Field Mice

[Evil Queen]

Get the poison that is in cube form. It goes into a locking plastic holder that the mice can get into and out of but other animals cannot. Does your cat just kill them or does the cat eat them too? I might be conserned about the poison if the cat eats them. They also sell live mice traps that do work.

The cats haven't eaten them, but I don't know if the ferrets will. Since the ferrets are smaller I worry more about them.

We had a problem with them once in Tennessee. We did use poison, the cats still caught them, but never ate them, so I never worried about them.

The cats were after something last night too, but not sure if it was a mouse or not. It could had been a lizard for all I know. Of course I didn't sleep well after that.

Guess I'm off to the store.

I also won't be letting them go, even though I'm not thrilled in the fact of shortening their lives, I don't want to chance them coming back. Even if they don't their lovely offspring just might. eeeewwwwwweeeee

 

[mtblujeans]

Get more cats! We had mice in the frame of this house when we bought it and some sort of creatures that tore up the lawn every summer....maybe moles.

There were renters in this house when we bought it and they had let the pipes freeze up the previous winter so there were holes cut in the walls where pipes had been repaired and there were mice droppings all over the place. We replaced all the flooring, repaired the walls, and winterized the house. The mice couldn't get in after that.

Youngest DS loves cats and kittens and we started out with 2, got 2 more, and they took off from there! Now we have about 10 cats; no mice, and no rodents in the yard any more. Keep in mind, we live in a rural area and we keep large amounts of hay stacked around for our livestock. That, too, gives mice a good place to hide.

Of course, I don't recommend THAT many cats (all but the latest batch of kittens and their mother - 4 total - are fixed) but I think cats are the healthiest way to keep the rodent population down.

 

[juligrl]

In our old house we would get a mouse in once a year in the cabinet under my kitchen sink. I'd find mouse droppings and say to my husband "he's back!" Now, I'm really not at all freaked out by mice since I owned 2 when I was a kid, but I definately didn't want one running amok in my house. I especially didn't want my very proficient mouse cornering dog to present me with a gift, so I got some of those live catch traps (not the sticky boards). I always had a mouse within the first 24hrs of setting the trap up. Being the humane, furry animal lover I am, I then secured the unwanted house guest and drove him in my car to a park almost 10 miles from my home.

 

[Evil Queen]

In our old house we would get a mouse in once a year in the cabinet under my kitchen sink. I'd find mouse droppings and say to my husband "he's back!" Now, I'm really not at all freaked out by mice since I owned 2 when I was a kid, but I definately didn't want one running amok in my house. I especially didn't want my very proficient mouse cornering dog to present me with a gift, so I got some of those live catch traps (not the sticky boards). I always had a mouse within the first 24hrs of setting the trap up. Being the humane, furry animal lover I am, I then secured the unwanted house guest and drove him in my car to a park almost 10 miles from my home.

lmao-my least favorite cat try to bring me the 1st one-ikes.

I have 3 indoor cats already and numerous ferrets, which LOVE to hunt mice, rabbits, etc.

If the Basenji gets it, it will be a snack, for HER. lol

I didn't get to the dang store, because my sister came and delivered me an early awesome birthday gift.

And I want no more animals.

We have permits for fostering, and there are enough here, maybe not cats, but various animals.

Store tomorrow, first thing.

 

[Evil Queen]

Well, I bought a few of the snap traps, caught 2 out of the 3 traps. Was just seeing if they would work and I could handle it. I just threw out the trap with the mouse..........eeewwwweeeee

Well, for a few days everything seemed back to normal. Guess, I was wrong. Another one caught 2 days ago, and they were "watching" something last night (which I could never spot) but never went after it. SO hopefully the cats aren't bored with their duties. But they had just eaten their dinner, too.

Just got one of those live traps, that can trap up to 20 at a time. Hoping I won't catch that many, but the snap traps are too much for me to deal with, and so worried for the cats, or ferrets if they get out of their room.

I did some reserach, and have read that mice will eventually realize that snap traps aren't good, if others in their nests are trapped, but with the live trap, it actually peaks the curiousity of the other mice and they will come. It doesn't turn bad/ugly unless they get flipped out about lack of food. So it must be emptied often.

Now, I have to decide if I want to drive the buggers far from my home to release them, or do something else......... Just hoping the karma of Mickey doesn't come to haunt me.

 

[gradtchr]

Last year we did poison in the garage and attic for the rats. Then inside for the mice if the cats didn't get em the live trap would. We went through several live traps. I released the mice to the garbage bin outside and would get a new trap.

Counting down the days until we our out of this rental and into a new home that's put together a tad bit better.......

 

[Evil Queen]

Caught nothing last night. The cats didn't "hunt" or "watch" anything either.

I did the oil of peppermint also. Maybe that drove them away, well at least from the living/dining room area (where they all have been caught), but man the dog tore up my laundry room last night going after something. Probably just drove them back there.

I now have 4 shelves to re-hang, and to push my washer back against the wall. My dog actually moved it away from the wall.

 

[SueM in MN]

Our pest control guy said you'd be amazed how small a space they can find their though and how rapidly they reproduce.

We had mice in a preveious house and had to get a pest control guy to get rid of them.
He said a space that is big enough to stick an eraseer from the top of a pencil into is beg enough for a mouse to get into your house. So, besides putting out poison and traps, we went around the outside of the house looking for tiny spaces where they might have gotten in. We plugged all of the spots we found with steel wool and never saw another mouse as long as we lived in that house.

 

[mtblujeans]

DH won't use poison because he says poison will make a mouse or rat thirsty if it doesn't kill them right away and that may drive them to the kitchen or bathroom sink. He says they will climb up anything in the sink and stick their face in the faucet for water, if they can. That idea grosses us both out so he always gets traps and baits them, if he has to.