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Post by lesaulerouge on Jan 23, 2017 2:19:25 GMT -5
P.S. I tried the ultrasonics and they didn't work for me either. I'd suggest saving your money and besides, they require an electrical outlet. Ha friend swore by hers and lent it to me. But when dh plugged it in he said the cat could hear it, so he unplugged it and wouldn't let me use it.
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Post by lesaulerouge on Jan 23, 2017 2:20:44 GMT -5
We had a reprise for a month or so, but the traps are catching stuff again
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Post by creativechaos on Jan 23, 2017 21:07:02 GMT -5
yesterday, i finally set some snap traps; two in the bigger unit. checked today; 1 trap had all the peanut butter eaten off the bait tray; the other had a dead mouse. Felt so bad and sad - such a cute lil' thing. i steeled my resolve and reset those, plus one more. also set one in small unit.
i had 2 horrible thoughts, though: 1) if no one else is trying to deal with the rodent problem in our building, isn't it now just going to be an "endless" invasion/colonization - especially if someone is keeping food in their unit? 2) will MORE rodents in our building be attracted to my units when they smell the peanut butter?
do they leave in the spring or just keep using their "indoor" nests?
we have 35 units in our building. One guy that i warned said his unit had "droppings everywhere" - which tells me that he might be closer to whoever is keeping food in their unit, where there is likely to be a huge infestation, because my units are not that bad (yet). it makes me so sad to kill them. our building has all the small units, so it has the most units in it.
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Post by casper on Jan 23, 2017 22:18:45 GMT -5
As long as there is food near by and nesting materials around the rodents will stay. Their food can be people food, garbage/dumpsters, animal food, grains and insects like *** roaches, candles, etc. Their populations will continue to grow without predators to keep their numbers down. Also, I had smart mice that could lick the peanut butter off the traps without tripping them. I then tied a cheerio or piece of kibble to the bait tray and smeared that with the peanut butter. The mouse would grab hold of the peanut buttered food and that would set off the trap and get him. And yes, they are cute and fuzzy but they destroy things and carry diseases.
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Post by outfromundah on Jan 24, 2017 1:12:20 GMT -5
Now that you've found one, perhaps it is time to get building management involved. They should be paying exterminators. Did you happen to take a pic of it in the trap? Anyone storing stuff there shouldn't have to be doing this kind of work nor paying for it. If you rent a unit, you expect that it will be maintained and kept vermin-free. Anyone would. Are these storage units part of your apartment complex or in separate, independent storage facilities?
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Post by creativechaos on Jan 25, 2017 0:22:10 GMT -5
thanks, casper and outfromundah. the storage unit is in a separate place from our apartment complex, about a mile away. i pay for these, and a lot of other people do too. i should take pics of the 3 dead ones i dumped outside... and send them to the owners in an email. people are going to be furious when their stuff that they are paying to store gets ruined! management should at least be writing a letter that goes out to everyone in our building. it seems irresponsible not to at least do that. this homeless guy who has lived in one for years said the owner often offers him leftover food from other units when people move out or are kicked out! i got two more dead mice in the traps when i checked today; both in the big unit. i have cheerios. i love them too - wiill try the pb and cheerios trick. the snap traps i am using are great; they are the plastic ones and you just dump the poor dead creature out without having to touch it. i am going to see if i find a copy of my contract - i believe it says no food but also that the owners are not liable for any damages or theft to our stuff. lots of homeless people rent storage units and live in or around them in their cars now, dodging the police. the homeless people living there, many have addiction or mental illness issues; it's really sad. if i were homeless, i might end up living this way too.
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Post by outfromundah on Jan 25, 2017 0:57:32 GMT -5
Oh dear. In most places it's illegal for people to live in storage units, as they are not built for habitation (no running water, sanitation, proper egress, possibly no sprinklers, etc.). The fact that people are living there is probably the reason there is a rodent problem.
Last year, I was reading up about this kind of thing and came across some articles written by and for people in the storage industry. They did say it was a big problem in a lot of places, and some managers look the other way, but it's actually putting the companies in a really bad position with local laws and their insurance policies. It's dangerous to let people live there - for example, someone might want to cook something with a small camp stove and wind up causing a big fire. It just spells big trouble for everyone. They need to go to shelters and whatever other facilities are available.
Honestly, if it were me I would probably complain to authorities, board of health, etc. about people living there and the mice. I am sure the two are related!
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Post by creativechaos on Jan 30, 2017 21:13:55 GMT -5
you are so right, outfromundah - about all that you said. maybe if i can finally see the end of my cat's health crises i can focus on getting the authorities to do something about the people cooking and living at the storage units. for now i will continue trapping and killing, to my sadness, and using the scented Fresh-Cab repellant. did some time at quilt camp this weekend so wasn't really vigilant about the traps, but caught another mouse when i went there today; a female. re-baited traps. that's 4 dead so far.
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Post by ohblondie on Feb 3, 2017 21:22:14 GMT -5
So, my daughter is moving back home. She reorganized our storage unit to fit some stuff in. She found mouse droppings everywhere and a dead mouse. she set the mouse outside.
We had no food in the unit but lots of papers and clothes.
Once the weather warms it will be a priority to get the unit emptied.
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Post by imamess on Feb 3, 2017 23:00:16 GMT -5
I caught one last night. Yuck!
