Learn me: Mouse eradication.

I've used the electronic pest repellers - ran an outlet into the crawlspace they were getting in through (poorly designed kitchen extension from previous owner).

I also have used Wilsarin, which mummifies the little friends, so when they die in the walls, they don't stink. Speaking of which, I found a wack of their bodies and a HUGE stash of Wilsarin in one of the basement walls during a reno.

I am also using a few mothballs - I understand they hate the smell, so they stay away.

I'd have a cat, but I'm allergic to cats.

mad_machine wrote: If you want to go humane.. get a 5 gallon bucket from one of the big box stores, place it alongside a wall with a stick up the side to the top. Add peanut butter to the bottom of the bucket. They can get in.. but they can't jump out

I have heard about this tactic with water in the bucket.

Oh, and knock on wood, nobody's figured out how to get upstairs, and no worries about getting "behind the walls" in the basement, as it is unfinished (no drywall...it's a Georgia thing.)

Snap traps with peanut butter. I think my mice are cannibalistic - I caught one and his friends had eaten about half of him before I noticed.

Do daily checks...

No choice but to do daily checks. Got 'em right next to the door going to the garage/basement.

Mitchell wrote:

mad_machine wrote: If you want to go humane.. get a 5 gallon bucket from one of the big box stores, place it alongside a wall with a stick up the side to the top. Add peanut butter to the bottom of the bucket. They can get in.. but they can't jump out

I have heard about this tactic with water in the bucket.

I seen mama mouse jump out of a dry 5 gal Orange Store Homer bucket, she left 3 babies behind

add water to bucket

fasted58 wrote:

Mitchell wrote:

mad_machine wrote: If you want to go humane.. get a 5 gallon bucket from one of the big box stores, place it alongside a wall with a stick up the side to the top. Add peanut butter to the bottom of the bucket. They can get in.. but they can't jump out

I have heard about this tactic with water in the bucket.

I seen mama mouse jump out of a dry 5 gal Orange Store Homer bucket, she left 3 babies behind add water to bucket

THIS. The Bucket of Death is more a chipmunk trap than mouse trap, but it might work for you. I've heard the Bucket of Death is pretty effective for chipmunk control:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9GyeEMrZBo

There are variations where you can add a board on a rod that will tip the mouse/chipmunk into the water.

As for deterrents, fox/wolf urine and cayenne powder work well too, but the urine obviously reeks and both need reapplication after any rainstorm.

A friend of mine in St. Louis uses a .22cal rifle and dust-shot to kill squirrels. I don't know what exact model rifle he uses but he claims its quieter than his BB gun, and he hasn't had any trouble from neighbors or the police over it.

humorous pest relocation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBb7KReY6Eg

In reply to RexSeven:

Dust shot or rat shot will tear the riflings up, just be aware of it before you use something important for that purpose. I wouldn't dream of using it in my grandfathers .22. Also it tends to be a subsonic round, hence why its so quiet.

Google bucket mouse trap. Works well, I use a tall kitchen garbage can so they can't jump out, take em outside to the field out back with 3 rat terriers in tow. They get a chance to run for it, and the ratties get a chance to do what's natural. Everyone wins.

Edit: Current mouse eradication team

Need to get a recent picture of the last one, that was taken right after we brought him home. He was a rescue that was only supposed to be a foster till we could find him a home, but his owner went to jail and failed to tell anyone about him. He's become my regular buddy for road trips, and just about anything that doesn't require me to leave him in the car for extended periods of time. Guess which one is the "killer" in the group, and which one's like to "play".

Curmudgeon wrote: I'm not crazy about poison bait because of the whole 'die in the walls' thing. FWIW, mice LOVE dog food. Try a little of that in a trap. And yeah glue traps work great (looks around for Henry).

Glue traps are all well and good, till your rat terrier comes stumbling into the room with it stuck to the side of her head. Between the bait and the mouse that was attached to it as well I'm not sure why she went after it, but it was rather amusing as she's maybe 10 inches tall total if you include her ears.

Damn. No luck last night. I took a quick look around the engine bay on the Fit and didn't see any evindence of a nest. I'll take a look under the dash today.

Does anyone know if mice who ate poison are poisonous themselves? My ratties are murderous killing machines but... they also love to play with dead things they find that smell bad. I'd hate for them to start gnawing on mice that died in the yard after eating a pile of DCON in the cellar.

This was mama's logic behind NOT using the dcon. She worked for a Vet. for a long time so I figure she knows what she's talking about.

Here's a still from poopie's webcam

jg

that is my fear GPS and Poop... we have feral cats in the area that do a good job of keeping the pests to a minimum and at the farm where I keep my cars, she has semi-ferals that roam freely (but come for food and water and the occasional scratching behind the ears)

Okay, I'm officially berkeleying freaked out and angry. I got the car 100% spotless yesterday. Interior like-new, etc. I've got two traps next to the car facing the wall, but still no takers.

Get in the car this morning, and there's mouse poop and pee on the dash. It would appear as though there are mice living inside the car. I am freaked and angry.

So: Traps in the car tonight? DCON in the car? Mama gave the go-ahead on that.

This is the first and probably last NEW car for me. These berkeleyers have no interest in the totally expendable 20 year old integra that's parked outside. Feck.

Our property is 3.5 acres, with pretty much all of it open field. When we moved in, the house had sat vacant for a year, so the grass was literally 3-4 feet tall. The first time I mowed, the number of mice that scrambled out was frightening.

Since then, we see them from time to time, especially as the weather gets cold. Funny you mention this topic, we just started seeing them in our house a few days ago. We've traditionally used the sticky pad things. They work great. I actually just caught two this morning with them. I put them out (somewhere where my dog can't reach) and within 24 hours, I've got it. The mice literally almost rip themselves in half trying to get off, pretty nasty.

Traps inside the car. Tested the sensitivity with a screwdriver. Yeah, there's no comin back from that.

I have nothing to add to this thread but for some reason when I saw the title of the thread I was hoping this would be about killing mickey mouse.

Also in for that.

you can also put the traps inside brown paper lunch bags laying on their side. you know, so you don't get any potential splatter, like if it goes off inside your car.

I've always had good luck with the glue traps, better than with the classic snap traps anyways. Some mice (apparently) are smart enough to set off the trap, not get caught, then you go back to find a trap with no peanut butter and no mouse on it.

Not the case with a glue trap. put peanut butter in the paper bag, lay the glue trap in front of it so they have to try and cross the glue trap to get to peanut butter.

The mouse version of the bucket of death involves drilling two holes near the top and threading a piece of all-thread through with a spool of some sort in the middle. PB all over the spool and they will run up the ramp, jump over to the spool, and splash to their doom when it spins. Reloads itself and holds dozens before it's "full."

shotgun?

This is Cleo. We have no mice, moles, voles or rabbits. She is working on the birds as well...

The electronic pest things don't work.....they do at first, but the mice/birds/etc are extremely adaptive little berkeleyers.

2 weeks ago, when my lp heat stopped working in my house, I had the only room with electric heat attempting to put some heat back in the house, I noticed a few mice meandering about.......they were cold. I shot one with the semi auto pellet rifle, and laid out the "mechanical cat" live trap loaded with peanut butter. Caught 3 over the next day with that.....shot all three while in the trap with the pellet rifle and dumped their bodies outside. The live traps are now all rigged with peanut butter and glue boards and havent had an issue again. Although the I haven't checked the one in the garage lately for its gruesome results.