Mouse (or mice) in my kitchen!!

quiddity

Rat Terriers are an American breed according to the AKC.
http://www.akc.org/breeds/rat_terrier/history.cfm

Update on my Rat Zapper count. We've trapped (aka "electrocuted") a total of 4 mice now. This thing really works.

krnie

What did you bait the trap with? I've tried different things but the mice in my kitchen refused it all.

quiddity

First I just used the kibble that came with the unit. Then I used some of my own dog's food.

Did you place it flush against a wall where you've seen mouse droppings?

armchair_warrior

sweet tea wrote:
i wonder if a dachshund would do it? they're fierce and small....

i had a dachshund on the farm. they no mousers .

tex antoine

Use peanut butter. Works every time.

ingrasir

We just moved into a new place- a nice, clean, place... and were shocked to see a little f'er run into the burner in the stove... I have laid out every kind of deterrent- poison, glue trap, snap, and the high frequency noise thing and we have caught nothing in the past week... I somehow doubt they've decided to pack it in and move out.

Any insight?

pitu

Ingrasir wrote: We just moved into a new place- a nice, clean, place... and were shocked to see a little f'er run into the burner in the stove... I have laid out every kind of deterrent- poison, glue trap, snap, and the high frequency noise thing and we have caught nothing in the past week... I somehow doubt they've decided to pack it in and move out.

Any insight?

maybe they ate the poison?
I hope so, for your sake.

The other important things are to lay the traps in the paths that they take (so, maybe leave it on and around/under your stove at night) and
make sure nothing edible is easily available to them. Cutting off the food supply is pretty important.
If you're not seeing their poop, they're probably not there.

windowdressing

Subject: The War

I was in a war once with "The Mice," and took a variety of approaches. The glue traps were terrible...I can still remember the way the poor little fellas looked, stuck on those traps--and the feeling I had in the pit of my stomach as I tried to dispose of them. But when my roommate and I resorted to chemical warfare--that was the worst. I would dread coming home because I knew I would find the casualties of war either splayed out on the floor or staggering about, disorientated and near death.

I surrendered. I don't have the stomach for total war.

veets

This is just the time of year with the colder weather coming that mice look to move in to your house... or mine. You need to be aggressive in getting rid of them with a combination of methods

There is never ONE mouse in your kitchen!! If you see one it means he has invited relatives over or perhaps he is the stud mouse and is helping to turn your house in to a Nursery.

southslopesuit

This will work every time:

pretend the mice aren't there for a few weeks/months (your dogs will do the same). the mice will gradually build a home for themselves inside the oven, and proceed to breed.

one day, come home and decide to use that oven you never use. wonder what the hell that stink is that's getting worse, and worse and.... retch. retch again. turn off oven, open all windows. contemplate jumping out of window.

when the stink and smoke has abated, take your oven apart, discover charred nest with remains, along with several pounds of roasted mouse feces. retch again. clean up mess.

decide to move 'cause you can't deal with the memories.

fight the gag reflex as you're recalling the experience 7 years later...

bruklinboy

we had a huge mouse problem when we first moved into our apt
lessons learned:
1. not all cats chase mice or so we were told, never got one because my wife is allergic.
2. once a mouse is caught in a trap, you will never catch another mouse in that spot again (word spreads?)
3. mice love tomatoes(who knew?)
4. we couldnt decide what was worse, mice running around apt or mice squirming on glue trap
5.sometimes its good to let them run, they will lead you to the holes.
6.which brings us to most important lesson
No amount of poison or traps will help.
You must find holes, every last one of them. It is the only answer.
Where there are humans, there are mice. Its a fact of life. All you can do is to cut off their access to your space.
BTW, our last hole was where the gas pipe comes into the kitchen, thru the wall. Tiny space, hard to imagine anything fitting thru. Since we closed that one, no mice for 3yrs now

em

After reading about peppermint oil on here - I put out two tiny jars (those doll-sized jam jars) w/ a cottonball in them and a fresh drop of peppermint oil every few days. I put one on the stove & one on the counter where I used to see the mouse run. No mice since! [knocking on wood].

quiddity

bruklinboy what do you fill the holes with?

egut

Fill the holes with steel wool (Brillo)

armchair_warrior

hope you dont find one of these .

hamilton

quiddity wrote: bruklinboy what do you fill the holes with?

