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Thread: What to do about rats and mice?

  1. #1

    Default What to do about rats?

    Hi all! I'm new to this board, so let me know if I should be posting this on another forum. Yesterday I went out into my garage and saw a rat. Later in the day, I saw three rats, and heard them in my attic. I've lived here for 5 years, and never had a problem.

    How do I get rid of these rats without killing them? Do those things you plug in that emit a high frequency work? What have you people done? I have a live trap, which I set last night. I put cheese, nuts and dog food in it... and they avoided it! My plan was to relocate them, one at a time. But... I'm not sure where to relocate them. I was planning on a forest... will that work? I don't know much about rats.

    Thanks for your help.

    Julie

  2. #2

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    I live in Texas... and I assume it's a problem, because rats chew things up... and leave their droppings... and can spread diseases. Right? Also, I know if I saw 3 in one day... they will just multiply.

  3. #3
    Geoff
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    I use a trap, baited with pumpkin seeds and relocate them in the bush. I haven't seen one for ages so maybe there's a carpet python around.

  4. #4
    tails4wagging
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    Rats are very intelligent creatures, so they are probibly wise to you trying to move them out.

    My friend had them around her rabbit pens outside, she has cats and dogs which didnt notice the rats. She kept digging up and disturbing their burrows they go the message after a few weeks and moved on.

    So perhaps keep disturbing them and generally be a nuisance to them and they may get the message their not welcome!

  5. #5

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    I keep rescued domestic rats which I know are slightly different to the wild variety, but on the whole they can (and do) chew anything that comes into their reach, and can cause terrible damage to your wires, wood etc. They will only bite if cornered and/or scared and when they do, you really know about it!!
    Their urine is more of a problem regarding disease than their droppings are and contrary to popular belief, rats (and mice) aren't great fans of cheese!

    Wild rats don't bother me at all, and I leave them to their own devices BUT when we had squirrels (which are kinda like rats) in our loft (attic) they were chewing the electric and water cables, as well as eating the fibreglass and causing a big noise at bedtime!!! As well as being a nuisance to us, I was actually worried about them electrocuting themselves and hurting themselves by eating the fibreglass.
    We tackled the problem by having the overhanging trees (which were allowing the squirrels access to the loft) cut back and then blocking up all the holes they'd made to get in. It did work but I think we were just lucky.

    As to relocating them, you really should place them in the area you're in, unless you're sure the place you're taking them can accomodate them. Also, what if you catch a female that has a nest of babies? If you take her, her babies will die. If you did find the nest (unlikely) and you try to move the babies, they will die anyway as the mother will eat them if she feels they are in danger.

    Sorry if that's not much help, just wanted to add my opinion
    ~I used to be sane but it drove me mad~

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    Ex-admin Korn's Avatar
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    Quote Digital Chick
    Hi all! I'm new to this board, so let me know if I should be posting this on another forum.
    Hi, & welcome! I just moved this thread to the Animals forum (but it's totally OK to post in The Main Forum when in doubt...!
    I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.

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    Ex-admin Korn's Avatar
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    Default Catching mice

    There was a clever, hungry little mouse that managed to bite it's way into our kitchen last night, so I have been looking around for some solutions. Here are the products I found:

    http://store.yahoo.com/greenfeet/smart-mouse-trap.html
    http://store.yahoo.com/havahart1/1020.html
    http://www.themousedepot.com/whatis.ccml
    http://www.farm-home.com/ldr/JB13861406.htm

    Here are some general tips, some of them which I would never try, others seem to be very humane:
    http://www.ehow.com/tips_3255.html
    http://www.stretcher.com/stories/981022c.cfm

    We'll go for the largest ones, but are there anyone in here that have any personal experience with any of these products or tips?
    I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.

  8. #8
    PinkFluffyCloud
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    Last time we had one in the house I used one of those human traps and I caught him within 24 hours, no trouble! I let him out on a large patch of grassy land behind the nearest housing estate, I am sure he'll find plenty of food there!!!

  9. #9
    Geoff
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    The mind boggles! Why does PFC have a human trap? Is she trying to catch a man? (To add to her 'managerie?')

  10. #10
    PinkFluffyCloud
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    Ooops, meant 'humane', tee-hee!!!
    I do NOT have a whole Menagerie, only two!!!!!

  11. #11
    kokopelli's Avatar
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    The humane mousetraps usually work well, we've caught dozens of mice in them over the years, but a couple of times mice have died. One appeared to have broken its back leg in the trip mechanism, and died soon after being released. That is very distressing. But I think, judging by their appearance, that they were already weak before being trapped.

    Rats are very much more scary when you trap them. They go wild, rattling the trap door with their teeth. The large wire mesh humane rat traps work better if you put them inside a sack or put cardboard or something around them, so it's dark inside. We released trapped rats on a common, well away from houses. Actually I've got the feeling that it's the law (in the UK) that rats should be killed...but I'm not sure.

    The rat problem was in our old house...we have had a rat in this house a couple of times, but we got rid of it by leaving the door open so it could get back out...it didn't really want to be in the house. The rat trap doesn't seem to work as well on country rats as town rats. The rats in the old house were coming up from the sewers, so maybe they were less fussy.

