VT Mags- how's your MICE situation?

**OldLarry** · 12-03-2007, 03:19 PM

and what do you do about it? Hassle.

Have then in NYC, too, although not sure they are mice

Is poison really the only way to go? Scary w/ kids around...

**Viva** · 12-03-2007, 03:23 PM

Pet ferrets ought to do the trick.

**OldLarry** · 12-03-2007, 03:29 PM

sorry, I'm regular that way ;d

**fez** · 12-03-2007, 04:24 PM

my folks had a pretty bad infestation up at their house in the adirondaks this fall, i guess everyone in their neck of the woods had tons of mice. so bad you couldnt even buy traps in the hardware store, all sold out. so my brother told my dad about the magalloway mouse trap.

basically, take a bucket, put a couple inches of water in there. if you need to leave it somewhere cold, add some RV antifreeze.

drill two holes in it so that a dowel can fit across the opening. put the dowel through an empty beer can and through the two holes so that the can spins freely.

smear peanut butter on the can and put a ramp up to the lip of the bucket near the dowel.

my dad says this has been working well for him. just dump the bucket out every day and refill with water.

the mice go up the ramp, walk the dowel out to the peanut butter, the can spins and deposits the mouse in the water where they drown.

**Bart T** · 12-03-2007, 04:38 PM

get a cat. ours got 1-2 mice per day when we first moved in.

seal all entrances to house, i.e. go in your basement or crawl space and turn out lights, if you see daylight, turn on headlamp and hit the spot with sprayfoam. repeat.
also, you probably want to check all along your foundation and where the siding meets with your foundation etc.... from the outside.

mice really like insulation, so I would strongly recommend pulling aside any insulation to check for knotholes that may have developed. that's how mine were getting in.

**glenn** · 12-03-2007, 05:28 PM

Agreed on the cat. Had some mice, set traps. Feces continued showing up around traps with only a few hits per month. Got a cat, caught several mice, and traps out of reach of cat picked up about 2 more. No more droppings. Got rid of cat, mice returned, with minimal help from the traps.

Also, you need to get good traps. I've had the bait stolen from my traps more often than hits. Peanut butter is not enough. They eat it off the trigger without setting the trap. I don't think they are "that smart" they just are delicate creatures.

Common sense but not leaving food out helps control where they are likely to hang out. I couldn't seem to get this across to my roommates who would leave dirty dishes and crumbs out in the kitchen then wonder why there was mouse shit everywhere.

Best of luck. Keeping pests out in the first place is the best method. Once they are there it's pretty hard to kick em out, with scent trails and all.

Also... poison is a no-no. The mice don't die instantly and you will likely have rotting mice in your walls/ceilings/attic/basement. Wherever they slowly die. The bucket trap can work, but it's not as effective as setting a trap along an existing "traffic" area for mice. They have poor eyesight and run along walls and follow scents. Keep your scent off traps and set the traps against the wall. Trigger traps were all I tried, but if you can keep replacing them, those sticky ones are supposed to work if the feet get stuck. I've heard stories where the mouse walks away with the trap, and dies in hard to reach spot with trap attached.

Good luck!

**Odin** · 12-03-2007, 05:33 PM

Originally Posted by OldLarry

sorry, I'm regular that way ;d

Metamucil?

Cats always work.

**Steven S. Dallas** · 12-03-2007, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by Odin

Metamucil?

Cats always work.

If someone could develop a cat that was high in fiber, you could kill two birds with one stone*.

*Assuming the cat was also deadly accurate with a slingshot.

**Odin** · 12-03-2007, 05:44 PM

Eat pussy to help with normal bowel function?

I'm THERE!

**telepow** · 12-04-2007, 01:28 PM

The mice have been very bad in VT this season. I've talked to several folks and I can attest. Some night I kill 2 in traps in 5 minutes. Here is my best kill of the season so far...

**iceman** · 12-04-2007, 01:41 PM

The Victor "pre-baited" ones with the yellow plastic piece are fucking hair-trigger. Except the "bait" doesn't work, you need to put some peanut butter on there.

Trust me, the mice won't eat the bait without getting whacked. Only problem is that they are so touchy they're hard to set without them going off.

**ill-advised strategy** · 12-04-2007, 01:45 PM

**BigDaddy** · 12-04-2007, 08:27 PM

Our house used to be infested, but we haven't had a mouse in over a year. I had polyurethane foam insulation sprayed in all the walls, floors and roof rafter cavities. The mice won't touch it. (I'm sure it's safe for human's though....

) Only hitch is you can't do this without a complete renovation. Otherwise I'd go with Iceman's reco... those are the best traps and peanut butter stays around for while.

**fez** · 12-04-2007, 08:46 PM

i use iceman's traps for the occasional mouse we get around here. with the peanut butter, there's a little cup like thing that holds the peanut butter.

i usually catch one, then put out a few more traps for a couple days. any i catch, i throw away trap and all, but the ones that end up empty i wipe off the peanut butter and throw them in a drawer. i usually dont get all of the peanut butter off, but most.

i was sitting in the living room watching tv a couple days ago and heard some noise coming from the kitchen. went to my junk drawer to grab a trap and realized that there was far less peanut butter on the trap than usual. then looked and saw mouse poop in the drawer.

the little bastard was eating the peanut butter off the sprung traps. only took about 15 min to catch that guy. more peanut butter and put a set trap in the drawer.