My rodent problem

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musical comedy
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My rodent problem

Postby musical comedy » Thu Apr 18, 2019 9:10 am

Ok laugh, I am sqeamish about rodents.

There is evidence of one or more coming into my kitchen. On the left and right counter of my kitchen sink, there are droppings during the day and night. They are not on any of the other counter tops.

Before this happened I had purchased a few of those ultrasonic things. They don't work, so save you money.

I have put out poison and there is evidence they ate some. I even put out a flat dish of water (don't laugh) because I think water helps the poison work. Still, the droppings appear. There are quite a few droppings which worries me there is more than one of these things. The question is what they want on that counter because there is no food there or even a sticky counter top. It's pristine, and wiped in klorox water. I have even put poison and water below the counter where the plumbing is. That looks like they ate some too.

If husband were alive, he'd put down traps, and then dispose of the dead body. No way can I handle that. I can't explain it how that would bother me to do. During Fall, we would often trap as many as 20 in the basement, and then no more would come.

So that's my gripe for this morning. Any suggestions?

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby Chisamba » Thu Apr 18, 2019 12:35 pm

Do you dislike snakes? A nice rodent eating black snake in the basement will take care of the source.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby kande50 » Thu Apr 18, 2019 12:53 pm

musical comedy wrote:If husband were alive, he'd put down traps, and then dispose of the dead body. No way can I handle that. I can't explain it how that would bother me to do. During Fall, we would often trap as many as 20 in the basement, and then no more would come.


We got over 300 one fall, but thankfully haven't had to participate in another mass slaughter since.

You can throw out the trap with the dead mouse so you don't have to handle it, or you can get an electronic mouse trap and then dump the dead mouse out.

I like the electronic ones because they're all or none, so more humane because either the mouse dies or he gets away, so there are no injured mice still alive in traps. I can kill them, but have to get up at night to do it when I hear them rattling the trap, and that's not what I want to have to get up to deal with in the middle of the night.

So I use the electronic traps, with the snap traps as backups for the ones who won't go into the electronic traps.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby kande50 » Thu Apr 18, 2019 1:14 pm

I've also gone around and stuffed steel wool into all the cracks and entry points (usually around the pipes), although they can get through a hole the size of a dime so it is hard to find all the cracks.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby exvet » Thu Apr 18, 2019 1:27 pm

Probably not an option but it is why I have and have had a small herd for many years of Jack Russells. Of course I have never owned one who didn't do their job well but I will say my females have always been infamous killers - not a squirrel or rodent on the property and rabbits take mind to know when the dogs are going to be in the vicinity (ie, they're only in the yard at night when the dogs are inside with me). Carcasses may still be found but the JRTs can be taught to properly dispose of them (again females learn faster than the males imo).

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby PaulaO » Thu Apr 18, 2019 2:30 pm

A cat?

I had a mouse a few years ago. I baited snap traps and got it under the sink. I almost gagged so I totally understand. I put on rubber gloves and went in with a plastic bag. Put the bag over my gloved hand and picked up trap and mouse. Without looking I turned the bag inside out and went straight to the outdoor garbage. No problem since then, but now I have a cat....

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby WheresMyWhite » Thu Apr 18, 2019 3:27 pm

FWIW, I had Bouviers for many years (yeah, they're not terriers :) ). I had a mouse family visit my living room upon occasion... dad would scoot through along the wall and my dogs would simply supervise... sigh

I can barely handle (literally) the snap traps and considered them one use products. Mouse and trap went in the trash via tongs (no, not the kitchen ones... dedicated ones just for this purpose).

What finally caught 'dad' (and subsequently the rest of the family was "harvested" (really? :) ) fairly quickly was one of those fairly large electronic rat traps... looks like a tunnel. Battery powered. Back "wall" is metal and you can bait with something like peanut butter. Floor is metal so they get zotted pretty quickly. Since the rate trap is large enough to be overkill for a mouse, nice to use as you can pick it up and dump the opening over the trash and not have to see the corpse (other than verify that something is in there). This was the only thing that caught 'dad'... all my other devices just had him laughing.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby Hayburner » Thu Apr 18, 2019 7:01 pm

Even after catching a few I have not gotten over having to touch their dead bodies with that long gross tail.

