Mice are taking over my house! Help!

[Crunchie]

Quote:

Excellent idea!! Hey Jeffrey, wanna hop a plane to the east coast?? Punch a few mice for me/?

My mom has a cat--but mom doesn't live with us, she lives in a separate apartment on the property. The cat comes in and out of her apartment, but not into our house. I couldn't really consider an inside cat for us. We have 3 rescue pit bulls in the house. Cats literally drive them crazy in a multitude of ways...

We've use peanut butter on the snap traps. The traps are very sensitive. We've also used almond butter, sunflower seeds, cheese, all different kinds of crackers and cookies, and some sort of expensive attractant gel we bought at Lowes. I've put the sticky traps along the walls where they seem to travel. I also tried baiting one with chick starter after they had gotten into a little bag of it I had in the house for some newly hatched chicks. No luck...actually, every time they get into something I then use that to bait the traps, thinking that they'll come back for it, right? Nope!!

Maybe I will try the peanut butter in the middle of the sticky traps. I was planning on putting them in a plastic bag with starter fluid if I caught them.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

When we moved into the house, it was completely overrun with mice & we have DEERMICE the carriers of "HANTA" (sp) virus! I caught 24 of them in 2 days! I used the old fashioned traps with peanut butter on them. They worked well.

Then I got two outside kitties & three inside kitties. We've now just had ONE mouse in the house in the last two years. The cats were "barn cats" from a local shelter which were too old & too "wild" to adopt as pets--so I got them BOTH for $20 and they were spayed/neutered & had all of their shots. They are now both super-friendly....and both are excellent mousers. Unfortunately, Nigel also catches quail and rabbits!

Oh and we did have one packrat in our house a year ago. We ended up herding it out the door with a broom & a 1/2 border collie, LOL because the indoor cats, while fasinated...didn't want to mess with a two pound rat!

 

[Crunchie]

Quote:
My mom's cat does occasionally kill mice (and other critters) outside, in the barn, etc. We've had barn cats before in the past. I wonder if more kitty hunters to help outside would help the problem inside?? But at this point I think the mice have set up camp here in the house and they aren't going in and out...

 

[OHChick]

outside cats should help. when we first got our place we had mice inside, we had 1 outdoor cat, we got another, have not seen another mouse in the house. our cats come home at night and sleep in the garage, so the coyotes don't get them.

good luck to you!

 

[s6bee]

I know peanut butter is great BUT I have had greae success with wet cat food too! Try that.

 

[morelcabin]

I learned something about mice about two years ago that changed the way I think of them forever....MICE DON"T HAVE BLADDERS! The have a constant leakage and that is the trail they follow full time to find thier way around. I'm not kidding. At least we can SEE mouse poop, it's the mouse urine on my silverware and in my dishes that gets me.
Anyway, thought that for health and safety's sake you all might want to know that...there is no humane way to deal with mice except simply kill them anyway you can. I use a live trap so I can get a bunch at a time. It seems that once there is one inside the rest come running in as well. I put peantur butter crackers inside to attract them, then drown them in the trap in the sink after I have a few. Put the live trap against a wall...mice follow walls.

 

[BayCityBabe]

My chickens aren't here yet. I am expecting them tomoroww. HOWEVER: I have had amazing success with those plug in electronic pest thingees.
Are they bad for chickens?

 

[Crunchie]

Quote:
I know that these are supposed to be ok for larger animals, like dogs and cats, but I'm not sure about birds--I personally wouldn't put my chicks in the same room with one, just to be on the safe side. I've used these, too. We have several around the house--no luck with these, either!!

 

[MS9325]

this sounds wierd but put moth balls in your cubourds and arounds the house the chemical in them deteries mice.

 

[flakey chick]

A clutch of python eggs should do the trick for you.

But seriously good luck dealing with that.

I think it must be that time of year where unwanted critters are making their way indoors. Last night I found a live scorpian hiding between the ply of tissue paper. Today we are going to the store to pick up some single ply TP. To think I almost shoved a live scorpian up my nether regions. I might never go potty again.

BTW can chickens handle the tiny little scoprians we have in Florida? I know their sting is about the equivalent of a bee sting.