MICE ~ Riddex®, SnapTraps, GlueTraps

[Elaine]

Okay, I admit it… we have mice… well, not really mice… we have mice-ettes… you know, those cute little field mice that populate children’s stories. These guys show up each winter... personally, I have nothing against mice per se. If they practiced better personal hygiene, used the “lu,” flushed afterwards, and washed their hands and feet more often we might be able to co-exist peaceably. But they don’t. These little guys are the worst possible house guests, they weren’t invited, don’t pay rent and make a mess. I’m tired of cleaning up after them. They really need to live elsewhere.

I’ve tried the Riddex® device you plug into an electrical outlet, which is supposed to humanely drive them away with a high pitched frequency only they can hear. My mice must need an audiologist, something is wrong with their hearing, they don’t seem even remotely annoyed by the Riddex®. So, I went back to setting out the snap traps. Have about half a dozen of ‘em. Once a day I fill them up. I’ve used peanut butter, raisons, hard cheese, soft cheese, sausage, potato, grapes, Christmas cookies… each day I refill the traps, and each day the little mice clean ‘em slick as a whistle. Sometimes they poop on the traps, but they are too small to trip the trap. I’ve now got hearing impaired, obese field mice, with high blood pressure, and unacceptable levels of the bad cholesterol. At one point it seemed to me that one of the mice was really really fat, possibly pregnant, which motivated me to switch gears. I went to the local hardware store to get more sensitive traps… the guy said I needed glue traps. “Oh no, I can’t use those, they’re cruel.” He responded that they were the only way to get rid of the little field mice, that the snaptraps would never work. Motivated by visions of a whole new generation of mice house guests, I bought half a dozen glue traps and set them out.

This morning at about 3:00 a.m. I heard a little mouse crying… he/she was caught in the glue trap… and a little buddy was standing by, presumably for comfort. The little mouse was crying… there is no question in my mind.

What to do?

I went on line and discovered that cooking oil or baby oil will dissolve the glue. I grabbed some gloves, cooking oil, the mouse (in the trap) and a Christmas cookie (by way of an apology) and at 3:30a.m. I made my way in the dark down to the barn. The cooking oil worked, it freed the mouse… he/she ran off, probably beat me back to the house…


Here's what I found out about glue traps:

Glue traps are often used to catch mice, rats, sparrows and other small birds, and is thought by some to be a more humane method of catching small animals that are seen as pests. Glue traps, however, are an extremely cruel method of catching animals. We believe that if people understood the degree of cruelty associated with the use of glue traps, they would want no part of them.

A 1983 test that evaluated the effectiveness of glue traps found that trapped mice struggling to free themselves would pull out their own hair, exposing bare, raw areas of skin. The mice broke or even bit off their own legs, and the glue caused their eyes to become badly irritated and scarred. After three to five hours in the glue traps, the mice defecated and urinated heavily because of their severe stress and fear, and quickly became covered with their own excrement. Animals whose faces become stuck in the glue slowly suffocate, and all trapped animals are subject to starvation and dehydration. It takes anywhere from three to five days for the mouse to finally die. This is nothing less than torture.

Because of the cruelty of glue traps, many veterinarians have issued affidavits opposing their use. In one such document, Dr. Robert M. Lynn stated, "In my estimation, there is much suffering by the entrapped animals. It is not a sudden or merciful death, but one brought on by starvation and thirst." Dr. Dianne Ferris added, "Because all mammals have similar nervous systems, they are capable of experiencing the same type of pain and suffering. Thus, rodents suffer as much as any other mammal and are capable of being traumatized and abused."

If you find a mouse caught in a glue trap, you can save his or her life. Simply put a small amount of cooking or baby oil onto the places where the mouse is stuck and gently work it into the glue with a Q-tip. Make sure you are outside when you do this to avoid mess and set the mouse free.

[Athy]

Elaine, I won't use any of those traps either - glue, poison, whatever. Get one of those humane ones and you can do the wussie thing and just release them outdoors. I have two cats in the house and every now and then, nature does take its course and a mouse ends up paying the price for encountering the kitty.

I can't remember where I got my no-kill mouse trap. Probably at the new age pharmacy...

Athy

[doberdogsfd]

Have -A-Heart traps. I believe you can Google them or a hardware to or Home Dept/Lowes should carry them.

Listen....I can't kill them. I adore their sweet little faces an dround little bodies. Our field mice pretty much stay in the field here, we are lucky. I feed the birds so they tend to hang about the feeds and clean up or the garage and catch what I spill.
Since I supplement the wild cats income aroun dhere, I alos have a kitty or tow that keeps my population outside under control....the trade off for some tasty food when the pickens get slim.
I have always loved a barn cat.....they are worth thier weight in gold!

Let me know if you find anything Elaine.
Cheryl

[Sonquest]

Oh Elaine, you have the best heart!!! :):) Jeff thinks that I am the only one who does stuff like that! ;);) I think that I now have to change your initials from E1 to "MA".......MOUSE ANGEL!!! :D:D


LOVE YOU!
TINA :):)

[jkf]

OMG Elaineyou and your little friends at the farm there. I just don't know how you do it. I personally think they need to be killed quickly if you ar going to do it. But you do have to get them out of your house by next x-mas!!!!:D
Julie

[Elaine]

Oh, they will be gone by next Christmas… guaranteed. :mad: My new plan is to feed them all so well they won’t be able to run away… then I can easily scoop them all up and release ‘em all down by the barn… where they can work it out with what ever else is living down there. :rolleyes: Then I’ll put up little mice-high signs all ‘round the house that say, “Get the f#*k out of here you hairy little bastards!!!” That’s my plan for the moment, it may change. :cool:

[Elaine]

Have -A-Heart traps. I believe you can Google them or a hardware to or Home Dept/Lowes should carry them.