The best one was many years ago and when I took bath towels out of the washer one dead one flopped out . Omg, I ran screamingly thru the house. My DH wasn't home so I called my dad, he walked me thru picking it up with a paper towel and disposing of it. It was so gross to pick up that wet slimmy tailed mouse!

I had an issue with chipmunks, I made a trap that on YouTube they call it the plank of death..or some I guess like that, I got an old horse water bucket, filled partially with water, top dressed with shelled sunflower seeds, a small board that I slathered on peanut butter and bird seed, propped it against the bucket and low and behold I got a few chipmunks and a mole.

I just dumped the bucket and didn't have to touch the remains.

Good luck, it's not a job for the squimish....

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby texsuze » Thu Apr 18, 2019 7:47 pm

Seconding the electric traps, sold by either Victor or D-Con (can't remember), usually at Tractor Supply. Four (AA?) batteries, self-enclosed death chamber, hinged lid to dump mouse body wherever you want without touching or even seeing it, if you work it right. I've been using one in my chicken run, catching a meece every night 8-) for a while now.

Tractor Supply also carries an enclosed snap trap (looks like a black igloo). Lever at the back gets released when you are ready to dump the body. No touching or seeing (except for tail!) the mouse. They work great but are tricky to set. I think they were intended for single-use but they're too expensive to not try to use again.

Please don't use the baits: mouse eats bait, staggers outside looking to quench thirst in the throes of death, raptor (owl, etc) catches and eats the tainted mouse and gets a dose of the toxic bait, usually resulting in death for poor raptor. The food chain of death for owls etc. who are the "good guys" of rodent control.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby musical comedy » Thu Apr 18, 2019 9:03 pm

I don't like the idea of putting one of those electronic gadgets on my counter top. How do I know if there is something in it? I guess I'm not being clear enough. Even if I can't see it, the thoughts of picking up a container with a dead thing in it is very very very difficult for me.

I don't like killing things, but just how many birds and owls are eating toxic mice?

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby khall » Thu Apr 18, 2019 9:45 pm

I just will not use poisons ever but I have dogs and a cat and owls that are on our property. Not worth the risk IMO

I've had way too much experience with killing rodents lately. We had mice in the kitchen and rats in the barn (still have some rats in the barn, may have to resort to pellet gun for the ones left, they are too smart for traps) I have a DH but he is not much help dealing with the rodents so I've just manned up and done it. Small mice traps and dead mice get thrown out entirely. Rat traps are big and cost a good bit more (found plastic ones that work well for the dumber rats) so I just throw out the dead rat and reuse the traps. My APBT Zoey is a fabulous ratter as well and has caught quite a few this past year. She'll get a mouse if she can as well.

My cat is a great mouser too, though he often won't kill them but play with them alive for awhile. Zoey is quick to kill any small fury rodent.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby musical comedy » Thu Apr 18, 2019 10:48 pm

This thing or things seems to know when I am out. I go in and out of the kitchen a lot and haven't seen it. Yet, if I'm gone for any length of time and go in, there are the droppings. Would you believe I just found droppings in my sink! This is a deep sink. Now tell me how they can climb out of a slippery sink.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby kande50 » Thu Apr 18, 2019 11:10 pm

musical comedy wrote:
I don't like killing things, but just how many birds and owls are eating toxic mice?


