from one room in my house. I decided to thoroughly clean and use carpet deodorizer and stuff, and while I was moving things I discovered a dead mouse underneath something. It wasn't poisoned, because I'm not using poison.

Near as I can figure the cats tormented the poor thing all night and it crawled under there and died. Unfortunatly, I didn't discover it for a few days, and it started to stink.

pbsaurus · « **Reply #8 on:** May 07, 2007, 01:10:04 PM »

The one way entry traps with bait are the best. That way they go in, don't escape, eat the bait and die quickly so they don't suffer.

BizB · « **Reply #9 on:** May 07, 2007, 01:15:56 PM »

But live-traps double as cat toys until you wake up the next day.

ivan · « **Reply #10 on:** May 07, 2007, 01:29:58 PM »

No. Jeans.

And very little else.

buddamus · « **Reply #11 on:** May 07, 2007, 01:37:28 PM »

The good thing about mice is that you dont have rats, they dont like to live together.
try this http://vaiden.net/mouse_trap_game.jpg

jeee · « **Reply #12 on:** May 07, 2007, 03:34:05 PM »

Demo, here's an idea for you:

http://www.instructables.com/id/EM1O9XJF0YPF7M5/

Agent_Tachyon · « **Reply #13 on:** May 07, 2007, 09:24:05 PM »

You've got to destroy the house, it's the only way.

Evonus · « **Reply #14 on:** May 07, 2007, 10:05:07 PM »

I so thought this topic was going to be about computer mouses. I'm disapointed.

Anyway, I've been luck enough to not have mice in any of the houses I've lived in since I was 3.

Agent_Tachyon · « **Reply #15 on:** May 07, 2007, 10:07:23 PM »

We got a kitten to kill some mice in my dad's house one time and one day it was scratching at the carpet and we eventually pulled it up to find a mouse that had somehow gotten under there and was crushed flat. It was weird, like a pressed leaf or a fossilized archaeopterix or something...I may have a picture somewhere.

Apollyon · « **Reply #16 on:** May 07, 2007, 11:08:40 PM »

We have 4 cats outside and 2 inside not to mention our neighbors cats who like to come over. I havent seen a mouse in a long time... well if you dont count the ones the cats bring up and drop on my front porch. Always a good start to a day to step out the door right onto a half chewed up rodent carcass

Demosthenes · « **Reply #17 on:** May 08, 2007, 09:09:52 AM »

I'm going to need to explore different traps.

I want to aim a video camera at this corner of my basement. If I do, I'm sure I'll capture video of a mouse levitating. I am utterly dumbfounded at how this thing is walking into this live trap I set last night, walking across the bait pan (which can trigger the trap if you so much as blow on it) and cleaning off every speck of peanut butter I put on it.

TheJudge · « **Reply #18 on:** May 08, 2007, 09:13:22 AM »

Try the peanut thing. Serioulsy!

Demosthenes · « **Reply #19 on:** May 08, 2007, 09:31:40 AM »

Quote from: TheJudge on May 08, 2007, 09:13:22 AM

Try the peanut thing. Serioulsy!

How would that help?

dcrog · « **Reply #20 on:** May 08, 2007, 11:28:26 AM »

It's been a lot of years since we've had any problems with meeces, but how anything could get the peanut butter off of a trap without setting it off sounds pretty strange. That was always the best bait that I ever used.

Demosthenes · « **Reply #21 on:** May 09, 2007, 11:39:08 AM »

Aha, success!

I set out a couple of these last night, with peanut butter again as bait, and a healthy dose of skepticism.

Even though these aren't any more sensitive than the other traps I've tried, I killed two mice with them last night.

Don't care. It worked.

Agent_Tachyon · « **Reply #22 on:** May 09, 2007, 12:09:39 PM »

I used one of those one time, I remember it was a bit ickier than the usual one somehow.

Demosthenes · « **Reply #23 on:** May 09, 2007, 12:30:53 PM »

Not particularly. It just snaps shut and breaks their necks, like any snap trap.

ivan · « **Reply #24 on:** May 09, 2007, 12:52:44 PM »

It may seem brutal, but I think it's actually pretty quick. I considered live traps, but it seemed useless to catch and release them, considering that I am actually inhabitting their environment. Where would I release them, into the sewers of New York? So I compromised with my squeamishness and decided that killing the ones that penetrated my defenses (walls and cats) would not be a crime against nature. The last unfortunate rat that was killed by one of my traps was a smallish creature with big ears and luminous eyes. It was cute. It had gotten into the barn and was making a horrid filthy mess -- amazing how much one little rat can poop -- and I had to wash and sanitize everything it affected. It eluded my traps for days, until one night I thought I discerned a heavier than usual scattering of spoor along one particular wall, under a low cabinet. I slid a rat-trap under there, and after a few minutes, just as I was about to walk out the door, I heard a violent snap. I rushed to the trap and dropped to my knees just in time to see the rat give two or three convulsive heaves before it expired. Those 3 or 4 seconds may have seemed an eternity to the rat, but how much less of an agonizing hell it must have been compared to the protracted torture inflicted upon its brethren by my tom cat, who likes to hobble rats and then toss them about like hacky sacks until they die of sheer despair.

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Author Topic: Mouses (Read 7751 times)