Listen....I can't kill them. I adore their sweet little faces an dround little bodies. Our field mice pretty much stay in the field here, we are lucky. I feed the birds so they tend to hang about the feeds and clean up or the garage and catch what I spill.
Since I supplement the wild cats income aroun dhere, I alos have a kitty or tow that keeps my population outside under control....the trade off for some tasty food when the pickens get slim.
I have always loved a barn cat.....they are worth thier weight in gold!

Let me know if you find anything Elaine.
Cheryl
I Googled the Havahart traps… http://www.havahart.com/ They seem to be for larger animals… that you find out doors, things like squirrels, possums, skunks… we aren’t quite there yet. :p:o

Here’s the problem.. these little mice are living creatures, they seem to have a social structure, they are thinking, feeling little beings. Fundamentally we either believe life is precious or we don’t. I have no clue who developed the Glue Trap… but that person needs a whopping dose of humanity. The glue traps are inhumane. The other day, when the one mouse was stuck in the glue and crying , the other mouse came to its aid. I realized at that point that I don’t want to torture these little guys or make their lives miserable… I simply want them gone from my house... but not at any cost. Life is precious and I am not williing to treat it so casually… I just want these little guys to live outside about 5 acres away. :o

[Sheila]

With renovation of kitchen we removed a thirteen foot wide area of former windows and bricks to be replaced by bay type. Well all the bricks sat between houses over a winter and I soon saw these dear little field mice there. I put bird seed out for them and grandkids loved watching them. My fond attachment for them came to an abrupt end when I found mouse dropping under my kitchen sink! Seems somehow they had decided it would be cozier inside my kitchen. I procured live traps from Science dept at my school and used those. The little dears were subsequently relocated in a small forest west of the house. With bricks long since removed and capping round pipe where the darlins had squirmed their way in I haven't seen any since but I know they are! The noses have to follow cirucuitous paths in the yard over something and my money is on the meeses!

Sheila

[Kissntell]

I have had a totally different experience with mice and those types of creatures.

Which by the way dear Macy...

I couldn't figure out what was going on so I took her to my specialist vet. This is not a regular vet. He is the one who took care of my last copper storage bitch.

Well...come to find out these creatures carry garardia.

So that possium which Macy just loved playing with and ate a few weeks ago must have had garardia.

I was going to enter her in the big Palm Springs major but all of a sudden she lost her vim. She was throwing up with some diaheria. Her filled out, bodied out, body, went back to her puppy body.

Well the garardia medicine worked and now she missed the entry. So that's the way it goes. But she is back to herself and playing like you would expect a puppy of her age.

But the moral of this story is all those "Pets" you love also carry this bug which is not a fun bug.

I always bring in water dishes etc at night. I don't want to be watering the wild life with the garardia and then she drinks and gets it again.

However, maybe this is a California thing because they say that garardia is found in all California streams.

Mice carry too many other diseases too for me. I love it when I hear the screech owl going over at night cleaning them out. They will rip your stove and refrigerator beds etc to pieces. They are very distructive. So...I guess for me...I'm not an animal rights advocate. They belong in their place not mine.

I remember staying on the Indian Reservation with people who liked the poor mice. They will take over your house. I literally had to have a Doberman of mine sleep on top of me to keep the mice off. They were all over the place because this woman could not bear to kill them. Just beware. I remember a horse barn owner who learned and payed this price too. Do you even know how fast mice reproduce? You would be amased!

P.S. I also had a friend who could not bear to kill them and they would literally stand on their hind legs on the bathtub while you sat on the toilet and wrinkle their nose at you. Now to the smell they have...YUCK!

Me is a NO MICE PERSON and I do whatever it takes because I have been there and done that. And...those people above have now joined my club.

There is a plastic trap made in Iowa that works much better than those dumb wooden spring traps. It is small and works real good! It kills better and is more "humane."

Really...I just laugh when I hear people talk of mice because they know not of what these critters can be. That's really what rattlesnakes and owls are for. We have just run out the natural preditors so we have to become the preditors. Me...I don't like them crawling on the bed top covers while I sleep because they can and will do it. They are brave souls.

[Elaine]

eek...

[Lou's mom]

Having the foster pup live with us for a month opened the [dog] door for the wee beasties at our house, so I read this thread with much sympathy & laughter.

My last straw was hearing them manipulate the MIA rollyballs for dinner,










While I was trying to sleep. :mad:
The upside: been wondering where those RB's were...

My dobers don't care to investigate, except for excavating under the bird feeders out front. I don't care to hear little screams in the night, nor to risk gettin bit whilst attempting relocation. The last traps I bought featured an anethesthic of some type, but as myBella pointed out, it's not very fast acting. Back to square one...


Oh, FWIW my 1st dober contracted giardia from a Colorado Rocky Mtn stream. It exists everywhere people are, and is the reason that backcountry campers carry water filters.

[Kissntell]

The trick to having spring traps work is to set them on the hair trigger. That means that you set them so ready to spring that they go off real easy. This is difficult with my hands and you must be careful when you set the trap down that you always stay on the off side of it.

Additionally, I have found that mice and rats seem to love pizza and bread. Remember they are natually a grain eater.

Thanks for the info on garadia.

Additonally, I forgot to mention that with the horse barn and the amount of mice increasing, so did the number of rattle snakes. So one brought another and you must be careful of this. Mice are natural food for coyotes, rattlesnakes etc. You have to realize that you upset nature and then nature tries to straighten itself out on its own. So now one thing leeds to another.