Who knows how many, but I just got on facebook and this is one of the first posts I read:

A Place Called Hope
April 14 at 4:22 PM ·
Between the lead cases we have gotten in, and now the influx in Rodenticide Secondary Poisoning cases, we are in battle over here at APCH. Admitted a Great tHorned Owl from a golf course who was a classic case of rodenticide poisoning, and she died after one grand seizure. (This Golf Course DID NOT use rodenticides, but a neighborhood surrounds it) This picture was after she was flipped over since she was discovered face down after a seizure. She is free from her agony, but as we examined her body, we found a brood patch. This means she left an active nest of babies. Long story short, we arrived just in time before crows invaded nest. No dad present, and even if he was, he only drops food off to his family and does not sit on the babies or rip and tear food for little mouths. We presume he has also succumb to the rodenticides since there still has been no sighting of him. We retrieved two young owlets who we feared also ingested poison. They are still alive but one of them was in crisis and is currently guarded. We also took in a Red Tailed Hawk from Madison who responded well to the Vitamin K therapy and is going to survive her secondary poisoning. We got her in time to save her. Often that is not the case. We admitted two more secondary poisoning cases just yesterday... a Coopers Hawk from New Haven and a Red Tailed Hawk from New Britain. Both displaying symptoms and experiencing micro seizures. It may be too late for these two. Time will tell.
PLEASE: STOP USING RODENTICIDES
Your quick fix solution has a long term effect and kills many non-targeted victims. NO, it is NEVER SAFE and your exterminator and the company selling the product is LYING when they tell you it is. It is toxic and it is deadly otherwise it would not kill the mice or rats you are targeting. YES, some need repeat doses so the single dose ingested won't likely kill anything, but over a few doses, it builds up to a level that is deadly and will eventually kill whatever, whomever has ingested it. This must stop but since so many stores still carry this deadly product on their shelves and so many people don't stop to think about the bigger picture, we fear we will continue to fight this battle. We can't tell you how many times we have heard, "I don't want to touch the dead mouse or rat" or "I don't want to see the dead mouse or rat" therefore rodenticide is chosen. If you have the power to take those lives away, then it is on you to do so humanely and responsibly. Find an alternative to poison. Do exclusion work, use a Live trap and relocate, or a Snap Trap, or RatZapper. Our favorite rodent control is to put up Owl Nesting Boxes. I know of someone who collected used ferret bedding to spread near active rodent areas and the mice evacuated. We owe it to our wildlife to make better choices where we are not causing more damage. We at APCH are doing all we can, but we need your help in spreading the anti-rodenticide message. Please alert your friends and family. Thank you for caring and as always thank you for sharing.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby kande50 » Thu Apr 18, 2019 11:36 pm

musical comedy wrote:This thing or things seems to know when I am out. I go in and out of the kitchen a lot and haven't seen it. Yet, if I'm gone for any length of time and go in, there are the droppings. Would you believe I just found droppings in my sink! This is a deep sink. Now tell me how they can climb out of a slippery sink.


Mice are pretty good jumpers. We had a deer mouse colony at work, and when we changed the cages we did it in a big box with tall sides and they'd jump up just like popcorn and run right up over us and get loose. Then we'd have to trap them in live traps in the lab and put them back in their cages.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby Srhorselady » Fri Apr 19, 2019 12:14 am

My 88 year old neighbor has a house mouse problem and won’t do anything that involves killing them. When I check on her (I have weekend duty plus any time her usual helper is unavailable) the mice are frequently skittering across the floor. Ugh! What she does is put out several large supplement buckets (they are almost knee high) with bread in the bottom and the lids diagonally across them. Then she sneaks up on the buckets and slams the lid and releases the mice on her front porch. I suspect the mice are back in the house within an hour. Although she was a long time cat lover, she is no longer willing to take responsibility for owning any pets, so no cats. Sigh.

Personally when the the mice in the barn start getting in my soaking horse supplements on a regular basis, I set traps. Then I drop a paper towel over the results and dump the whole thing in a plastic garbage bag. After about three nights I’m okay for several months.

In your case I’d get either a terrier or a cat. Females are almost always the better hunters. Our Humane Society is running a program with feral cats as barn cats/mousers where they provide a safe haven in the barn. Good luck!

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby musical comedy » Fri Apr 19, 2019 9:09 am

Thanks Kande50 for the educational article. You'd think I would have know that. I will get those electronic devices today or tomorrow.

