Messages From The Heartland

[David In Indy]

David,

I guess I am cruel but I hate the little critters.  When they come into my house I set out either D Con or Eagle Brand poison pellets.  I make sure that my cat can't get to them.  It doesn't take long for the mice to eat themselves to death.  That is about the only sure way of getting rid of all of them.  It seems wierd but killing them that way seems more merciful than setting a mouse trap or the glue packets.

Oh those mouse traps are terrible. I was visiting at a friend's house last winter, and while I was standing in the kitchen pouring a drink, I heard a snapping sound. A minute or two later, the mouse began pulling itself out into the middle of the kitchen with its' head in the trap and a streak of blood behind it. It wasn't even dead!

<cold chill> 

At least you aren't using those snapping mouse traps. 

[Katie77]

We have traps here that are like a wire box, with a hole in the top, that the mouse can get into but cant get out...

We had mice last year, and we caught them this way....we caught the whole family over a couple of days, then relocated them a few miles from our place, in a sports oval.

They wont hurt you David, but they can cause damage to your wiring, and other things....one time our airconditioner stopped working, and when the technician came, and opened up the wall unit of he A/c, he found mice droppings in there, and told us that just a little bit of mouse urine on the computer board in the A/c, made it unable to work......cost us $400 for new board.....they can also chew electrical wiring, so best to get rid of them, but there are humane ways of doing it.

[Arad-3]

David,
The problem with poisoning them is they might die in some hidden part of the house. have you ever smelt dead animals? One dead mouse could stink up your home for a long time. You could try those devices that set off a very high frequency pitch that humans or pets cant hear. designed for rodents and other household pest. It's suppose to make it so unpleasant that they leave on their own.

 i think you can get them at Home Depots or a Lowes, or Agway if you have them where you live. You could always have a friend take care of your pets while you had it on if you were worried about them hearing it.. Just an idea.

[David In Indy]

David,
The problem with poisoning them is they might die in some hidden part of the house. have you ever smelt dead animals? One dead mouse could stink up your home for a long time. You could try those devices that set off a very high frequency pitch that humans or pets cant hear. designed for rodents and other household pest. It's suppose to make it so unpleasant that they leave on their own.

 i think you can get them at Home Depots or a Lowes, or Agway if you have them where you live. You could always have a friend take care of your pets while you had it on if you were worried about them hearing it.. Just an idea.

Geri... I was thinking of getting some of those high frequency devices because I absolutely refuse to kill them. I'm going to run an errand this afternoon and buy a few of those devices.

Yes we have Home Depot and Lowes here. As a matter of fact, there is a Lowes store about 5 minutes away from me. I will check there first.

This is a bunch of bullshit.

How the hell did so many of them get into my house this quickly? I don't have any holes in my walls, and I didn't have this problem last year, or even the year before.

Thanks for the info Geri! 

[Arad-3]

David,
You might of had a pair of them in for awhile and they had a litter at one point. And now they are just all coming out. Mice can have about 10 babies or more at once!

Good luck Today David. at least you can talk to a specialist before it really gets out of control!

[Andrew]

I'll take a look at those. I hope they won't hurt my dog or cat though. I suppose if they won't hurt the mice, they won't hurt my dog.

No, there is a kind of door which falls from a horizontal position to a diagonal one.  Even if a paw were going into the trap, it could easily be withdrawn; the edge of the door is not sharp and there is no spring force.

[Andrew]

One other humane recommendation - make your house unattractive to mice by making sure all food and pet food not in the fridge is in tightly sealed containers, and make sure to vacuum under the appliances (moving the ones that move) so there is really nothing to eat.  Sad to say, they are good climbers - if there are crumbs or spilt cooking oil on the stove top they can easily climb up through the oven to get to them...The containers are good for other reasons, too - grain bugs and moths can get into bulk foods like flour which is only in the original sack.

[David In Indy]

One other humane recommendation - make your house unattractive to mice by making sure all food and pet food not in the fridge is in tightly sealed containers, and make sure to vacuum under the appliances (moving the ones that move) so there is really nothing to eat.  Sad to say, they are good climbers - if there are crumbs or spilt cooking oil on the stove top they can easily climb up through the oven to get to them...The containers are good for other reasons, too - grain bugs and moths can get into bulk foods like flour which is only in the original sack.

Thanks for the information Andrew. My cat just caught one a few minutes ago. When I tried to take it away from him, he hissed and growled at me.

I think my animals are upset about this mouse problem too. I'm heading up to Lowes right now! 

[mvansand76]

Geri... I was thinking of getting some of those high frequency devices because I absolutely refuse to kill them. I'm going to run an errand this afternoon and buy a few of those devices.

Nooooo! Those are bad for Oreo and Cody, David!!!!

[mvansand76]

The traps that Katie mentioned seem to be your best bet. You should close all holes and (here I go, I am tired, I don't know the translation: gaten en spleten) where they can come through, and they can get through half a centimeter if they need to, so I heard. Put the traps close to the walls, because mice are agoraphobic, they HATE open spaces, they always stay near the walls. Also, they do NOT eat cheese, but they LOVE peanut butter, so if you get those traps that Katie mentioned, then put a piece of bread with peanut butter in it, they will flock to it...