**************
Dead mice
**************

bruklinboy

quiddity wrote: bruklinboy what do you fill the holes with?

plaster/drywall
pays to go all the way

dakotas way

Subject: mice

Armchair warrior....what in God's name is that thing in the picture???
It looks like a cross between a Rhino and a mouse. But, it is sadly cute in it's own bizarre way as long as you don't have to live with it.

liftandcut

The Mice Cube works really well and it's no-kill. Also, most terriers willl catch mice. We have two American Staffordshire terriers and one American Pitbull Terrier in my family and they are all great mousers. Rat terriers are an obvious choice, are small, and have a much better temperament than Jack Russels.

Mice Cube Link:
http://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WDC001&Product_Code=WDCMC01&Category_Code=WDCRT01

sweet tea

what on earth do you do with a house mouse you've just caught but not killed? take it off to live on a farm?

the terrier suggestion is good -- i just watched a friend's jack russells hunt a mouse the other day. not bad.

armchair_warrior

Subject: Re: mice

dakotas way wrote: Armchair warrior....what in God's name is that thing in the picture???
It looks like a cross between a Rhino and a mouse. But, it is sadly cute in it's own bizarre way as long as you don't have to live with it.

its a naked hamster or guinea pig forget which is which.

raw

armchair_warrior wrote:

hope you dont find one of these .

WOW. That must be a bald guinea pig or an embryonic rhinoceros. The poor thing needs some clothes or something.

raw

sweet tea wrote: what on earth do you do with a house mouse you've just caught but not killed? take it off to live on a farm?

the terrier suggestion is good -- i just watched a friend's jack russells hunt a mouse the other day. not bad.

I escort live mice to the paradise in my neighbor's yard.

liftandcut

Yep, it's a naked guinea pig. Damn you AW, I've been looking at cute pictures of guinea pigs in guinea pig forums for the past 10 minutes!

garfunky

sweet tea wrote: the terrier suggestion is good -- i just watched a friend's jack russells hunt a mouse the other day. not bad.

Pretty sure Jack Russells are considered ratters.
bred for the purpose...i suppose i shoudl google wiki but ;0


the 10 mile suggestion cracks me up.
If anyone has a chance
tag then drop 10 mice youve caught
somewhere near Woodside station.
or Hoboken

If any of em make it back to your apt, call a science lab !

I would think at least 1 or 2 get squished clawed eaten lost zapped or
otherwise maimed and killed in the attempt to return our lovely neighborhood dont you ?

liftandcut

Most terriers are ratters, and perceive any rodent as quarry and will hunt them as such.

garfunky

thanks for the clarification.

btw - your stick figure kinda scared me :oops:

daver

filmlover44

bruklinboy wrote: we had a huge mouse problem when we first moved into our apt
lessons learned:
1. not all cats chase mice or so we were told, never got one because my wife is allergic.
2. once a mouse is caught in a trap, you will never catch another mouse in that spot again (word spreads?)
3. mice love tomatoes(who knew?)
4. we couldnt decide what was worse, mice running around apt or mice squirming on glue trap
5.sometimes its good to let them run, they will lead you to the holes.
6.which brings us to most important lesson
No amount of poison or traps will help.
You must find holes, every last one of them. It is the only answer.
Where there are humans, there are mice. Its a fact of life. All you can do is to cut off their access to your space.
BTW, our last hole was where the gas pipe comes into the kitchen, thru the wall. Tiny space, hard to imagine anything fitting thru. Since we closed that one, no mice for 3yrs now

Too bad about the allergies!

It's true that not all cats chase mice.

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/cats/73631

It's something that gets taught to kittens by Mom or they never learn it. I imagine that you can test a cat with a little toy mouse before bringing it home? I just got lucky with my cat. He is a fine hunter of mice and waterbugs.

Mice do tend to stay away from homes where there are cats, maybe some instinctive thing or bad experience. Conclusion: while a mouser is a far superior cat, any cat is probably better than no cat to keep rodents and disease under control.

gavinm

If I had my way, glue traps would be banned. I do not see the point of using them when there are other methods freely available. I do not think people should be encouraged to torture animals. A quick and painless death should always be the aim - there's no place for unnecessary cruelty.

But if people want to use glue traps, fine. It's their conscience when they see an animal chewing its leg off, its bones broken and its skin ripped off because it struggled so so hard to survive. Quite frankly I think it's disgusting people kill animals this way, and in a society that abhors cruelty to animals, this torture should not be tolerated at all.