Cats? No way. How does that solve my problem? Then I'd see a torn apart rodent that the cat killed. Then I'd have to have a litter box and have the responsibility of a cat getting sick. From reading forums, it seems cats always have some kind of health issue. I'd consider one for the barn, but I don't mind the occasional field mouse in there.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby kande50 » Fri Apr 19, 2019 9:49 am

Just had another thought: what about live traps? You'd have to drive them somewhere far enough away to release them, but you wouldn't have to deal with dead ones. Although my experience has been that neither the electronic nor live traps are as effective as the snap traps, but maybe you'll get lucky and yours will all go in the traps, or the wild animals will get them.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby texsuze » Sat Apr 20, 2019 9:27 pm

The electronic traps I use have a green light that starts blinking once a mouse has been zapped inside. As long as batteries are working, they indicate something inside (or not). I have used the no-kill capture traps but one needs to stay vigilant and release the offending rodent before they succumb to starvation.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby musical comedy » Sun Apr 21, 2019 9:59 am

Bought two electronic traps yesterday. This morning there are droppings all around the trap, but the green light is not on which tells me they didn't go inside. I'm not going to look. I'll wait for my farm helper to come and do it.

Yesterday afternoon, I prepared my early dinner and was at the sink washing tomatoes. It was clean. Took my dinner into the other room to eat. When I returned to the kitchen, there were droppings. In a matter of about 15 minutes in another room, those sneaky things came on the counter. I am still baffled by what the heck they want on that particular counter. Furthermore, as I said earlier I had poison down and they ate some and still lived. Apparently there are many of them?

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby WheresMyWhite » Sun Apr 21, 2019 1:35 pm

MC, what did you bait the traps with?

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby texsuze » Sun Apr 21, 2019 6:18 pm

FWIW, I bait my electronic traps with the cheapest peanut butter I can find, tucked back into the corner of the trap near the "hot plate". Doesn't take much, but my country mice prefer fresh PB; if it starts to dry out I touch it up with more fresh PB. Mice can be very cheeky.... ;)

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby musical comedy » Sun Apr 21, 2019 6:38 pm

I used peanut butter. Turns out that I did catch one. However, the green light was not lit. I had my farm worker remove the dead mouse, clean the trap, put down fresh peanut butter and put it back on the counter. Meanwhile, I stuffed aluminum foil around the outside of the plumbing under the sink in case that was their entry.

I've been in and out of the kitchen several times since. My last kitchen visit I was at the sink rinsing blueberries. I have a throw rug in front of the sink. I just went in the kitchen to get a drink and I see something on my throw rug. It was a new born mouse! I took the carpet outside and shook the mouse in the grass. It was still breathing :cry: . I wanted to put it in water and drown it, as I feel that is a quicker death, but I had nothing to scoop it up in.

So, how did it get there? It was not there earlier in the day or I would have seen it. This is freaking me out. I know mice have multiple babies so where are the others. Ick.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby blob » Mon Apr 22, 2019 2:45 am

musical comedy wrote:
Cats? No way. How does that solve my problem? Then I'd see a torn apart rodent that the cat killed. Then I'd have to have a litter box and have the responsibility of a cat getting sick. From reading forums, it seems cats always have some kind of health issue. I'd consider one for the barn, but I don't mind the occasional field mouse in there.


For the record, it's unlikely you'd see torn apart or even dead rodents. Most likely the cat would simply drive them away and keep them away.

And all my cats have been very healthy until the end of their lives (in their late teens/twenties)

But if you're anti cat, the terrier is also a good idea. Even borrowing a friend's for a couple weeks will likely help a lot.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby Koolkat » Mon Apr 22, 2019 5:10 am

musical comedy wrote: I took the carpet outside and shook the mouse in the grass. It was still breathing :cry: . I wanted to put it in water and drown it, as I feel that is a quicker death, but I had nothing to scoop it up in.
.


Don't drown the mouse. What's quick about that? Drop it on the concrete, take a shovel and smash it broadside. Just do it. Don't let it suffer.

I get queasy too, but in a few instances have had to do this. It's not as bad as you might think, you are taking responsibility for the situation. It's about the animal.