[Elaine]

Here's the cycle, the horse's grain attracts the mice, the mice attract the snakes and other predators... and the whole things makes me want to run screaming. :eek:

Haven’t seen any mice or evidence since the glue trap incident a few days ago. Still, I decided to put snap traps out again… even though they only seem to get my fingers. :o I still have two of the Riddex things plugged in…. maybe they work a bit too. I’d so much rather be driving these little guys away with some irritating electrical frequency, then the trap thing... but whatever, they need to be gone. :(

[Kissntell]

I went into my closet and found my traps that I swear by. They are the ones from Iowa of which are worth their weight in gold. They are not the cheap wood ones but better plastic.

Here is where you get them:

They are called the SNAP-E

Easy To Bait

Easy To Set

Easy To Release (espicially for you Elaine)

KNESS MFG. CO. INC
ALBIA, IOWA 52531
1-800-247-5062

I have a bunch of them. I think they cost, when I bought them, $2.25 a piece. Actually, I initially bought them at the feed store.

They make both mice and rat traps. I have each. I keep one set behind my stove at all times. I found that mice will sneak in under the one screen door in the kitchen so I always keep the full door closed.

Here's a real kicker of a story:

I said that my experience with these critters were different than others'. So this may be of interest; and, I have always told the truth.

When I was about 16 years old...

I keep my horse at a boarding training stable. The woman who ran the stable felt real bad when she had a "poor mouse" who got poisoned by the warfrin bait. So she would "nurse them back to health." She would put them in a shoe box with some of the horse grain. Then they would get healthy again. But then she wanted to let them loose since mice can make all kinds of do do droppings in the shoe box.

So she decided to designate a bag of grain in the feed room just for them.

When "them" consequently became quite a bit of "them." Soon they invaded the alfalfa molasses, hay etc. Oh what a nice place to nest and raise their babies! And, oh what the smell. Soon the horses did not want to eat the feed kept in that room.

One day I came late in the afternoon and she did not want to feed and go into the feed room. There were now mice all over the place.

So being the 16 year, old courageous I was, I voluneered. I took a shovel with me. The floor was literally moving and black with mice. When I went in they were jumping all over the place out of fear. Mice are good jumpers. Yes, they even jumped on me up on the pant legs! Thank God not underneath!

I could not get near the feed so I started slamming the shovel. Everywhere I hit I took out a few. Finally, they decided that I was too much for them and they retreated. But it was like one of those movies you watch on a halloween night.

So the barn got infested with rattlesnakes. The owls took to nesting there which was fine. But early in the morning or late at night, packs of coyotees were abundant.

Finally, everybody agreed that feed had to be kept in metal trash cans from then on. I can't tell you how many rattlesnakes I steped right beside not knowing it, until someone said, "Look out"!

Moral of the story...Don't feel sorry for these critters. They become very abundant very fast. And, they don't think anything of taking over. They are not at all afraid of you. You can scream all you want. So I guess the question is who's screem is more important? Theirs or yours!

[Lou's mom]

Twas the night before Xmas
And all through the house
My dobers were hunting
Having scented the mouse

Behind the stove, under the frig
Will was hot on the trail
Alas, distraction
In a word, Fail

Time later, dobers snoozing,
The first brave soul
Strolled quietly along
Hunting a snack

Once the young scout cleared a path
The grownups emerged
Light grey, dark brown
Each hankering for food

Dobers snoring, book in hand
I gave them a pass

[Ann Lanier]

There is a small trap for mice called a Tin Cat. You put bait in and and it lures the rodents in and tips them into a holding area, then swings back ready for the next one. Oh yes, humane, but there is no way to know when a mousie or mousies are in there so they don't die of thirst and hunger. So one, or preferably one's husband, must check the trap frequently for prisoners, and then take them somewhere and release them, to hurry back home.

We had a neighbor drag in an old rotten trailer from the waterfront, and thereafter became infested with ratz. We caught 18 ratz in one day. It was horrible, gave me the screaming mimi's. Or is that meemee's?

We seemed to have gotten rid of the masses, that was some years ago, but in the winter we always seem to acquire a few in the garage. But this year I got an electronic rat zapper. It is humane in that the rat eats a piece of nice kibble at the entrance and then enters through the open end of a box trap to get the rest of the kibble at the far end. When he steps with 2 feet on a metal plate on the 'floor' he completes a circuit and is electrocuted instantly.
Whatever he feels it is momentary and he is gone. Then a red light on top flashes and I tell Husband, "Eww! Eww! There is a d-e-d rat out there, you have to go get him away! Eww! Eww!" and Husband falls for the eww-eww and goes out and empties him and re-baits the trap with some nice new kibble.

I think there is a mousie version too. Still life taking, but the others are right, you have to get rid of them. They start having litters I think at 14 weeks! and have litters every 3 months......4-6-8-16-32-64-128.....

a

[Kissntell]

This has turned into an interesting string! The poem is cute.

I keep bar bait in my garage at all times. The dogs do not go into the garage. It is a freestanding out building.

Bar bait seems to work better than the De Con grain stuff. The mice and rats will literally chew through the wrapper. You do not need to even open it. It is similar looking to an oatmeal cookie.

My son's house on the Indian Reservation, where at one time I had to build kennels to keep my dogs, got run over by rats.

They too caught 17 in one night. I could not stand visiting; they stunk! So I went and bought then the Snap-Ee rat version. They said every 20 minutes it would go off.

They had what they called a "gangster male." When he came in everybody shut up and was quiet. He would sit and chatter his teeth and hiss they said at night. Yuck, I'd be out of there!

Anyway, they could never catch this wise guy. But finally my precious Marie my original Dobergirl nailed him at the door.

