Mice

[Brian Deakin]

I live in the United kingdom and every winter despite my best efforts I get field mice taking refuge in my workshop
To identify if I have mice in the workshop I place a potato or apple on the floor and watch to see if it gets nibbled I then use a humane trap to catch the mice then release them back into the wild

Two days ago I discovered a nibbled apple in the workshop I forgot where I had stored the humane trap and had to use kill traps
I placed 5 traps in the workshop baited with chocolate The following day I found every fragment of chocolate had been eaten but no mouse
I was so impressed I searched the house for the humane traps and placed 2 in the workshop

Today I found the field mouse alive in the humane trap The mouse appeared to be exhausted having spent the night trying to escape so I put him in a large plastic container with some water and chocolate and will release him/her later today

To give you an indication of the size of the mouse you can compare him/her to the blades of grass and the leaf





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[Rob Luter]

I'll suggest your humanity is allowing a repeat offense. These little beasties are smart. Next time you catch one, mark his fur with a sharpie or other permanent marker prior to release. I'll be you catch him again.

[Doug Dawson]

I'll suggest your humanity is allowing a repeat offense. These little beasties are smart. Next time you catch one, mark his fur with a sharpie or other permanent marker prior to release. I'll be you catch him again.
Yeah, and if you want to release him, release him in the next town over. They mark their treasure maps. Make it challenging. With a glue trap obstacle.

[Jim Matthews]

Vermin are responsible for amazing amounts of damage - mostly electrical fires.

https://www.pantherpestcontrol.co.uk/blog/mice-species-united-kingdom/

[Lee Schierer]

We have the same problem here every fall the critters are looking for a warm place to live. The cat can't access the garage, so I use peanut butter on the traps I set. I noticed that the peanut butter was gone and the trap wasn't tripped, so I tied a small bit of cloth onto the trigger and pushed the peanut butter into and on the cloth. I haven't missed a mouse since. I caught three this past fall and none have touched the peanut butter nor anything else since.

I had squirrels get into the attic space so I set humane traps for them and transported one a mile away. It was back the very next day. I found that I have to take them several miles, usually 5 or more to prevent them from returning. Last year I removed 6 squirrels an 13 chipmunks from around my house. Yesterday I noted track in the snow of yet another squirrel.

[Doug Dawson]

We have the same problem here every fall the critters are looking for a warm place to live. The cat can't access the garage, so I use peanut butter on the traps I set. I noticed that the peanut butter was gone and the trap wasn't tripped, so I tied a small bit of cloth onto the trigger and pushed the peanut butter into and on the cloth. I haven't missed a mouse since. I caught three this past fall and none have touched the peanut butter nor anything else since.

I had squirrels get into the attic space so I set humane traps for them and transported one a mile away. It was back the very next day. I found that I have to take them several miles, usually 5 or more to prevent them from returning. Last year I removed 6 squirrels an 13 chipmunks from around my house. Yesterday I noted track in the snow of yet another squirrel.
God bless you, squirrels are a higher life form. To them, _we_ are the brain-eating zombies. :^) More aggressive relocation strategies are called for.

[Brian Deakin]

Squirrels and the LawThe red squirrel is a protected species in the UK and is included in Schedules 5 and 6 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 (WCA) (amended by the Countryside & Rights of Way Act 2000). It is an offence to intentionally kill or injure a red squirrel or intentionally or recklessly damage or destroy any structure or place a red squirrel uses for shelter or protection, or disturb a red squirrel while it occupies such a place.
Therefore you must be very careful about when and where you fell any trees. See the section on felling advice for more detail.
The grey squirrel is regarded as an invasive non-native species following its inclusion under Schedule 9 of the WCA. Grey squirrels are also listed in the IUCN international list of 100 worst invasive non-native species. This highlights the damage that grey squirrels cause to our native flora and fauna; a problem severe enough to be recognised at a level of global significance. As such, the grey squirrel is regarded as a pest species and is afforded no protection under the WCA. Under Schedule 9 of the WCA, it is illegal to release a grey squirrel into the wild, or allow one to escape.
This means if you trap one, you are obliged to humanely dispatch it. You must not let it go as this act would be illegal.
Anyone who carries out, or knowingly causes or permits any of the above acts to occur could be committing an offence.

[Malcolm McLeod]

...More aggressive relocation strategies are called for.

