# Do exterior bait stations attract new visitors



## PAbugman (Jun 29, 2010)

Exterior bait stations will at least attract rodents that are in the area surrounding the house. Do they attract rodents from further away? Good question without a good answer. Will you attract squirrels? Maybe, depends on the squirrels-some will, some won't. Seems like when you want them to eat it, they won't, something like Murphy's Law, I guess.

It doesn't sound as if you had/have a serious mouse problem, at least compared to what others call serious. This is not to minimize your situation or concern, I'm just relating it to what else I see/hear. It is good of you to take a small problem seriously-easier to solve and why wait, since you know you will have a bigger problem later. 

Do you have sheds, firewood piles, or other harborages close to the house? If so, those are areas that I like to bait to solve and prevent. 

The rodent baits that are available in stores are the same active ingredient that our industry uses, with a few exceptions that aren't germane to mice anyway. AFter your agreement with the company is over, you can easily bait these areas yourself. Do you now own the bait stations? If so, good, as they are expensive; you can use them later on.

Whether or not the squirrels eat the bait, live or die, has no bearing on mice/rats. I doubt that you have rats-when people have rats, they usually know it prior to calling us. 

Maintain traps inside, snap traps or tin cats, etc. as well as bait placed in inaccessible areas. Hope this helps.


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## mike i (Nov 8, 2010)

Thank you PAbugman for your reply and the words of encoragment. I do have a wood pile and a small wood shop that needs a clean out. Should I wait for the bait stations to do their thing before I disturb these areas. What do you think about the idea that the bait stations will kill off the chipmunks and squirrals and remove the mices competition, creating a mice explosion? Do the chipmunks reproduce as fast? Thanks again.


P.S. Is there anything I could use to mask the sent of the mice that came in? The first floor exterior walls are stone and I was thinking about using an arasol sprayer to aply a lite band of diesel a few feet from the ground.


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## PAbugman (Jun 29, 2010)

No relationship at all between the squirrels and mice as I wrote before.

Bait the shed and wood piles now, before you disturb those areas. Place bait blocks in those areas-don't have to be in bait stations.

Time will eventually erode the pheromone/musk scent from the rodents. I don't like the idea of spraying a flammable liquid around the perimeter of your house. Diesel evaporates very slowly. 


The best solution is to keep fresh rodenticide available to the rodents, both present and future rodents.


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## mike i (Nov 8, 2010)

Once again thanks for the expert advice. I guess I'll wait another week before I start any clean out in the shed and wood pile. Have a good week.


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