Dog proofing and baiting a mousetrap? Edit - more help needed

krlyr

Mice are a symptom of a problem - best way to get rid of a symptom is to solve the problem. Wild animals want as easy a life as they can manage, so make their life difficult and they will move on elsewhere.
Consider the 3 main things a wild animal wants; food, water and shelter. Put food in mouse-proof containers, up in high cupboards (but don't underestimate their climbing skills) and don't let rubbish sit around in easy reach (hang your food recycling caddy up on a hook if you need to, clean the bin out frequently, don't allow your toaster tray to sit full of crumbs, etc). If you grow your own fruit/veg, try to mouse-proof the areas. If you feed the local birds, try putting food out little and often so it's gone within a few minutes and not sitting around all day - and go for food that doesn't leave lots of little bits of edible waste on the floor. Might even be worth stopping for a while.
Try to prevent water sources being available - don't leave your sink with a puddle of water on the bottom, put away drinks glasses, even put squash bottles up out of reach (mice have a sweet tooth and may try to gnaw through the plastic). Ditto the garden, try not to leave empty flowerpots out to collect water, try to level out areas that are prone to puddles, and so on.
Make shelter difficult. Identify problem areas - overgrown gardens, for example, provide lots of shelter for rodents, not just to live in but to travel through without being caught by predators. Gaps under sheds and decking are another popular area - the local cat can't squeeze under there for a mousey snack. Gaps around bathroom pipes make handy entry and exit holes for little mice (if they can get their head through it they can contort their body through it).
You can kill as many as you like but as long as your house/garden provides all these resources without too much difficulty, you'll just find a new mouse family moving in once you've cleared room for them.

glasgowdan

Of course a mouse indoors is vermin.

Same rule applies all over life. A spoonfull of baked beans in your sock is vermin but on a plate with sausages is desirable. A pen lodged under your skin is vermin but in your hand at a time you want to write something down is desirable.

Mice indoors is a big NOOO! Vermin... I'd never have any hesitation using regular mouse traps.

Squirrels can be just as unsdesirable as mice and rats and I consider most grey squirrels as vermin too. The red are less voracious and obtrusive which affords them some protection!

Trying to convince my other half's sister to use proper traps as she has seen a mouse in her house, but she is dithering and wants to try and catch it alive instead. It's her kitchen that will be riddled with mouse poo and a risk of breeding mice so I have given up trying!

elsien

krlyr wrote: »

Mice are a symptom of a problem - best way to get rid of a symptom is to solve the problem. Wild animals want as easy a life as they can manage, so make their life difficult and they will move on elsewhere.
You can kill as many as you like but as long as your house/garden provides all these resources without too much difficulty, you'll just find a new mouse family moving in once you've cleared room for them.

That's probably true, but quite depressing. Next door's back yard/side return has bird seed everywhere, and even having rats sitting on our joint fence hasn't persuaded him it's a bad idea. And to be honest in my main back garden bit, I really don't want to stop feeding the birds and putting water out for them, especially at this time of year. I'd rather take the chance.
Plus having an elderly dog means that there's always water down in my kitchen, and usually dog food as well as she needs to keep going back and fore to her food.
Looks like I'm lucky this is my first mouse in 10 years. No signs of droppings for a couple of days - gone or lying low do we think? How long does it usually take to catch them with the aid of a snickers bar?

krlyr

It may be that the mouse/mice have been around a while then (sounds like mouse paradise!) but the cold weather has driven one (or some) indoors. If you want to keep them out of the house and you're not prepared to stop feeding the birds or asking the neighbour to then perhaps the best option would be to provide some shelter at the end of the garden - if you're going to offer every other resource then you may as well try to encourage them to set up home in a little mouse annexe rather than as a lodger in your house!

peter_the_piper

wallbash wrote: »

It brings up an interesting point .

Rats = Vermin

Very small rat = mouse = Vermin

Rat + bushy tail = Squirrel = cute.


Or is it wallbash getting carried away?

Just sent the old Volvo to the great scrapyard in the sky due to mice having a banquet on its wiring. Partly my fault as I left some peanuts in it. I caught 7 but not before they got their own back.

elsien

Mouse 1 traps 0.

Humane traps did nothing, so I've bought a couple of the splatty ones, baited with chocolate and peanuts and still no joy.
I've just seen one scooting across the kitchen from underneath the freezer so I've put a trap by the side of the freezer.
I did wonder though, there's a pipe behind the freezer that used to be the outlet pipe for the dishwasher. I blocked it up a few years back with that squirty foam stuff that goes solid, perhaps that's disintegrated and that's where they're getting in. Any suggestions as to what I could block it off with properly?

And mutt's terrier instincts have failed her completely. She just stood and watched the mouse, looking slightly puzzled, making no attempt to move. Useless hound.

blossomhill_2

wallbash wrote: »

When my girls were very young , we had the mice problem . Small field mice, in the kitchen .
So I got a humane trap. One evening I caught three!. One day it was two at once ( in the same trap) But the girls 5 or 6 years old , had a routine . I had to first let the mice go , into a bucket so they could be observed . Then It was a walk up the road ( with them holding the bucket handle . towel over mice) to a field. Then let the mice go .

That was over 15 years ago , but thanks to the OP , brings back happy memories.

Same here - I caught one cute one an didn't want to put it outside while my cat was loose so put it in a hamster cage in the bathroom overnight and the kids enjoyed their "pet". In the morning we took the wire cage outside, set it down on the footpath to open it ... and mousey ran straight out between the bars!!!!!!! Why did he stay in the cage all night?

Spring traps don't always make a clean kill, can catch other body parts and mouse still alive, and can be distressing for mouse and whoever cleans up

elsien

Ok, what else can I try to catch the little beggar? I've got four traps in strategic places, I've tried chocolate and peanuts, and it's waltzing straight past them. I've blocked up the hole I think it was getting in by, so I may now have trapped it inside which is not helpful.
Getting desperate now as it's been a couple of weeks not able to catch or kill it , and I really don't want to resort to poison as I don't want a little mouse corpse behind my cupboards and ponging out the the kitchen.

lostinrates

elsien wrote: »

Ok, what else can I try to catch the little beggar? I've got four traps in strategic places, I've tried chocolate and peanuts, and it's waltzing straight past them. I've blocked up the hole I think it was getting in by, so I may now have trapped it inside which is not helpful.
Getting desperate now as it's been a couple of weeks not able to catch or kill it , and I really don't want to resort to poison as I don't want a little mouse corpse behind my cupboards and ponging out the the kitchen.

nutella....record ten in seven hours (seven in the first couple of hours)

elsien

lostinrates wrote: »

nutella....record ten in seven hours (seven in the first couple of hours)

:eek::eek::eek: