# Another Mouse Thread!!



## CosmicMiami (Feb 2, 2013)

So I thought I had taken care of the mouse problem in our home. I now know it is an ongoing issue that with complacency will breed contempt for these little buggers.

After seeing one eating our dog food, I went out and got myself a Tomcat trap. They're $5 and highly effective. Because I saw them eating the dog food (dry kibble), that's what I used for bait. I'm at 7 caught now in two days.

NOTE: Use dog food! All that crap about mixing honey with peanut butter and cheese (that's a cartoon myth) is BS. It takes less than two hours for the trap to be sprung after releasing and setting with fresh bait.

We live in a 60s era home. Short of shrink wrapping the entire house, I'm not sure I can completely eliminate all access points. I'm trying though.

So I'm wondering just how many mice can be under or around my home. WTH!

If I find some penetrations, should I drop poison in the hole before sealing up?

Lastly, I'm releasing them about 200 yards away next to a vacant lot and a vacant house with plenty of landscaping. The critters would need to cross two roads in order to get back to my place. Should I be hopping in the car and driving farther away?

Thanks for any advice. This seems to be a common thread on this section.


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## CosmicMiami (Feb 2, 2013)

BTW, it's a residential neighborhood so there are plenty of other places for these critters to nest before they get back to my house.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

Tag them before release. You may have caught the same mouse 7 times in two days. :surprise:


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## CosmicMiami (Feb 2, 2013)

SeniorSitizen said:


> Tag them before release. You may have caught the same mouse 7 times in two days. :surprise:


I'm pretty sure it's not the same mouse every time. It would be remarkable for the same little bugger to travel that distance in an hour. That would be a world record I think in terms of mouse travel. Unless there is some kind of mouse Uber that we don't know about. :surprise: I hope they didn't get my credit card number.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

A little further and preferably not near other homes. If word got out they could trap and release them back in your yard. Every female mouse you release will reproduce and result in hundreds of new mice, maybe thousands. So, will the ones you released return, probably not. But their kids and grandkids certainly will cover that 200 yards all too soon.

If you can't find a place remote enough for them to live without continuing to be someone's problem, terminate them.

I know, I'm heartless, but they know no limits so we must draw a line.

Bud


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## CosmicMiami (Feb 2, 2013)

Bud9051 said:


> A little further and preferably not near other homes. If word got out they could trap and release them back in your yard. Every female mouse you release will reproduce and result in hundreds of new mice, maybe thousands. So, will the ones you released return, probably not. But their kids and grandkids certainly will cover that 200 yards all too soon.
> 
> If you can't find a place remote enough for them to live without continuing to be someone's problem, terminate them.
> 
> ...


I'm with you Bud. The wifey set a sticky trap this morning unbeknownst to me. I came home from work and kept hearing a squeak:squeak. Finally texted her and ask where the trap was. I knew it was somewhere having had some experience in the past. Found it under the stove. The stickies are cruel but damn, it's either them or me! I asked St. Patrick for forgiveness (patron saint of animals, not usually a religious kind of guy but figured what the heck) and disposed in the trash. I suspect that's what I should do in the future with my live traps.

I've considered getting a couple snakes to put around the house. At least it's natural! I have no aversion to snakes but the wifey does.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

I use snap traps and tie a string to them to anchor in case the critter is barely caught and crawls away. Lost a couple of traps in the basement and learned that trick. But 9 out of 10 are dead withing seconds.

Sticky traps are rather cruel, IMO, but they are effective.

Snakes, yikes, I'd have to get a new wife.

Fall is the worst time as they are looking for a warm place to spend the winter. Once it gets really cold the numbers will drop but not because they are all dead, just no longer looking. Then you are only dealing with the ones that have adopted your home for now.

A note, if you ever have to clean out the places where they do their business you will gag and lose all concern for those pests. In my energy auditing business I have often spotted their trails through the insulation behind the drywall. I explained what we were looking at to one home owner and when I followed up the next week to see what he found, he said the entire basement walls and ceiling were in the back yard. Mama said OUT with all of it. He said it was nasty back there.

Keep trapping, forever.

Bud


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## CosmicMiami (Feb 2, 2013)

Bud9051 said:


> Sticky traps are rather cruel, IMO, but they are effective.


Yep. But hey, we gotta do what we gotta do.



Bud9051 said:


> Snakes, yikes, I'd have to get a new wife.


A few black racers aren't a big deal. They are self sustaining and don't bother anybody. It took me a few years to convince the wifey they were not as evil as she thought they were and are actually pretty good critter deterrents.



Bud9051 said:


> Fall is the worst time as they are looking for a warm place to spend the winter. Once it gets really cold the numbers will drop but not because they are all dead, just no longer looking.


I'm in SoFla. Cold isn't a concern here.



Bud9051 said:


> A note, if you ever have to clean out the places where they do their business you will gag and lose all concern for those pests.


Yeah. I just spent two hours behind the range and fridge. Pretty gross. As I have done before. Found that the little 3uck3rs had gnawed through the expansion foam I put in the wall in TWO places. I'm going to cut a couple 1/4" drywall pieces to seal better.

Oh, I tossed the range out on the street for bulk pickup. It's an old burner type. Ordered a replacement flat top from the big box delivered tomorrow.

I'm going to get Carl Spackler on there asses!!



Bud9051 said:


> In my energy auditing business I have often spotted their trails through the insulation behind the drywall. I explained what we were looking at to one home owner and when I followed up the next week to see what he found, he said the entire basement walls and ceiling were in the back yard. Mama said OUT with all of it. He said it was nasty back there.


ROFLMAO. Yes it is. How does a little 3uck3r like that make such a mess?


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