In that line, when I had them, were some real mouse/rat/oppusum chasers. Her granddaughter got one in my yard.

When Dobermans catch these things its sort of fun to watch. They throw them up in the air so that they twirl around head to foot like a flying saucer and have a delightful time with them. Woe to you if you try and take that toy away!

Soch my obedience bitch from Marie has a big stach of them hidden in the brick holes of her yard. Oh did she get mad when I discovered them! There were about 8 dead bodies of which she kept and took out when she wanted to play with them. I'll never forget how mad she got at me when I found them.

Soch was really an unusual bitch. She would take high in trials at all breed shows. But oh don't piss her off. She would have something to do to you up her sleeve.

She use to take those mice out and literally tease the other dogs that she had something that they couldn't get since they were in her yard only. She too threw them up in the air and "played catch" with them.

I remember when I first put Marie on the Reservation and she had the run of 70 acres. For about 4 months she would not eat any dog food. She caught rabbits and ate them. I asked the vet about this and he said there was really nothing you could do as fresh meat was more tasty to the dogs. Eventually, she got lazy and went back to eating dog food.

But we think our dogs are so deligtful and good. Believe me given the chance they will act as dogs and get into all kinds of things.

Now don't get me into discussing the skunks too. I got to the point that I just ignored them. The Indians told me that if you left them alone, the sun would cure the smell. It does, but then they have the grease still on them. After enough of the eye burning they get, they eventually learn to leave the skunks alone.

I can't say the same for the expensive rattlesnake bites I went through out there.

Its good to have my dogs with me again. It was animal reg that ran me out of town which caused me to have to move elsewhere in the first place. They have the "only two laws" on the books and lord help you should you get snagged. I am safe so far now; but oh what an experience.

[Lou's mom]

Actually, I should apologize for my lack of poetic ability, and subjecting you all to it. :p

Your mouse-as-toys story brings to mind my first dobergirl learning about the joys of mousli-pops from her pitty friends. Tail hanging out from her mouth she happily greeted me at the gate w/ her new/used treat. Blech....

But if I could teach that to my current dobers, it might be a partial solution.

[andyhilt27]

This is the greatest thread of all time!!! Where have I been? Reminds me of my 'possums in the crawl space ordeal. Now those things are UGLY! Flea infested at that. I used a big live trap to capture mama and rat traps to catch her little ugly babies. None were killed. They were taken 15 miles away from my territory though. It still gives me the creeps thinking about those ugly creatures. Freaking critters!!!

Here is a link to an ebook that will give you instructions on how to build a mouse trap out of materials you probably already have at home.

http://www.humanemousetrap.info/

[katdobemom]

All
With the discussion on our dobes and their "catches" I must tell you about the rabbits.
I have zero issues with the rabbits coming into my yard and think they are cute. My red girl Kayla has other idea's. Our first experience was a number of years ago in dead of the winter. While I was in the shower my girl was out pottying and sniffing around in the yard. We have a dog door so she can go in and out as she pleases (its gaited off when we are gone btw).
I hear Kayla come back in and go about still getting ready for work. Its dark in the bedroom and I see "something" in bed from the light shining out of the bathroom. So, I go in, turn on the light and find Kayla with a dead rabbit frozen solid. I screamed heck holy bloody murder of course. Rolled the blanket, rabbit and all up and take outside. Of course I am just freaked out because I just don't think this poor rabbit deserved this fate.
Kayla has over the years continued to bring me rabbits. My boys never had a clue and of course if anyone 4 legged got near her "prize" she soon sent them packing with some serious barking.
My boy Riley who passed away several years ago was actually turned into rescue because he was killing a neighbors chickens to survive, much to that neighbors dismay. He was going to be shot until there was an intervention.
Once Riley knew of the good life, and consistently got food, a chicken could have walked past him and he couldnt have cared less.
Kayla is always on top of anything that moves. She will be 9 years old and is still just quick as can be.

[Lou's mom]

When you find yourself singing this little ditty, don't blame it on me:

Love to eat them mousies,
Mousies what I love to eat,
Bite they little heads off,
Nibble on they tiny feet







it's this guy's fault: http://www.eatmousies.com/

[Kissntell]

Oh God that just reminded me:

When I first moved to this house Soch wanted to always stay out all night in the summer hunting for her mice.

One night I was going away and I don't leave any dogs out when I'm gone. So I called her to come in. She ran in with her mouth shut tight and...eek a long tail hanging out of her mouth!

I was screaming at her to get back outside. But she was trying to find a "safe" place in my house to keep her pet. The damn mouse's tail was eeek wagging back and forth. The mouse was alive in her mouth. Can you emagine the feet must have been clawing at her tongue! I was literally screeming. And Soch was even trying harder to keep away from me.

This ended by me getting her to go back outside. That is after she ran in my bedroom and into the kitchen.

Oh arn't these dogs a barrel of fun! What they see as fun sure isn't what we see as fun.

[Lou's mom]

oh yes indeed....


myBella came in before the last snow, looking quite smug, with a few feathers sticking out of her mouth. I'd filled up the bird feeders a couple days before, but I was pretty sure she wasn't fast enough to actually catch one. After a few laps around the couch she finally gave up and let me open her mouth: a quite deceased goldfinch.

And she gives me kisses with that mouth :eek:

[Ann Lanier]

There is a story about one of the most famous Dobermans in American history, Ch. Rancho Dobe's Storm. He was the only back to back Dobe winner of Westminster, undefeated in the breed, shown 25 or 26 times with about the same numbers of Group Ones, and I think 17 Bests in Show.