My FIL had a place in deep E.TX; squirrels did a LOT of damage to the eaves/attic. So he set out live traps and relocated them - drove them in style and comfort about 15 miles and a major river away. The squirrels got home before he did.

A neighbor and native noted the actions and volunteered to handle it. They collected the traps, and the squirrels were given temporary accommodations, feted royally, and then invited to, uhhmm... dinner. Declining the invitation was not possible. :: Life behind the Pine Curtain!

[George Yetka]

youtube mouse traps. you'll get a lot of bucket traps which seam very effective and you can make them humane or inhumane depending on your preference.

I only get 1 or 2 every couple years

[Stan Calow]

+1 for peanut butter. One of its properties is its stickiness, so that the mouse cant just pick it off and run - she has to lick it off, thereby more likely to set iff the trap.

We have a local colony of white squirrels nearby - not albino, white as a genetic mutation. Very interesting to see.

[Dennis Droege]

Marionville?

[Ron Citerone]

We had a mouse in our kitchen this autumn. We started seeing him several times a day, yet he never got into any food packages. I set 17 traps of various types. Baited with peanut butter, nuts, raisins etc. Could not catch him. My wife got this camera for the kitchen floor. At least 10 times we saw him come out from under the frig or stove and approach each trap, but only sniffed. He ate crumbs off the floor. When he came into the living room and saw us move he would run into the kitchen and as soon as he rounded the corner he looked for crumbs as if he knew he would hear us if we approached the kitchen and then he would hide. I put a raisin on the floor and said to my wife how long till he finds it. Within 1 minute of leaving the room he ran out, grabbed the raisin and went back into hiding. Trust me, they know more about your lifestyle than you know. Finally we got poison and he took it.

[Jim Koepke]

Mice are smart little critters.

Sometimes it helps to place an unset trap to get them used to it. After they have fed at the trap a few times, set the trap to kill.

A friend many years ago showed me how mouse traps have been made safer for people over the years. Too many amateurs getting their fingers snapped or something. Some traps take a lot of abuse before they will snap.

It isn't difficult to rework the trap so the trigger fires a lot easier. Just be careful when setting the trap down because it can be made to be a super hair trigger.

If there is a mouse in the trap and the bait is gone, there is likely another mouse around.

jtk

[Doug Garson]

Rather than leaving food on the floor which attracts mice, and then catching and releasing them I use ultrasonic pest deterrents near the doors to keep them out. Haven't seen any sign of mice since I started doing this almost a decade ago.

[Warren Lake]

I could tell you stories about mice, bigger mice, squirrels, raccoons and all had a second chance but ill skip to a more interesting one. One raccoon got into the attic. Locked him out then he broke back in, strong critters. Not only that he emailed all his friends on facebook and more arrived.

Im in the shop one day i see a terd on the floor, I think the three letter thing. Later im looking everywhere and find nothing. I pull on the edge sander as it was close to the wall and kick it at the bottom at the time wearing clogs which made a racket. Later I find another turd. My 80 year old neighbour comes over to help i the search. Now the edge sander is a bit out from the wall and can see behind and see black with a white strip but still can hardly see him, Lucky as hell I didnt pinch a toe of his when I pulled the edge sander out. Sooo neighbour starts laughing leaves quickly, says see you later.

I make calls to smart friends and the concensus is you build a ramp out a window and you put food every four feet or so. I took a rough 15 foot by 8 inch wide pine board and put tuna on plates, outside I put a full can of salmon. I left the shop and went to the neighbours for a hour. When I came back he was right in the middle of the room we just looked at each other. Big and well groomed, whiter white than if he had been in a washing machine and looking like he had been brushed. We both just looked at each other now what, I will defend my shop but not in this case. Making it worse was right beside him was a small job ready to ship to the states. So now what he lets off and the job is ruined?

I left for four hours. When I came back he ate the first tuna, ate the second tuna, left the third tuna but outside he ate the salmon and the can was pristine. Next day i put a full can of tuna out back to say thank you. neighbour thought I was nuts but it was the right thing. He easily could have made my life grief and didnt so least I could do. Peppi Lepeux was not as well groomed as this one. I can still see us both 25 feet apart looking at each other both thinking now what.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Racoons that show no fear of humans are often rabid. Take care.