I had to do it with a beautiful baby bat, a cat had slashed its wing skin to pieces. And one time with a large :shock: rat that had fallen in the water tank. Dear husband scooped it in a bag and was slamming the barn wall with it :evil: . I put it on the ground and smashed it with a very large rock - virtually instantaneous. You focus on the animal, not yourself.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby musical comedy » Mon Apr 22, 2019 9:37 am

Koolkat wrote:Don't drown the mouse. What's quick about that? Drop it on the concrete, take a shovel and smash it broadside. Just do it. Don't let it suffer.
I don't agree with you on that, but I choose not to argue about it.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby kande50 » Mon Apr 22, 2019 10:56 am

You can put it in a plastic bag and then squeeze as much air out as you can and let them go to sleep. As long as they're breathing the oxygen will be used up, and as the carbon dioxide builds up they'll go to sleep and then never wake up.

Just be sure to leave them in the plastic bag overnight before you bury them, because it can look like they're not breathing and then they'll recover. I keep them warm and in a dark place so that they won't be cold and scared before they go to sleep.

I kill developing pigeon babies in pigeon eggs this way, too. It's too slow for an injured animal, but works for baby mice, unhatched pigeons, and sedated animals. The less air left in the bag/container, the sooner the oxygen will run out and they'll go to sleep.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby kande50 » Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:01 am

musical comedy wrote:
So, how did it get there? It was not there earlier in the day or I would have seen it. This is freaking me out. I know mice have multiple babies so where are the others. Ick.


If the babies are old enough when the mother disappears they'll crawl out of the nest looking for her/food. I once found a whole trail of dead baby mice where they'd crawled out of the nest. Made me feel bad, because if I'd discovered them sooner I could have euthanized them. :-(

Depending on the mobility of that baby, the nest may be close by.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby musical comedy » Mon Apr 22, 2019 1:04 pm

kande50 wrote:If the babies are old enough when the mother disappears they'll crawl out of the nest looking for her/food. I once found a whole trail of dead baby mice where they'd crawled out of the nest. Made me feel bad, because if I'd discovered them sooner I could have euthanized them. :-(

Depending on the mobility of that baby, the nest may be close by.
I found another on the carpet this morning. I am thinking the nest is under the refrigerator. I am not moving it. It'll have to wait until my male farm helper gets here today, IF he even comes.

Will some of them stay in the nest and just die? The one on the carpet was alive, but not really navigating. They move really slowly.

Could I slide some food under the refrigerator to make them stay there until I can get help to remove them?

Edit 10:00am Nothing behind the fridge. Not even any droppings.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby kande50 » Mon Apr 22, 2019 5:17 pm

musical comedy wrote:
Edit 10:00am Nothing behind the fridge. Not even any droppings.


There's not much you can do to keep them in the nest, although if you can find the nest you can euthanize them as they're likely still dependent on the mother and will die from dehydration without her.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby calvin » Mon Apr 22, 2019 6:06 pm

MC,

I have used one of the commercial services with great results and low cost. Yes, they use poison but the better thing is that once on a spring and fall program, there are NO MORE MICE. So, the poison sits in a bait station and is not used. No owls could be harmed, I think. Kande is correct that finding and filling the entry points is a start. 2 outdoor bait stations, but more importantly, indoor bait stations (attic, basement, garage) have solved all of my problems. There are no bodies inside, and even the outdoor stations are usually untouched in 6 months.

As an aside, my service provider comes from a very small country village. His mother simply cannot believe that people will actually PAY MONEY to have someone else deal with their mice. Mum is a practical country gal.

But, I am with you. I do not want to deal with these critters dead or alive. I have been known to rat trap squirrel pests, but the last one was only half deceased and that was not fun.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby Koolkat » Tue Apr 23, 2019 5:46 am

musical comedy wrote:
Koolkat wrote:Don't drown the mouse. What's quick about that? Drop it on the concrete, take a shovel and smash it broadside. Just do it. Don't let it suffer.
I don't agree with you on that, but I choose not to argue about it.