Storm's passion was rubber squeaky mice. The other family dogs liked them too, so there were a lot of rubber squeaky mice in the home. Storm would go around collecting these small mice and carry them in his mouth. Thus, if you had met the famous Doberman in all our pedigrees, you would have met a silly dog with squeaky mice tails sticking out of his mouth at all angles. :D

I have used the rat bars, too, the waxy ones with grain in them, with excellent results. The best results, except for traps. Great for outbuildings and way underneath things. The trouble is that the rats and mice die in secluded places and it's not exactly aroma therapy tracking them down, disposing of them and bleaching the hell out of the deathbeds. (Ewww doesn't work on Husband for that. The Eww technique is not perfected.:rolleyes: )

Our count so far this winter is just the two, but I think the first one was pregnant, so maybe we avoided the numbers this year. Maybe. We almost never leave our garage doors open. I think the ratz must wait by the door. "C'mon Hilda! Quick! Make a run for it! The door's opening!"

No remote on the John Deere all wheel steering mower, my pride and joy, so one door stays open during slash and burn operation. (Anyone else have blackberries? :eek:) Wonder if that is an excuse not to mow? I have not driven Dear John into a pond, but I did manage to enjoy Mr. Toad's Wild Ride down a long steep hill into the blackberries. I guess that is why you're supposed to mow across steep hills, not up, and decidedly not down steep hills.

BTW Elaine, we keep a big ATV with a winch to drag Mr. Deere off of various stumps, lumps and bumps hidden in the blackberries, never mind the particularly luxuriant blackberries. Sometimes I mow in but I don't mow out. Then I call for the 500cc Polaris.

a

[Lou's mom]

Cuz doG didn't design puppies w/pockets...

Brenna's assignment is to see if she can teach Tungsten how to access the pockets on his pack. She could maybe start w/ham sammiches.... :D

[Elaine]

An update… I am taking this pretty seriously… apparently so are the mice. I now have the Havahart trap and just about every other trap known to mankind. I even put the glue traps back out… so that I can catch the little monsters, drive them 5 miles away, release them with cooking oil… and drive home. (I know, I know, that’s socially irresponsible because it makes my problem someone else’s problem, but after reading the posts here I intend to hit this problem hard, before two mice become 200.) I have traps set up everywhere… of all kinds, one next to another. The other night a mouse got stuck in the glue trap, and then immediately bounced into the snap trap... which was fatal. I actually heard the whole thing, happened in about 3 seconds.

Eek.

Somehow this all reminds me of the movie Mousehunt with Nathan Lane. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mousehunt

[Ann Lanier]

Elaine,

Please wear gloves and maybe even a mask and otherwise protect yourself if you are getting into Rodent Rescue. Old Indian lore says to burn clothing mice have 'walked over.' The Ancients were very wise. Mice around the Four Corners carry the lethal Hanta Virus which can be spread in their waste, or dried waste turned into dust, which can be inhaled. For everyone, that includes masks when sweeping where mice have been.

Cute meesies or not, Hanta is not something to mess with. Four Corners is of course, a long way away from you, but nevertheless.........

And wash your patties especially well if you don't wear gloves .. before you grab anything after you touch them, including your steering wheel on the way home if you drive them somewhere. You knew that, I'm sure.

a

[Elaine]

The catch and release program is completely over, this is war!!! :mad:

Btw, I now have all sorts of traps and devices all over the place, including the Havahart contraption. As an aside, I notice that most all of them appear to be made “offshore” and are merely distributed by companies here in the USA. They all seem to have foreign patents, and instructions in Spanish and probably Chinese. None of the traps work for these tiny little guys… not a one. Either it’s too difficult to trip the contraption, or the thing is so poorly made it is simply a shoddy useless replica of what it was supposed to be. The glue trays need to be bigger and with more glue, 'cause for the most part, these little guys simply walk out of ‘em. The Havahart especially was a complete waste of time, setting it is a joke. I am simply feeding these guys. The mice can easily get to the bait, enjoy a leisurely meal and leave with out setting off the trap. For every device I keep thinking, “who the heck made this? It is so poorly made, the mouse would have to have a death wish to be a victim.” SO, is seems we’ve shipped yet another of our bedrock US industries off to foreign countries, who then export back inferior products, which don’t work for the use intended. :mad: Maybe I should just buy some Chinese made imported mice feed and hope these bastards die from melamine poisoning.

All social commentary aside, the score is 2 - 0, but I’m still loosing the battle… and it’s pretty clear who the superior life form is. These guys are simply too small, too light weight, to adaptable… they seem to figure these devices out immediately, if not sooner... so I need to move on to the next step... which is either a flame thrower or dynamite. :(

[Kissntell]

Ok Elaine one time I got really infested so I'll pass on what I learned.

Mice are really stupid. They range about 30 feet. What gets a mouse is that it is curious. The curisoty kills the cat so to speak.

Mice and rats can go through a hole the size of a quarter. I think mice can make it through even smaller.

The reason the catch and no kill traps work is that they are nice and shiney inside. The shine makes the mouse want to see what that is. So they go in and guess what? Placing flour on the shiney part makes it even better because what is in there now smells good.

Mice do not learn that traps go off. They learn that they can return for a good snack. They do not realize that it will go off. So if you are having troubles its not because they have learned otherwise.

This is contary to rats that learn very quickly what a trap is. So if you have rats you better set it right the first time and have a good trap because they usually don't come back for more bad experiences.

Believe me I checked out many books on rodents and even bought books for copies I had it so bad one time. I got it bad because being the "organic gardner" that I was, I created a compost pile in my back yard with all kinds of kitchen scraps. So man did I get the RATS.

Now rats have a larger range. They can go 500 feet. They ususally like water places. So they came up from the city's storm drains into my house. A rat feels more comfortable traveling alongside things where they are less seen. So they will leave a "grease" rub. That is how you find where they love to run. They are like all rodents more active at night.