[Warren Lake]

Thanks Malcolm that is over, no more visitors they moved to huge maple trees around here and to the farm.

now the farm is gone and little homes will spring out of the ground and turn the country into the city. There was a view of sunrises over 150 acres. Years past other way lost the view of sunsets.

[Thomas McCurnin]

Walk the Plank is the best, most effective mousetrap made. It can catch unlimited numbers of mice in a single day. My personal best is six in a 24 hour period, without having to reset the trap, because it automatically resets itself.

You can make your own, or buy a kit.

https://youtu.be/nsoVcrFyrF8

[Jerry Bruette]

Walk the Plank is the best, most effective mousetrap made. It can catch unlimited numbers of mice in a single day. My personal best is six in a 24 hour period, without having to reset the trap, because it automatically resets itself.

You can make your own, or buy a kit.

https://youtu.be/nsoVcrFyrF8

I used to use bucket traps at my cabin and got tired of emptying the nasty, stinky water and mice slop.

I switched over to PVC bait stations. You can make them for a few dollars and use bar bait suspended on a small cable. Nothing to smell or empty out. Don't worry about the neighbors pets getting into them either. If you have a chipmunk or gopher problem it will take care of them also.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

Back in the mid 1950's my parents purchased an old farm house and a few acres. The house stone farm house had no electricity or running water and my parents worked weekends and holidays to rehab the place for us to move in. When they first bought it, mice would run across the floor in front of us. Dad took an old five gallon bucket and put a long spike in each side just under the rim of the bucket. He took a half gallon drink can and poked a hole in the center of each end and put the spikes into each hole so the can would spin freely like a wheel. He coated the drink can with peanut butter and then placed a board up each side like a ramp. They set the thing up one night as we left and poured three or four inches of water in the bucket and when we returned the next day, there were over a dozen drowned mice in the bottom of the bucket, They continued using that same trap for the mice for at least a month with continuous results. As the foundation was repointed and the door and window frames replaced, mice could no longer get in and we caught fewer and fewer mice. Eventually the trap was moved to the barn where a chipmunk fell victim. My mother put her foot down then and wanted no more chipmunks harmed.

[Ronald Blue]

Back in the mid 1950's my parents purchased an old farm house and a few acres. The house stone farm house had no electricity or running water and my parents worked weekends and holidays to rehab the place for us to move in. When they first bought it, mice would run across the floor in front of us. Dad took an old five gallon bucket and put a long spike in each side just under the rim of the bucket. He took a half gallon drink can and poked a hole in the center of each end and put the spikes into each hole so the can would spin freely like a wheel. He coated the drink can with peanut butter and then placed a board up each side like a ramp. They set the thing up one night as we left and poured three or four inches of water in the bucket and when we returned the next day, there were over a dozen drowned mice in the bottom of the bucket, They continued using that same trap for the mice for at least a month with continuous results. As the foundation was repointed and the door and window frames replaced, mice could no longer get in and we caught fewer and fewer mice. Eventually the trap was moved to the barn where a chipmunk fell victim. My mother put her foot down then and wanted no more chipmunks harmed.

That's the same basic trap my friend/coworker built last year. He had great results also. He's not a woodworker but has a nice shop his auto repair business used to be in and he was being over ran by mice. He's caught a lot of mice with the peanut butter on the spinning drum over a moat. Just dump it every few days.

[Lee Schierer]

I switched over to PVC bait stations. You can make them for a few dollars and use bar bait suspended on a small cable. Nothing to smell or empty out. Don't worry about the neighbors pets getting into them either. If you have a chipmunk or gopher problem it will take care of them also.

Be careful with those bar baits. They used to contain a blood thinner that had an antidote if a pet eat some. Now they contain a nerve agent for which there is no antidote. Dogs think they are biscuits and will eat as many as they can get in their mouth. I was refilling some of my bait stations and my dog got into the bag I left setting within his reach for just a few seconds. Thankfully I noticed the green crumbs on the ground and particles stuck in his teeth and induced vomiting right away with hydrogen peroxide. A quick trip to the vet and $300 later he had a belly full of activated charcoal. We were lucky, there were no long term effects. I no longer use those bar baits.

[Myk Rian]

You don't need to bait a mouse trap. Set it, and place the trigger end against a wall. Mice are wall runners.