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Post by lesaulerouge on Jan 13, 2017 4:34:18 GMT -5
Mint doesn't work, neither does having a cat, even if that cat is a voracious hunter outside.
I have some plastic snap traps called Super Cat, that come with preloaded bait strip things (multi use), they're pretty good, best thing I've had, but whether they're available outside France I don't know. I know the store here sells out of them pretty fast as more people discover how good they are.
Otherwise for poison I've found the sachets to be the best thing, they're sort of like tumble drier sheet material with red or blue paste stuff inside. Can't use them now we have a cat. I've heard that what works in mice won't work in rats, and as we get shrews, voles, house mice, field mice, dormice etc I did swap round, so used a whole box of red, then next time I went to a different store that sold blue etc.
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Post by lesaulerouge on Jan 13, 2017 4:40:21 GMT -5
Regarding poison... be sure to put it in places where no pets can get to it. And bear in mind that the mice will move it, hoard it, hide it... We adopted a stray cat in October 2015, at which point I went round and removed every poison pouch in the house. Wasn't too hard as I knew where I'd put them. Every now and then one still turns up, uneaten, part eaten, fully eaten, though we've not had any mouse fatalities due to poison since then (would know by the smell). So these are obviously ones they'd taken and moved.
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Post by sparkle on Jan 13, 2017 11:37:53 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.
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Post by creativechaos on Jan 14, 2017 1:01:54 GMT -5
thanks, everyone. i am going to use snap traps and peanut butter bait. this evening i worked in small unit: sorted through some boxes of books. i got 5 boxes of books sorted and ready to donate to library; so far i want to keep two boxes. tomorrow i set the traps in both units. no more procrastinating. i have to do it even though i hate to. when i read that one female can have 10 litters a year and that babies grow up in a couple of weeks, ready to breed, that snapped me into reality.
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Post by closetofchaos on Jan 14, 2017 4:36:57 GMT -5
Mice are all over the place lately. It's been raining qnd stormy where I live and I was told it was a good idea to clean my back yard because "we were going to have a lot of mice this season" said a building inspector. I thought nothing of it and cleaned the backyard. Lo and behold, a neighbor, who, like me, is a recovering hoarder/squalorer found a dead mouse in the hall one of the cats brought in. She was notably upset, because we aren't hoarders or dirty anymore and suddenly we have vermin? Sometimes it isn't our fault. Some seasons, there are just more pests to go around for whatever reason.
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Post by closetofchaos on Jan 14, 2017 4:38:38 GMT -5
That story doesn't solve your problem but I just thought I'd share it that this seems to be a mouse time for some reason.
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Post by creativechaos on Jan 14, 2017 23:08:15 GMT -5
3 more boxes of books sorted - 8 boxes of books taken to library today. many more boxes of books to sort through... you can't even tell i released anything. thanks closetofchaos for the kind words; yes, it is mouse season this year, due to the colder winter. i do have hoarded up storage units but do not blame myself for the mice. it may be that someone brought in food or it may be simply that the poor creatures are freezing this year. still reluctant to use the traps. why? if they multiply like i think they might, i will soon regret this decision. found a few bigger turds in a box... hoping this is not rat turds. hard to tell at this point; still small enough to be field mice but if they get any bigger i fear it's rats, too.
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Post by peaceandfreedom on Jan 15, 2017 0:42:34 GMT -5
creativechaos, I am so sorry about the rodent problem you are having. I, too, am in the midst of a rodent problem--rat, loose inside our house!! I have never even had a mouse problem before, so I'm trying to learn what I can about how to combat them. (I have written in detail about my experiences the past few days on my blog.) Thank you to all who shared links here to other threads involving rodents. I am going to read them now. I don't have any answers but I surely do share your frustration.
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Post by creativechaos on Jan 15, 2017 15:12:15 GMT -5
peaceandfreedom, i'm so sorry! this is a bad year for rodents everywhere it seems! rats are really smart! do you have pets? (poison would probably be "out" if you do - especially with any cats that hunt). trapping is the best way. i feel your pain. do it ASAP! there are some traps you can set by foot, i have heard; they may not be as hair-trigger sensitive as the old snap traps - i know that @step and angela have both dealt with rats. there may be safe ways to use the poisons - as long as the little bugger doesn't die in the walls. hoping you have only one, and may it NOT be a pregnant female! i remember this now - when i lived in St. Thomas 30++ years ago, i had to deal with rats - twice. the first time was when i and dbf lived on a sinking cris craft (that's anotehr story!) we got a rat in the bilge. we tried everything. it kept eating our soap. we finally had to use poison for it and that worked. they go outside to find water and die. luckily, this rat did that and we found it dead on the deck. then, we had rats in a double-wide trailer where we lived. SHE was pregnant and had a litter of 4 - the babies were IN the stove, their little heads popping up through the burners! they were so cute. but they had to go. luckily i had a bf at the time (this was when i lived in the U.S. Virgin Islands) - i used mouse traps for the babies; i could set those. the mother, my bf dealt with and used a wooden snap trap for rats - that was effective. i can't bring myself to set a rat trap. they scare me too bad!