They would crawl up my stucco house and go into the attic and have themselves a party. Then it went from there into my house's walls. I lived in a fairly new house then in a "richy" neighborhood.

Additionally, the neighbors left there trash can uncovered. This leaves the attraction out. If they have free food they will go there first before your traps. So you need to eliminate the food source and make them hungry.

The bar bait works real good but it is dangerous to dogs because it resembles a cookie. Rats and mice will literally tear open the wrapping to get at it.

I've had far different experiences than many here so I love the glue traps and do not see them as cruel. Those critters are really cruel to us, not the other way around, when they destroy our food furniture etc.

Mouse pee is very strong and it will stain your lamp stands. Everywhere the mouse stops it is usually leaving droppings. You need to find the poos to find their runs. Then set the trap and be patient.

I put the name of the good traps on the eariler part of this thread. They work. I wouldn't even try those "Victor" wood traps.

The mice and rats can stay in the glue. Just put it in a plastic grocery bag and then put it in the trash. I love whoever created them because they are easy. Just try not to step in them.

I have glue traps in my garage and I notice I also catch a lot of those oriental cockroaches in them. They are great for that too.

I have another story of being 16 years old and going into the horse feed room but I think people would think me outrageous so I won't share that one. This was an encounter with Warf Rats not the typical roof rats that most people have. A warf rat can be almost like seeing a beaver. They are huge.

All these pests are pests and there is no other excuse for them. The more dead to me the better.

[Kissntell]

P.S.

You might want to consider putting your dog food bag inside of a new trash can etc. Mice will climb up, jump inside, and eat or chew a hole in the bottom. Mice keep very well on dog food.

[Elaine]

In case I haven’t mentioned this already, gross as this topic is, I really appreciate the advice here. You guys really helped motivate me to act, before things got out of hand. I am still trying to find all the traps that have been mentioned here. I've gone to most every hardware store around. I'm going try the Havahart trap again, this time with flour and a few cookie crumbs. Last time I baited it with a Sunsweet pitted prune which was about the size of a walnut. My strategy then was that the prune had to be close to the maximum weight to trigger the trap.. so the tiny little mouse going for the prune would be just that extra added oomph to make the fatal difference. Wrong! The trap was completely cleaned and empty in the morning... and yet the trap was not sprung. Obviously I am not setting the trap properly, but I can't figure out the Havahart directions. Btw, I take this very seriously... very seriously.. these guys are not cute anymore, they are not welcome... they need to be gone... today!! The score is now 3-0.

[andyhilt27]

I once killed a mouse with my bare hands. True story. It is a bit disturbed I know. I never claimed to be sane. While I worked on the hog farm it was a constant struggle between mice and human. We put out the poison daily. We even switched poison ever so often to keep them on their toes. Well I just so happened to catch one by the tail one afternoon. I then swung it by its tail and cracked the little critter's skull on the concrete. It was quick and painless. I didn't view this as murder since the mouse had most likely already begun to hemmorhage from the poison. I simply put the rodent out of its misery. An added bonus to this was that my animal instinct to kill violators of trespass into my territory was satisfied. I normally don't act on such instinct but the mouse looked at me funny.

[Elaine]

Disturbing as your recitation is Andy, I think you’ve hit on the very feelings many of us have as we walk away from some encounter in this dog show game. You just wanna swing someone around by their tail and smack them on the concrete. But you can’t, trust me I checked.. it’s a no no. :p

[doberdogsfd]

;)You guys are a tad militant regarding the ah.....mice, huh?

CB

[Elaine]

scary isn't it?

[andyhilt27]

Ok, so maybe the mouse didn't look at me funny. I fabricated that portion of the story. Truth be told, I was already in the killing mood. On a large hog farm with 5,000 farrowing sows there is some incidences of murder. On that particular day I had already killed one sow and eleven piglets. The piglets didn't measure up in terms of health and the sow had a prolaspe. We had to end her to save her piglets.

I remember my first day working on the hog farm. Castration, murder, and lots of stinking manure. I didn't think I could do this. During that time the economy was terrible and I was a starving college student. So I sucked it up and endured that hell for nine months. I have no doubt that this experience has changed me forever. War is Hell

[Kissntell]

Yep Andy...I have taken care of the broods too! How interesting!

The California Humane Society recently passed a law that says that the pigs should be allowed in a pen that allows them to turn around and stretch out their legs etc. Now that doesn't work well when you the human has to get in there with them and doctor them etc. Mean pigs bite! In fact some pigs given the chance will eat you alive. So the public votes on what sounds right and the farms go under. (Sounds like the AR people)

They did the same thing with the chickens here. So now the egg industry will go under and we can have the eggs from Mexico where the salmonella abounds. But it sounds good to the public.

I was in FFA in my younger days. I liked it. I'd rather do the animal thing than the people thing anyday.

Now to you Elaine:

You are putting far too much bait in those traps. No wonder you are catching nothing!

You must put a small small amount. Make the mouse "TUG" on the treat. The large prune makes them nibble. So they nibble away and never Tug. That is how they "steal the traps." Much less I wonder what the after affects of eating prunes on those critters might be??? Oh Oh you may have even more problems. EEEK! and Yuck!

Make the mice hungry and sit back and be patient. You will learn just as I had to one time; and, then you will have it for good.

The bait "can" or hole should never be filled to the brim. Keep the bait underneath the feeder hole level. Then they tug and don't nibble. They can't get it out otherwise. They don't need much. When that is moved the trap pops. That is how the trap works.

Man... by now you must have a bunch of fat mice with diarrhea.