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Post by cyn on Feb 4, 2017 14:18:01 GMT -5
creativechaos I'm so sorry you have to kill these mice. I know how hard it is for you, and how much it disturbs you to do it. I feel like that, too. Or - I used to. A few years ago, I turned a blind eye to the small amount of droppings I'd see once the weather turned cold. Big mistake! By the time my fear of Hantavirus (and chewed wiring, house fire, destruction) outweighed my affection for the little cuties, it was *really* bad. The snap trap would go off just as soon as DH replaced it! I think the record was 12 in 24 hours? Awful!!! I want to share my thoughts with you, so maybe it won't hurt you so much to have to kill them. 1) If I'd put out the traps as soon as I saw the droppings, they wouldn't have reproduced at such a rate - not so many would've had to die in the traps, without such a huge population. 2) Snap traps are probably the most humane death, when you consider what else is out there. I found a few dead mice near our pond - I'm sure they were poisoned, because of the way the poison works: they seek water before they die. So I was actually doing a good thing, by preventing them from being poisoned: no secondary poisoning going on, to the neighbourhood cats etc. that might be tempted to chew on the poor creatures' remains. Don't even mention sticky traps to me!!! UGH, poor things!!! 3) Mother Nature. I prefer a fast and quick death (snap, and it's over) but She's given the mice predators that don't always do it quite so quickly. I think She's *much* more significant than I am (ROTFL! NO, really?! ) so if it's got to be done, it's got to be done. Their numbers need to be in check. In Nature, if animals overpopulate then they get sick or there's not enough food - something brings down their numbers...we're the ones bringing the numbers up (inadvertently providing mice with food & shelter) so we now have to bring their numbers down. It sucks, but it's got to be done. 4) Mice will eat *anything* and *everything* oh yes! When my last home was listed for sale, and vacant, it still had all my furniture and a small amount of 'stuff' in it. The mice had bird seed & dog/cat kibble to forage when I lived there - but after I moved out, they ate the dried petals off my flower display! They chewed holes into the heavy plastic bin I stored the bird seed in. They even ate through an old (empty) Tupperware sugar container! Giving them absolutely nothing to eat didn't stop them from making a meal for themselves. Leaving out food is an invitation, but they're going to invite themselves in no matter what, when the weather turns cold. It helps me keep a clean kitchen (no crumbs on the counter, no take out containers, etc.) but the truth is they're coming whether I invite them or not. I know it's sad to have to do it, but I think it's better for us (who actually care about them) to do it, than for someone who's not going to give a poo about them. Poor little mice.
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Post by danny15 on Feb 4, 2017 15:24:47 GMT -5
cyn, excellent points to consider, especially for those of us who actually like the little furries.
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Post by creativechaos on Feb 4, 2017 17:56:22 GMT -5
points well taken, cyn - and thank you for sharing your own experience. i am getting more hardened. i only have killed 4 so far ; i know they are multiplying like crazy in this bldg, but maybe my presence there is deterring them. and oh yeah - the Fresh-Cab seems to be doing well at repelling them too. OR - i'm not close enough to their nests, since stuff is piled deep and thick in both units. i know i HAVE to keep their populations controlled -even though I'm sure they are having population explosions in other units! i talk to these mice often in my thoughts, entreating them to leave, telling them i don't wanna kill them - but i WILL have to if they stay. something i wanted to ask: i have re-baited the snap-traps with peanut butter every couple of days. but should i be cleaning these traps and if so, how often, and with what, so i don't leave any residue that might repel the mice from the traps? you made me want to check my candles in there - and a lot of other stuff but all in time. meanwhile, i can keep trapping and try to repel them with perfumey smells.
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Post by outfromundah on Feb 4, 2017 18:10:56 GMT -5
I am glad that you think the Fresh Cab packets are helpful.
Perhaps you can pour a mixture of black pepper and cayenne in a ring around the perimeter of your unit. I think that would also deter them!
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Post by cyn on Feb 5, 2017 14:05:00 GMT -5
creativechaos No, the traps are fine being reused without cleaning them first. I know - it seems gross, eh? But the mice keep coming back to the traps. They even come to traps when there's other dead mice in them! Ewwwww!!! But it's true - I saw that with my own eyes. About your candles. I have about a dozen gorgeous hand dipped ones. I've had them for ages (ha, go figure ) some were wrapped in paper, and some weren't - all together in a plastic bag - I kept checking and checking, as I churned and churned. Those darn candles have seen every room in my house, lmao! Anyhow, every time I peeked at them, they were fine. I finally took them out of the bag last month because we had a power outage. @#$%! The ones wrapped in paper are destroyed! I guess the mice liked the snuggly seclusion, as they played with them. Grrrrr. It's not just food, either - they need to wear their teeth down. Or I assume they do, because my pet rats need things to chew on. And I've heard that rabbits need their teeth clipped, too. So they're going to chomp away at stuff no matter what, while they're hanging around. I think your storage unit's owner has to get an exterminator. It's the only way to get all the units at once, so they're not just moving around and breeding everywhere randomly. I don't think it's fair to pay good money for storage, only to see the contents ruined. I hope your valuables aren't getting wrecked! Maybe asking about an insurance claim might light a fire under his/her butt? Good luck, CC!
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