Drowning is not considered an acceptable method of euthanasia by the AVMA, cerebral trauma is (dead bolt/gunshot). Dropping an animal in a bucket is easier for you. Of course, poisoning isn't acceptable either, but that is not the point.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby Chisamba » Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:28 am

Koolkat wrote:
musical comedy wrote:
Koolkat wrote:Don't drown the mouse. What's quick about that? Drop it on the concrete, take a shovel and smash it broadside. Just do it. Don't let it suffer.
I don't agree with you on that, but I choose not to argue about it.


Drowning is not considered an acceptable method of euthanasia by the AVMA, cerebral trauma is (dead bolt/gunshot). Dropping an animal in a bucket is easier for you. Of course, poisoning isn't acceptable either, but that is not the point.

My snake swallows them alive , you should report him to the AVMA.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby Abby Kogler » Tue Apr 23, 2019 4:41 pm

Living with horses and/or in the country means rodents. We have five cats and three dogs. While they do their part (rat guts in the garage this morning) it could never be enough. I put traps in the barn and feed room. I have a 'ratinator' and a ''squirrelinator". When I catch anything in those I put the whole trap in a large black trash bag and I tape it to the exhaust pipe on my truck. I think that is an instant death. All of my neighbors drown them. I cant do that, there are moments of terror I don't want to inflict.

I hate killing stuff but if I have to I want to do it in the safest way possible. We have many owls and hawks and crows and I cant/wont risk poison. So I have to suck it up and do what I dislike in the kindest way possible.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby Koolkat » Tue Apr 23, 2019 5:44 pm

Chisamba wrote:
Koolkat wrote:
musical comedy wrote: I don't agree with you on that, but I choose not to argue about it.


Drowning is not considered an acceptable method of euthanasia by the AVMA, cerebral trauma is (dead bolt/gunshot). Dropping an animal in a bucket is easier for you. Of course, poisoning isn't acceptable either, but that is not the point.

My snake swallows them alive , you should report him to the AVMA.


Very funny (well sort of), but also off the point.
Last edited by Koolkat on Tue Apr 23, 2019 5:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby Koolkat » Tue Apr 23, 2019 5:51 pm

Abby Kogler wrote:Living with horses and/or in the country means rodents.


Our worst problem with mice is that they get into our vehicles. DH had a Miata mouse magnet. Besides chewing up his wiring, seat cushions, cabin filters, the absolute worst incident was when one died in his car and we couldn't find the body - only smell it. . . for a very long time.

Feral cats have us covered in the barn.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby chantal » Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:40 pm

Koolkat wrote:
Abby Kogler wrote:Living with horses and/or in the country means rodents.


Our worst problem with mice is that they get into our vehicles. DH had a Miata mouse magnet. Besides chewing up his wiring, seat cushions, cabin filters, the absolute worst incident was when one died in his car and we couldn't find the body - only smell it. . . for a very long time.

Feral cats have us covered in the barn.


Miata mouse magnet, oh no!! Sorry, but that cracks me up. DH has a 20yo miata project car so I'm hoping it doesn't become a mouse magnet, yikes!

Only thing that works for us is the terrible glue traps. We've tried everything else and don't want to use baits. We have lots of owls and hawks around. And the humane and snap traps won't catch them. And we have lots of woods around us as well.

Sigh.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby kande50 » Wed Apr 24, 2019 10:02 am

Koolkat wrote:
Our worst problem with mice is that they get into our vehicles. DH had a Miata mouse magnet. Besides chewing up his wiring, seat cushions, cabin filters, the absolute worst incident was when one died in his car and we couldn't find the body - only smell it. . . for a very long time.

Feral cats have us covered in the barn.


Thanks to the rodents my car now has no air conditioning. I have stepped up the battle to keep them out of the car before I take it in, because there's no sense in having it fixed if they're just going to plug it up again.

The custodians at work tried putting out glue traps and somehow they all got stepped on as fast as they put them out.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby Chisamba » Wed Apr 24, 2019 10:31 am

Koolkat wrote:
Chisamba wrote:
Koolkat wrote:
Drowning is not considered an acceptable method of euthanasia by the AVMA, cerebral trauma is (dead bolt/gunshot). Dropping an animal in a bucket is easier for you. Of course, poisoning isn't acceptable either, but that is not the point.