[Kissntell]

P.S.

If you can get a piece of hard pizza crust in that hole it will make them tug. Sometimes the peanut butter is easy to lick out. You need the tug. But make the piece small.

[andyhilt27]

I am not a fan of confinement operations. The hogs should be free to graze and root. It makes for better quality meat. The animals are less stressed and also it is healthier since they aren't swimming in their crap. Now in a farrowing barn I have to disagree. A sow will inadvertantly lay on her piglets. So she must not be able to move very much for the first couple of weeks.

As far as pigs being mean, I will agree. Especially the gilts. They have no clue what is going on and they are very scared. I have been taken off of my feet many times trying to pen these crazy girls.

Now the sows with a few litters under their belts are as sweet as can be. Very intelligent creatures that taste great!:D

[Kissntell]

Oh the value of a garden hose!

I agree with you Andy. My experience was taking care of those in holding pens.

I also took care of baby veal calfs. If you want to see what cruality can be I think it would be here. The price to pay for being a boy. Then the pneumonia sets in.

Oh how many shots I have given. And how many cattle I've participated in running through the chutes with a big hyperdermic in hand. How about de- bloating a steer....isn't that fun! El garden hose in hand which makes for a handy tube. Almost as good as a mouse with diarrhea. But man can that rumen stink when it lets loose.

Which leads to the value of a Vicks Jar. I learned that when I worked for my first veternarian job. It works on horses and dogs too! My poor males were subjected to that when the bitches were in heat. It works. It works on stallions in stalls at horse shows/events too.

But now I have learned that you do not want to messs with a dog's scent, if you ever want to use them in sent work; which means no boardadella (sp) up the nose either.

Now if I could only figure out the keys to winning in the dog world when you are a nobody. I think its harder then all of the above discussed. I'd rather trap mice!

[andyhilt27]

I was vaccinating sows once with a multidose needle gun thingy. I had a 16ga. needle on it. I was going to town then somehow I dosed myself in the forearm. That left one hell of a bruise. I can't recall the vaccine...perhaps it was PRRS. Hell it may have been a combo vaccine. It seemed to be more than a 2 ml dose based on the lump on my arm. Fun times....

[Ann Lanier]

Elaine,

When you set the trap, maybe you could sew the bait on so they DO the tug thing. Before you set the trap.

When you set the wooden Victor like traps, there is a long wire with a bent sort of curve that you put under the tabbish thing the bait goes on. Yes? What you need to do.....keeping the hell away from the business end...... is carefully put as little of the little curved bit of wire into the receptor part as possible. Just under the edge. You have to put the trap in place FIRST, because if you jiggle it just a little when it is set like that it will go off and scare the heck out of you. You can tell if you hold down the killer part and when it just barely doesn't try to spring closed, that's enough.

You just want to get it all baited and ready, then put it where you want it and just catch the wire enough to hold the killer part down. Hopefully along walls where they like to run, where they feel safe.

Then back away, just slowly back away. :o

On the electronic trap I got, the directions said that the first rat I caught would be the hardest, because ratz are suspicious, but once one was killed, the scent is so delicious they will readily follow the Trail of Doom. I don't know if meese are like that.

The blocks DO look like cookie bars, so I only use them where dogs can't get to. Way under stuff in the garage, or out in the pump house where my Yorkie is not allowed. I still have to watch because the bodies are poisonous.

You need metal trash cans. Mice can chew right through plastic. And so can raccoons and possums! At our place we have our trash cans inside the chain link dog kennel (With a chain link roof) and the dog is inside on the bed where she is supposed to be. We also have bears and we occasionally had a cougar in the back yard for a while. They logged her habitat down the road, poor thing. I don't think she ate mice or rats much; they shot her for killing sheep. :(

Keep trying, you'll win this war.

a

[Kissntell]

Ann, very good advice for Elaine.

The only thing is you do not need to worry about secondary poisoning if the dead mouse or rat is eaten. That was one of the reasons the hard killers were taken off the market. It was about birds of prey when that issue went down. Thus, warfrin, the ingredient in the bait sold in the U.S. does not have secondary poisoning. But it takes a few days of feeding to get the required amount for bleeding up. This is not true if a dog gets the bar because they eat the whole thing at once and thus the dosage is higher.

Years ago strictnine was used. That had secondary poisoning and thus was taken off the market. It usually came in the form of poison colored grain or bright blue pellets. You can still buy it in Mexico. My friend went and got some for the destructive California ground squirrels and they died fairly fast.

It wasn't a pretty death for them and she said she didn't want to do it again. They were all happy eating away like glutons and then the poison took affect. That was not pretty.

BTW that was interesting about Rancho Dobe Storm. My first dobe was a granddaughter of him. I hate to say it but she was crazy. I got taken advantage of on that deal too. But that was a long time ago. I never saw that dog in person; but, on the West coast then, it was Marienburg's Sun Hawk, whom I did see, and he was very nice in his day.

[Kissntell]

Andy:

You know its funny but I have never heard of a 16g needle being used on humans. The biggest I have seen was an 18g.

Another thing I marveled at back in those days is that the same needle was used over and over on different animals until it got dull. I questioned that at first and they said that animals don't get things like humans. So one needle was good for a few shots. The poor animal last in line.

I find it very difficult now around here to even get a needle big enough to push pennicilin through. They only want to sell those cheap disposable one time use needles for simple vacanations. I'd love to find some 16's.

[Elaine]

Geez you guys, it’s hard to even hear the stories you tell, I can’t imagine what it was like to have lived it. How do you ever get those images out of you mind? Not to sound AR here, but I suspect that if any of us knew what was going on behind the scenes, we’d probably not eat meat, certainly not veal.

