It's the season of the mouse!

[rocknrob]

It's that time of year again that I like to call "mouse season". It's raining outside in the PNW, the temperature is pretty miserable for anything outside of mushrooms so critters are looking for a dry warm place and what better choice is the garage of someone who has to open a door when cutting rock to reduce the overspray of oil from the drop saw. Well, the oil that drifts around at least. I saw my first "coworker" this morning with my wife and will be making a trip to Lowes to pick up some eviction notices. You would think the noise from lapidary work would be deterrent enough.




I've found those black snap traps are the most effective in removing the deer mice in my neck of the woods (quite literally) but I'm curious to see what kind of traps y'all use.

    - Rob

[rockjunquie]

I use a cat.   My cat brought me a gift the other day.

[chris1956]

Nov 1, 2024 9:38:12 GMT -5 rockjunquie said:

I use a cat.   My cat brought me a gift the other day.

And I bet the cat was really proud of itself too.  

[rockjunquie]

Nov 1, 2024 9:51:39 GMT -5 chris1956 said:

Nov 1, 2024 9:38:12 GMT -5 rockjunquie said:

I use a cat.   My cat brought me a gift the other day.

And I bet the cat was really proud of itself too.  

Very! I was proud of her, too. I felt very honored she gave it to me.

[gemfreak95]

Nov 1, 2024 9:38:12 GMT -5 rockjunquie said:

I use a cat.   My cat brought me a gift the other day.

You're lucky.  When a mouse got into my basement a couple weeks ago, 2 of my cats were completely disinterested and the 3rd was only passingly interested.  Lilibet, the kitten, tried to catch it but kept backing off whenever it started screaming.  I had to have her corner the mouse while I beat it with a deck brush.

[rockjunquie]

Nov 1, 2024 11:29:59 GMT -5 gemfreak95 said:

Nov 1, 2024 9:38:12 GMT -5 rockjunquie said:

I use a cat.   My cat brought me a gift the other day.

You're lucky.  When a mouse got into my basement a couple weeks ago, 2 of my cats were completely disinterested and the 3rd was only passingly interested.  Lilibet, the kitten, tried to catch it but kept backing off whenever it started screaming.  I had to have her corner the mouse while I beat it with a deck brush.

Yeah, some cats aren't interested. I've had a few that could care less.

[rocknrob]

The cat option is unfortunately not a good one for us as two of us are allergic to cats and one of us is of the opinion that cats are jerks. I've encountered both non-jerk and jerk cats and since I already use kitty litter to remove the oils from my slabs I thought it would be a natural solution. We also have a bunch of larger creatures out here that think any animal under 20 pounds is fair game for dinner.

I have heard that radios playing in the workspace scares away the pests but I haven't tried that theory yet personally on anything other than raccoons.

- Rob

[1dave]

The Celtic Doorway to Oblivion.

[amygdule]

 
I prefer the snap traps for mice and rats

I've caught two in the same trap

I use live traps too

Sometimes I catch birds and let them go

The Moles aren't so lucky

[rocknrob]

Nov 1, 2024 13:31:10 GMT -5 amygdule said:

 
I prefer the snap traps for mice and rats

I've caught two in the same trap

I use live traps too

Sometimes I catch birds and let them go

The Moles aren't so lucky

Wow! You have some chonker moles! I used to have a live trap for mice but well... it stops being a live trap if I forget that I had it out in the first place and it turns into a really slow death trap. I do have a live trap for squirrels and have rehomed a few that thought my attic was a lovely place to nest.

    - Rob

[quartz]

I once trapped a mouse leg, then a week or so later a three legged mouse. They don't learn well.

[rocknrob]

Nov 1, 2024 21:29:59 GMT -5 quartz said:

I once trapped a mouse leg, then a week or so later a three legged mouse. They don't learn well.

Well I caught squeakers, little daredevil snapped one of the traps but it missed. He must have thought he could try his luck on another trap and well he wasn't so lucky this time.

    - Rob

[Mark K]

One day I went out to the garage. When I opened the door, it looked like one of those Australian mouse documentaries. I was "displeased". They were running around like it was mouse heaven. I decided to make it mouse hell. So I built these, (2) the portal to their hell. When I had them set, it took only an hour for me to get 8 I think it was. By morning, there were only a couple empty spots left. Over the next couple days, I got all of them but didn't keep track of numbers.

111005 by mrk525, on Flickr

[amygdule]

When I left my RV unattended for a couple years

the mice colonized the place

They pulled the insulation out of the walls

And built a nest in the Oven

Then the Ladybugs showed up

Pest Control is Busy work...

[Rockoonz]

Here in AZ where the feral cat is literally a protected species, and they take good care of the round tailed ground squirrels and basically whatever won't eat them. They really like scorpions and eliminate the rattlesnake food, keeping them both away. In April we discovered that one of the 2 that we put out water for, and a little food as well, was female and not neutered. Elizabeth and I got to TNR (trap, neuter, release) mom and 4 kittens.

Elizabeth has got the kittens tame enough that all will allow her to touch them, and 2 of them even let me pet them when in the mood. We plan to get them fostered in homes that will finish the training and save them from feral cat life.

Tuxedo, the only male, wants to be shop kitty.

[liveoak]

One snap trap tip that we found really works - around here, it's more the pack rats than mice that are a problem.

We use hot melt glue to glue a peanut or pecan, etc to the bait pedal.

No more stealing the peanut butter and running away !

Works consistently !

Patty

[rockjunquie]

Nov 2, 2024 0:03:01 GMT -5 Rockoonz said:

Here in AZ where the feral cat is literally a protected species, and they take good cate of the round tailed ground squirrels ans basically whatever won't eat them. They really like scorpions and eliminate the rattlesnake food, keeping them both away. In April we discovered that one of the 2 that we put out water for, and a little food as well, was female and not neutered. Elizabeth and I got to TNR (trap, neuter, release) mom and 4 kittens.

Elizabeth has got the kittens tame enough that all will allow her to touch them, and 2 of them even let me pet them when in the mood. We plan to get them fostered in homes that will finish the training and save them from feral cat life.

Tuxedo, the only male, wants to be shop kitty.

Good for you! Adorable video.

[1dave]

Tuxedo well named!

[rocknrob]

Squeakers had at least one buddy, every one of the traps I had out there was cleaned off and there were only 2 caught. Resetting time! If it's any coincidence, the black snap traps I use (which I have found vastly better than the wooden ones) are Tomcat brand. It must be serendipity.

[Mark K]

Another trick for the wooden rat traps is to lift the pan out of the way and drill a 1/2 inch diameter hole 3/4 of the way through the board exactly centered under the pan. Fill the hole with peanut butter and they can't get to it without pushing the pan out of the way. Good night Irene.