My snake swallows them alive , you should report him to the AVMA.


Very funny (well sort of), but also off the point.

It was a stab at humor, but it was not off point at all, everyone thinks it's okay to have dogs, cats, owls or whatever to control mice. Do you think this provides a fearless painless death? So why the heck fight about what is better, smashing the brain in with a rock or other. It's not as if dogs, cats or snakes provide fearless death. Let each person decide. No one in enjoying the process

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby Koolkat » Wed Apr 24, 2019 5:48 pm

The evolution of empathy. . . .

And it is off point, because the comment was that drowning involved less suffering than virtually instantaneous death. (At least as I interpreted the response). I only brought up the AVMA because something so obvious was disputable.

I got no pleasure whatsoever out of smashing those animals, but I was more concerned about their "feelings" than mine. MC is certainly entitled to her feelings, but those are mine.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby mld02004 » Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:59 am

calvin wrote:MC,

I have used one of the commercial services with great results and low cost. Yes, they use poison but the better thing is that once on a spring and fall program, there are NO MORE MICE. So, the poison sits in a bait station and is not used. No owls could be harmed, I think. Kande is correct that finding and filling the entry points is a start. 2 outdoor bait stations, but more importantly, indoor bait stations (attic, basement, garage) have solved all of my problems. There are no bodies inside, and even the outdoor stations are usually untouched in 6 months.

As an aside, my service provider comes from a very small country village. His mother simply cannot believe that people will actually PAY MONEY to have someone else deal with their mice. Mum is a practical country gal.

But, I am with you. I do not want to deal with these critters dead or alive. I have been known to rat trap squirrel pests, but the last one was only half deceased and that was not fun.


Owls and other predators can definitely be harmed—they are poisoned when they eat mice that have eaten the poison. The problem is not that the owl actually comes in contact with the poison itself.

Google mouse bucket trap. You can make one easily. After they drown you just empty the bucket.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby Tarlo Farm » Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:52 am

OMG, this is one of the funniest posts I've seen in a long time. They are MICE folks! Kill them however you may (IMHO, the stickie traps are awful), but kill them. They are prolific and filthy. They carry diseases. I had field mice as pets for many years running, releasing them to the fields of a nearby farm every spring, but they are not allowed to run wild in your house. Get the hell rid of them! And how are all you big, strong women who handle 1000# horses so freaked out by dead mouse bodies??? You're cracking me up!!!

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby khall » Fri Apr 26, 2019 4:17 am

Tarlo I don't like having to kill them but I would not go to live traps and I man up and toss the dead ones out. My DH is not much help with it not because he won't he just does not think about it.

Mice have returned to my kitchen again after being killed off for several months so I have had to go on the war path again. Got one the other day, now have to buy some more cheap snap traps since I just toss the entire thing away when caught. I'm not sure what to do with the rats in the barn. The ones that are left are too smart to get caught. My cat is stalking them but has not gotten one yet.

If anyone has any advice on rat traps that work pass them on.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby kande50 » Fri Apr 26, 2019 9:36 am

Chisamba wrote: It's not as if dogs, cats or snakes provide fearless death. Let each person decide. No one in enjoying the process


So because nature can be cruel we shouldn't worry about being cruel to animals, either?

I was also wondering what kind of snake swallows mice alive, but I guess that was some kind of a joke?

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby kande50 » Fri Apr 26, 2019 9:45 am

khall wrote:
If anyone has any advice on rat traps that work pass them on.


What works the best is to remove their food sources and nesting sites, but failing that the electronic traps work on some, the snap traps will work on some, and the live traps will work on others . The more food sources that can be removed, the more likely they'll go in the traps.

I don't use the water traps, but if anyone is okay with them muddy water works better because they think it's solid so are more confident about walking the plank. I have used bucket traps (same as a water trap but without the water) but I have to set them up where I walk by them every day so I don't forget to check them.