There is truth behind the motivations of some of these AR agendas… and there are good intentions too. People see animals suffering and want to alleviate the suffering. Not that I agree with the approach, because I don’t, but I agree with wanting to do something to make things better. But as always in life, there are unintended consequences.

So, I have tiny pieces of raisin in the traps, which I have wound around the tip of the trap, and I’ve set them as Ann suggested… very carefully, so they will go off like a hair trigger.

All's quiet round here. Haven’t heard or seen anything (not a nibble, not mice effluvia of any sort), not a thing since Mouse #3 from the other day, and he / she is out in the wide open spaces somewhere trying to clean cooking oil and glue off his little feet.

[andyhilt27]

I'll I can say is this: If we imported all of our meat from China, the conditions would most definitely be worse for animals. Given an opportunity I would run a hog operation. It would be an open air operation. This is a growing trend. It would be an organic operation. With low pork prices and high feed prices this is near impossible. The only way to make a living is to direct market the meat.

The EPA and AR are making it increasingly difficult so many operations are big corps. which are going south of the border. Wal Mart sells pork for half of what the price needs to be for a small farmer to make a decent profit.

Meat is murder.....but I have incisors that are meant for ripping flesh from bone.

[Elaine]

Well there you go.

Btw, just for clarification... do we have meat on our grocery shelves in this country that is produced in China or Mexico? I don’t eat much meat any more, mostly just a few steaks now and then. I buy from the butcher’s case at about $14 a pound. Been doing it this way for years. I thought the price reflected quality, sure hope the $14 isn’t for the air faire from China. It usually says something like Black Angus, which I always thought came from Oregon or Idaho. Never thought to ask if “Black Angus” was now in China, along with our Baby Formula manufactures. Maybe we should all be buying our meat from the local organic farmer. Geez, seems we are constantly struggling to cling to a quality of life that is slipping away like water through a sieve.

[Elaine]

4-0

[Kissntell]

Geeze Elaine, you really got them.

When you take them out of the traps check their sex. They usually came in pairs with me. But maybe you got too many.

You can tell their sex because the males have a bulgy thing back there and the females have nothing. So it kind of gives you an indication if you got through or not. When you have an odd one...there is most likely the opposite sex somewhere. At least that was my finding. I never read that anywhere. Just my experience as a trapper.

Looks like you are learning to really bait those traps! No harm...the mice have learned where a food source is, and they will keep coming back for more until whamm...

[Kissntell]

Its a shame but when the price goes down the farmer has to look for ways to cut costs. So that is why the quality of meat goes down.

I've had some tough nasty tasting pork. And...I've had some good. The nasty stuff comes from the cost cutting bunch I'd bet.

Many people oppose hunting etc. But I always say to them that they are paying someone else to do it for them in the slaughterhouse.

I like meat too. I find that I have more energy when I eat meat. I also can watch my weight better because the protien levels are greater in meat. Thus, you have energy and are not hungry so soon.

When we got initated into FFA we had to go through a real working slaughter house from beginning to the end shipment. I had to throw my shoes away they stunk so bad.

I think the Feds passed a law that food sold in the store must state the Country of orgin.

I've also found that the best beef was that that came out of South Dakota and had the taste of the wild range in it. Of course I like the wild tastes. Salmon that is farm raised to me just doesn't have the taste.

[andyhilt27]

Well there you go.

Btw, just for clarification... do we have meat on our grocery shelves in this country that is produced in China or Mexico? I don’t eat much meat any more, mostly just a few steaks now and then. I buy from the butcher’s case at about $14 a pound. Been doing it this way for years. I thought the price reflected quality, sure hope the $14 isn’t for the air faire from China. It usually says something like Black Angus, which I always thought came from Oregon or Idaho. Never thought to ask if “Black Angus” was now in China, along with our Baby Formula manufactures. Maybe we should all be buying our meat from the local organic farmer. Geez, seems we are constantly struggling to cling to a quality of life that is slipping away like water through a sieve.

Most salmon sold at Wal Mart is farmed off of the cost of Chile. This is leading to a lot of pollution. I think the majority of meat is still produced in the U.S. for now. But the problem is with the large corporations producing them. Very few small farmers exist anymore. That number is dwindling. Good luck starting a farm unless you are a millionaire. Oh the USDA offers grants and loans with stipulations so good luck with that. I could on but this thread is about the awful horrid mice!

Elaine are you composting the bodies?

[Elaine]

Elaine are you composting the bodies? No, I am mounting their little heads on the wall.

Actually, of the four, two were caught in the glue traps, so I used cooking oil to release them outside, about 10 acres from the house. The other two are in a county landfill.

[Lou's mom]

8 down, 1 released a mile away, 1 got away this morning, unknown how many are making fun of me and my now interested doberdogs.

BTW, I don't recommend the live catch condo (holds up to four). One mouse was visible & audible, another musta gone through Micine Psychological Operations training (MPO), which includes a section on how to play dead by balancing on the seesaw without moving ones tail so that you can make a run for it while the other mouse is being transferred to the Mobile Mouse Transfer Container, aka empty coffee can. :eek: For the record, each live-caught mouse will require it's own MMTC, due to leaping potential when adding new occupants.

After watching the releasee sproing away in the grass, I started wondering how 'humane' it is to take terrified wet (from fear) mouse outta warm house into the woods. I know that hawks gotta eat too, but frozen lost mouse?

Glue traps are only getting the lil guys now. Might be time to go back to the oldfashioned snap traps... Or maybe a nice hungry garter snake.


PM me if you're really looking for large gauge needles. We use 14's on PITA patients, although we're moving to safety needles that automatically recap upon being withdrawn.