Mice!!!!!!!!!!!

[picman]

Originally Posted by Dennis_H

I had a rat in the house last year and tried several different things. I finally got a rat zapper from Home Depot and put a little peanut butter in it. Couple days later, emptied it in the garbage can. No mess, smell, etc. Thing was almost as big as a squirrel. Wasn't cheap, but I couldn't get it with Victor traps or glue traps. Runs on 4 'C' batteries and must put out a pretty good jolt. LED blinks when it has tripped.

I'm guessing it would work great for a mouse too, but you will want to make sure it isn't where a child will get it.

That could be a YouTube video.

Speaking of; there is supposed to be video there of a mouse getting thru a hole the diameter of a pencil, so good luck sealing up all the gaps. But, look for the obvious ones like at the bottom of doors (I had a door with a 1/4" gap at the bottom because the threshold wasn't adjusted.)

[guitarbug]

Hello! Too bad you don't live in DFW, I own a pest control company and have been dealing with rodents for 25 years! First off don't waste you're money on any electronic device! Like someone said earlier the only wat it will kill them is if it falls in their little bath tub while they are bathing. The best thing you can do is exclusion! Walk around outside and look around wires, pipe openings or any little crack or crevice that is the size of a nickle. Then go to Home Depot and ask for stainless steel wool and caulking. Caulk any little crack and for the bigger ones use only stainless steel wool. BUT!!! I would first call out a pest control company and have them bait you're attic & crawl (if pier & beam). You want them to injest bait and go outside to die first, this should take no less than 2 weeks. This could run you about $65-150. Then do you're blocking! And yes, they should go outside to pass on due to the fact that all rodent bait is a anticoagulant bait, meaning they bleed to death internaly!! Yea baby.. (just kidding) But most times they will want to go outside for air & water before they go meet the big mouscateer in the sky! Let me know if you need any more help. We also do wifes, mother in laws & red headed step children! LOL..

[Breezy]

The regular traps work if you set them to be sensitive enough lol.
Thank god we don't have mice here. But we had 2 in Va. Scared the CRAP out of me lol. I had forgotten what they looked like since we had not seen any since we got married almost 12 years ago lol.

As for Rats. When we bought our house in VA. they were supposed to clean the attic in the garage (detached) Well they didn't so dh and I are out there and we are tearing this thing up the only thing left was the framing when we finished lol.
Anyway we are tearing the ceiling tiles down (don't ask lol) and Dh swooped it over in front of me and the whole ceiling came crashing down on me (could have killed him btw) but amoungst the tiles were about 6 RATS not mice rats all dead and stiff etc.... But the biggest one was longer than my leg from head to tip of tail. Needless to say dh had to finish the garage himself. That was just nasty!
So apparently I have become a city girl lol.

[kenw]

for sealing holes around pipes, the expanding insulating foam works very well. Be aware that it does not store well after using, so be ready to seal all of the holes in 1 outing.

It is also impervious to normal cleaning so wear disposable gloves. DO NOT get it on anything that will need to be cleaned like painted surfaces, it only cleans with gasoline or lacquer thinner.

another entrance is the 2 pipes that take freon in/out of the house, look for them near the outside AC unit. Most houses have holes here big enough for squirrels, let alone mice.

[studiocygnet]

Originally Posted by kenw

for sealing holes around pipes, the expanding insulating foam works very well.

Works for a while, but they eventually chew through it if they really want in.

As guitarbug Chris says, you've got to use metal to plug every hole. Stuff the steel wool into the small holes, and use mesh screening for larger openings. And then get the poison that makes them go outside to die, but keep it away from anywhere the kitten or kids will find it. Although I have always worried about using poison and then having the cat find a dead mouse and eat it, maybe guitarbug Chris has a comment about that. We put the poison in the attic, so I was hoping that chance was remote.
We thought we had a good guard in this guy, also 16 lbs., because he will chase anything that moves. However, he just played with the mice until they didn't move anymore and then walked away. Sometimes they were dead, and you'd find them in the morning, but sometimes they were just stunned, and escaped when they came to. So we had to try the more drastic measures mentioned above.

[guitarbug]

Originally Posted by studiocygnet

Works for a while, but they eventually chew through it if they really want in.

As guitarbug Chris says, you've got to use metal to plug every hole. Stuff the steel wool into the small holes, and use mesh screening for larger openings. And then get the poison that makes them go outside to die, but keep it away from anywhere the kitten or kids will find it. Although I have always worried about using poison and then having the cat find a dead mouse and eat it, maybe guitarbug Chris has a comment about that. We put the poison in the attic, so I was hoping that chance was remote.
We thought we had a good guard in this guy, also 16 lbs., because he will chase anything that moves. However, he just played with the mice until they didn't move anymore and then walked away. Sometimes they were dead, and you'd find them in the morning, but sometimes they were just stunned, and escaped when they came to. So we had to try the more drastic measures mentioned above.

Good point! A very common question ? If you're dog or cat seems sick or lazy and not being himself or if you catch him downing a mouse or rat, the first thing to do is feed them a can of cat food! Cat food has a ton of vitamin K wich is the antidote to most rodenticides. This is what the vet would do is inject them with vitamin K. Most cases the dog or cats body weight is large enough for the dose not to be fatal. But feed them cat food and call the vet right away. I know this from exsperience our shop dog loves rat bait. No matter where we hide it he finds it. This dog has 19 lives, lol..

[darktiger]

awesome looking bengal, I was going to get one. But I fell in love with toygers....

[BigEasy]

What's worse... Mice, or a cat with a bad attitude?

[Night Owl]

My mouse count since we moved in back in June is 25. We used glue traps and bait bricks, the latter causing one or two to croak in the wall. That was a pleasant two weeks. We sealed the gap in the garage where we saw evidence of their entry between the foundation and the gypsum board. We also crammed Brillo scouring pads in all the weep holes and gaps in the Hardiplank.

[Digital Daddy]

Good luck. These nasty little creatures are able to get in through very small openings. D-con works well, but watch the kids and pets, as it will also work on them. You gotta seal up the cracks and holes. The cheap traps work, use peanut butter, or the aeresol cheese. It sounds awful, but if you don't kill them they will just come back in the same way they did the first time.