I recently switched from a loose grain to a pelleted complete feed when I realized that neither the rodents nor pigeons like the complete feed.

I also tolerate the pigeons because they compete for the same food sources as the rodents but aren't anywhere near as destructive.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby Chisamba » Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:54 pm

I assumed you quoted me to try and force to to read your comment since you know i have you blocked. so because the quote was obviously to insinuate that i have a mental defect and enjoy macabre humor, rather than to find out the truth, i shall quote the piece that i easily found on google, which since you can post on a bb i assume you actually know how to use

"But many other snakes simply grab prey in their mouths and try to swallow it before it can escape.

In North America garter snakes, ribbon snakes, green snakes, racers, and water snakes (except the venomous cottonmouth or water moccasin), as well as many other species, do this."

and

Not all snakes eat their prey alive, but some do. In the US one of the best known is the coachwhip (Coluber flagellum) which occurs across the southern US from Atlantic to Pacific. Reaching lengths of up to about 8 feet they are fast and ferocious. They are visual hunters who often hunt with the upper part of the body raised off the ground so they can better locate prey. They are “overpower and devour” predators who are neither venomous nor do they constrict. They will eat anything they can catch, including bugs, lizards, frogs and toads, fish, rodents, birds, and other snakes, including rattlesnakes.


and

Geverally, most snakes that are not constrictors nor venemous do. e.g. Fish eating snakes like Garter snakes and water Snakes do not kill their prey before swallowing it. Insectivorous Green snakes also at their prey alive. However, unlike what I said above, Some venemous arboreal snakes eat their prey live because there's no place to put them while the venom is killing them,


so all non constritor non venomous snakes eat their prey alive, so do some constrictor type and venomous type for speed . for example if a constrictor finds a nest of young mice they will swallow as many as they can in a hurry before they can escape, but if they get an adult they have to bite it and pin it down to swallow it before it escapes. they have no chewing teeth, they simply swallow so often the animal they are eating is alive.

the huge constrictors will squeeze the animal til its blood pressure is high enough to pop its brain before swallowing it. most people think the death is caused by suffocation but its actually usually brain disintegration through high blood pressure

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby Josette » Fri Apr 26, 2019 2:03 pm

For what my 2 cents is worth - I like Calvin's suggestion if you are unable to resolve this problem. That would be my next step. It makes sense to try to find where they are entering the house too.

I had a bad experience years ago when I had not used my parked horse trailer in a long time. There was huge mice nest inside the wheel and it jammed up my tire brake. This was later discovered while driving when the trailer tire locked up burning rubber. Lucky no horse was being towed at the time.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby musical comedy » Fri Apr 26, 2019 3:03 pm

My problem is solved. Apparently there was only one pregnant mouse and that was the one I killed in the electronic trap. The two babies must have left the nest looking for food/mom. We still haven't found how they got in, but there was one tiny opening on the floor/wall in the vicinity they were. So, I very highly doubt I have any kind of infestation. As I said, I have never had a rodent upstairs; at least never saw any droppings until now. Also, fwiw to the bleeding hearts on here, those two babies were extremely young and half dead to begin with. Probably would have died of natural causes in a couple hours. I imagine the rest are in a wall nest dead.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby Koolkat » Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:52 pm

musical comedy wrote:fwiw to the bleeding hearts on here.....


As long as there's no warfarin involved. . . . ;)

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby kande50 » Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:22 pm

Can't remember where I read this, but it went something like, "if you don't like it, kill it; if it inconveniences you, kill it; if you think there's any chance it might inconvenience you sometime in the future, kill it. Don't be a bleeding heart."

It was kind of tongue-in-cheek, but sadly, even now, still what many believe.
Last edited by kande50 on Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: My rodent problem

Postby kande50 » Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:43 pm

Chisamba wrote:I assumed you quoted me to try and force to to read your comment


Well you assumed wrong, because I didn't mean to quote anyone. That part was probably just off this little tiny screen when I deleted the rest of it, because I'd never intentionally set you off. I apologize for quoting you.


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