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Post by closetofchaos on Jan 16, 2017 7:32:18 GMT -5
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Post by closetofchaos on Jan 16, 2017 7:36:20 GMT -5
Have you ever heard of that scary movie "Snakes on a Plane?" (I refuse to watch it) Anyway, "Rats on a Craft" seems at least as horrific...
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Post by outfromundah on Jan 17, 2017 7:55:23 GMT -5
creativechaos, I want to tell you about a non-toxic mouse repellent that people use in RVs. Mice are a big problem in vehicles and for people who live in RVs or who drive trucks on long haul trips. They have to deal with the wiring in their engines getting chewed up or mice living inside the walls of their vehicles. It's called "Fresh Cab," and it comes in packets which contain all natural plant fibers and botanical extracts that mice abhor. I follow a blog of someone who lives full-time in her camper and she says it works to make the mice leave and keep them away. Apparently, it smells nice to humans. I'm not sure if it works for other rodents besides mice. I don't know how much it costs, but I don't think it's expensive. A few packets in each of your storage units could probably help to drive them away. If you do a Google search for "Fresh Cab rodent repellent," you'll find the website for the company and many places that sell it. It can also be found in camping and auto parts stores, too, I believe. Edited to add: somewhere online, I just read this tactic for killing rats: "Mix equal parts cement (powder) and flour. Place a pan of this powder out next to a pan of water. The rats eat the cement, then they drink the water, and by the next morning their bowels have turned to concrete. Sadistic but effective."
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Post by peaceandfreedom on Jan 18, 2017 22:59:33 GMT -5
Exterminators put traps inside the house and under the house in crawl space, plus bait stations at each corner of house outside, on Tuesday Jan. 10. Yesterday the man came back to make his one-week-later checkup and hallelujah! There was one dead rat in one of the traps under the house.
The day before I had a breakthrough. Finally found their probable entry point--an electrical-type box behind the TV, amongst all the cords, where 2 wires for the speakers came through. It didn't have a cover on the box, and when I reached back in there and felt inside the box, the whole back and part of the top was wide open! Could feel cold air coming in. Don't know how we never noticed it before now. Anyway, got the box closed up, and the next day is when he found the dead rat.
We are not out of the woods yet, must leave the traps in place for a while to be sure there aren't any more rodents inside the house, but have not seen any new evidence in past few days. So, feeling hopeful! Still continuing to look for any possible other holes or places they could come in through, stuffing them all with steel wool or putting coverings over them.
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Post by joyinvirginia on Jan 21, 2017 9:24:21 GMT -5
Peace and freedom, great the exterminator caught a rodent! Finding the entry points is so important. For those reluctant to set a trap for mice, you might not just have mice to deal with. Years ago, in prior house, we had mice and one day I came home from work to find a small snake in the bathroom. The exterminator explained the snake came in the same way the mice did, and was probably looking for mice to eat. The exterminator helped find entry points, around the pipes under the sink and dishwasher.
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Post by creativechaos on Jan 21, 2017 23:20:03 GMT -5
so happy to hear of your success in getting one rat killed and that box closed up, peaceandfreedom. i still need to deal with setting traps in storage... went to big one yesterday and found lots of droppings when i cleared a table. been away from home for days and not made any progress. need to get back to it outfromundah, thank you so much on the fresh cab! i found some at the hardware store last week and put some in both units. expensive but if it works, i won't have to kill them. hoping. going to look for a larger quantity on the internet as i paid 12 bucks plus tax for one box of 4 packets. i like the smell. let's hope the mice hate it! if i find i have rats too, i will kill them without remorse... so the info about the concrete mix is good to know, since i can't use poisons around there. joyinvirginia - the snakes are welcome to come into my storage unit and eat the mice! i don't think garter snakes are big enough to do the job, though. i actually LIKE snakes - if not poisonous.
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