Make sure the home is spotlessly clean and all food is in containers that they can't chew through (they're good with plastic, so metal or glass may be best -- though there are probably some plastics they can't get through).
Figure out where they're getting in/out of the apartment, and block any holes. Steel wool or aluminum foil work well for this because they won't chew through it.
With mouse issues, preventing them from getting in really is key.
I've tried lavender essential oil (they supposedly hate the smell) and ultrasonic devices (they supposedly hate the sound) but the mice that infested my old apartment were resilient to say the least and didn't seem to care about those things. Blocking their way in and then (humanely) trapping and relocating those who were stuck inside was what finally worked.
I don't think killing mice = inhumane. I think killing mice slowly = inhumane. I don't mess around with the re-homing nonsense, only to let them find their way back in. I use snap traps, and these are my preferred ones:
because they are easy to set, and easy to empty afterwards. So far mine have never been robbed, and they have caught and killed first time, every time. I bait them with peanut butter.
Then, obviously also all the usual stuff re: preventing them in the first place.
I don't think killing mice = inhumane. I think killing mice slowly = inhumane. I don't mess around with the re-homing nonsense, only to let them find their way back in. I use snap traps, and these are my preferred ones:
because they are easy to set, and easy to empty afterwards. So far mine have never been robbed, and they have caught and killed first time, every time. I bait them with peanut butter.
Then, obviously also all the usual stuff re: preventing them in the first place.
These are the traps I use. They die instantly. It will be a cold day in hell when I trap and release rodents.
Post by LoveTrains on Mar 30, 2015 11:47:25 GMT -5
We have lived in our house for 2.5 years, and something about this very cold winter must have prompted the mice to find a way into our home. We suspected we had a little family when my h found a shivering little baby mouse just looking at him on the basement stairs a few days ago.
We promptly got the kill trips posted, and killed two adult mice with them in less than four hours by baiting them with peanut butter. Now I just don't know if I have babies hiding somewhere, but we are presently looking around outside and trying to seal up anywhere they have been able to get into the house. We just threw out the trap with the dead mouse attached because no way in hell did I want to touch the trap or the dead mouse.
My concern with the relocation scheme is that they will just get back in. So its really critical to seal up any holes etc where they might be living.
Make sure that the holes they are coming in from are sealed or you'll just bring them outside and they'll come right back in. We used the humane traps when we had mice in our old house and as long as the holes were sealed, we had no issues.
Post by lurknomore on Mar 30, 2015 11:49:51 GMT -5
There are spin traps out there that encase the dead mouse so you never have to see it. I've never used them, but they seem to work well. When it indicates it is caught, you just toss the whole thing. I hate the environmental aspect of them, but if you want to instantly kill them and not see the mouse, this would work.
My mom is freaking out about dead mice...that's why I'm getting humane traps first.
You mean "no kill" then, not "humane." Humane/inhumane is not proxy for no kill/kill. Traps can kill and be humane; no kill traps can also be inhumane.
And she's okay with live mice scurrying around inside traps? Live mice that *she* then has to release outside, where they'll find their way back into the house? Rinse and repeat the whole cycle. If she wants the mice GONE then she needs to use lethal traps. We lived in an 1800s farmhouse, so we know about mice. We used the same snap traps linked above, baited with peanut butter. Worked great. Dead mouse every time. Easy to release and re-set.
My mom is freaking out about dead mice...that's why I'm getting humane traps first.
You mean "no kill" then, not "humane." Humane/inhumane is not proxy for no kill/kill. Traps can kill and be humane; no kill traps can also be inhumane.
Excellent point.
On another rodent related note, it appears that the birds who use my birdfeeder are leaving these empty sunflower seed pods all over my yard and underneath the feeder. I fucking saw a RAT there yesterday. My H thinks he saw it scurry into a little hole in our detached single car garage (built in 1940). I am ready to BURN IT DOWN. What the hell do I do with a rat?!
You mean "no kill" then, not "humane." Humane/inhumane is not proxy for no kill/kill. Traps can kill and be humane; no kill traps can also be inhumane.
Excellent point.
On another rodent related note, it appears that the birds who use my birdfeeder are leaving these empty sunflower seed pods all over my yard and underneath the feeder. I fucking saw a RAT there yesterday. My H thinks he saw it scurry into a little hole in our detached single car garage (built in 1940). I am ready to BURN IT DOWN. What the hell do I do with a rat?!
On another rodent related note, it appears that the birds who use my birdfeeder are leaving these empty sunflower seed pods all over my yard and underneath the feeder. I fucking saw a RAT there yesterday. My H thinks he saw it scurry into a little hole in our detached single car garage (built in 1940). I am ready to BURN IT DOWN. What the hell do I do with a rat?!
Remove food source; fill in little hole.
But the food source is my birdfeeder. I have awesome cardinals, blue jays, house finches, and morning doves that feed there. I actually got a new thing that hangs underneath the birdfeeder that will hopefully catch the seed pods and then I can toss them in the trash. I am also changing out the rocks underneath where the feeder is hung to big pavers so that I can sweep up anything left on the ground and toss it away. it wasn't a problem all spring, summer & fall - just this winter - and I think its because I started accumulating a TON of the sunflower seed pods which is obviously a food source to this nasty rat. I live about three blocks from this huge cemetery and my H thinks the rats live there because he has seen rat traps while running through it.
You mean "no kill" then, not "humane." Humane/inhumane is not proxy for no kill/kill. Traps can kill and be humane; no kill traps can also be inhumane.
Excellent point.
On another rodent related note, it appears that the birds who use my birdfeeder are leaving these empty sunflower seed pods all over my yard and underneath the feeder. I fucking saw a RAT there yesterday. My H thinks he saw it scurry into a little hole in our detached single car garage (built in 1940). I am ready to BURN IT DOWN. What the hell do I do with a rat?!
You mean "no kill" then, not "humane." Humane/inhumane is not proxy for no kill/kill. Traps can kill and be humane; no kill traps can also be inhumane.
Excellent point.
On another rodent related note, it appears that the birds who use my birdfeeder are leaving these empty sunflower seed pods all over my yard and underneath the feeder. I fucking saw a RAT there yesterday. My H thinks he saw it scurry into a little hole in our detached single car garage (built in 1940). I am ready to BURN IT DOWN. What the hell do I do with a rat?!
Smoke bomb and immediately block the hole. It's the only thing that got rid of the voles in our yard.
Oh, and gross story: (Do not read if you are squeamish.)
. . . . .
My dad went to make toast a couple months ago and heard this strange squeaking/squealing sound after he pushed down the button. Apparently the mouse had crawled into the toaster to eat crumbs and my dad threw in the bread and turned it on.
That mouse was toast.
THAT is an inhumane way to kill a mouse.
We discovered we had mice a few years ago because one was in the toaster. It popped out while H was in the kitchen. We immediately went to the store and bought traps.
Our biggest problem now is stupid chipmunks. Yeah, they're cute and all, but they're very destructive. Any tips?