    Once we caught a hedgehog in the rat trap...in total contrast to the rats, it just curled up and went to sleep...it was actually quite hard getting it out again...and I had used tofu as bait!
    once in a while you can get shown the light
    in the strangest of places if you look at it right

  12. #12
    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
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    that's really cute kokopelli

    many years ago i lived in a basement flat which had at least one mouse living in the walls. it ran across the living room floor and disappeared somewhere on the other side of the room! the only other time i saw a mouse was when it ran across the kitchen, and ran into my foot! it squeezed under the closed door and again disappeared.

    i put out a humane trap for it with some bait, and when i checked it the bait had gone, but there was no mouse in the trap, cheeky little devil i tried that a couple of times, but they either took the bait without setting off the trap, or didn't seem to touch the trap at all. as i didn't see any again, and i never found any droppings or chewed up stuff, i decided to let them be. they must have stayed mostly in the walls, and occasionally popped out to say hello.

    when i lived in a student house in London there were quite a few mice in the kitchen. i thought they were cute but the other people living there hated them and put conventional lethal traps out for them when i wasn't looking. they didn't care that it upset me and would just put more out if i removed them.
    'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'

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    Default We have mice..

    We have mice in our house, we have been finding them randomly. Some dead and some alive. We have two cats and we found one..... Headless in our kitchen one morning. Then I saw one going up our stairs in the middle of the night, and I was throwing something away in the garbage and I felt one on my hand. I screamed and it dropped and ran off. My dad got mouse traps... He wants to kill them.... Its so sad! He hasnt set any of the traps yet. So I'm hoping he forgets. If he doesnt I will cry. I told him not to kill them and he said "DONT KILL THEM?! THEIR MICE!" Obviously not an animal lover.

    <33 Sara

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    Default Re: We have mice..

    Sara,
    Get some of those live traps so they don't have to be killed. Then you can take them far away from the house and set them free.
    You are not required to complete the task of repairing the world, neither are you free to abstain from it.
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    Default Re: We have mice..

    Well mom, you know I would. But I dont have my license, I dont have money, I have no way of getting them. And do you honestly think dad would take me seriously about taking them somewhere into the woods, he would say "they will just come back sara." that was the initial idea, remember?

  16. #16
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: We have mice..

    There are a few web sites with instructions for making your own humane mousetrap, e.g. http://www.smithsax.btinternet.co.uk/products.htm
    ...which sounds as if you could do it with stuff you have around the house anyway. If you catch the mice, you don't have to take them that far away from the house - I think a few hundred yards would be enough, though obviously you will be a bit unpopular if you let them go outside someone else's house

    If you make sure all food is put away in closed containers or in the fridge, you may find the mice clear off anyway, particularly as you have cats.

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    Default Re: We have mice..

    OOOOOO I tried making my own humane traps, but I couldnt... My imaginary skills are gone for the time being. Roar. But about that link... THANKS!!

    <333 Sara

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    Default Re: We have mice..

    I've always heard you should release the mouse a long way away - at least a mile, as they are good at finding their way back.

    If you put some bait in the bath, that would probably catch them, too. If there is no shower curtain or plug dangling in the bath, they probably won't be able to get out. They certainly couldn't out of our enamel bath at our old house. Then it is easy to catch them in a bottle and release them outside.

    Does depend on whether they are anywhere near the bathroom, of course

  19. #19
    tails4wagging
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    My becky is in the dog house... She has just killed a mouse. I held it up to her yelled at her that she is a naughty dog. she sulked off me followed gave her a hug and said 'dont do it again or else'....

  20. #20
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    We have two cats and we find dead mice in our house, on the porch, out in the yard... i found a dead birdy on the side of my house, it was so sad. My dad stepped on a dead mouse around january that one of our cats caught... I was sad.. He on the other hand thought it was funny.... Sick.

  21. #21
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    why don't you guys give one of these companies a call

    Where to order humane mouse traps:

    Ketch-All Company
    805/543-7223

    H.B. Sherman Traps, Inc.
    904/562-5566

    Seabright Enterprises, Ltd.
    800/284-7363

    PETA (PeTA UK too sells this)
    757/622-7382, ext. 510

    Ron-New Methods Distributing
    415/664-3469

    Real Goods
    800/762-7325

    Baller Hardware
    213/665-4149

    Bird-X, Inc.
    800/662-5021

    Or build your own humane mouse trap as given in the following link

    http://www.smithsax.btinternet.co.uk/products.htm
    Life is like a boomerang: What goes around comes around - "Karma"rocks!

  22. #22
    yogini
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    we have a small brown mouse living in our kitchen, whom ive been protecting from my omni bf.

    hes very cute and actually ive grown quite fond of him. ive named him stuart and have been leaving food for him. now he doesnt chew the rubbish bag anymore
    he doesnt leave poo everywhere and we hardly see him. is it dangerous to have him living with us? could we catch anything?

    obviously i could never killhim, and to relocate him..well i wouldnt want to take him away from his family if he has one.

    ..what to do?

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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    Oi, we have gotten rats at work, they are chewing through the walls. They chewed through a window screen when someone left it open. But there are no poos....? weve set the trap every night and with tons of diffrent stuff and no luck. The only ting that they chewed was a case of tomatos that someone left out.

    Now the boss is on the verge of putting out the real traps, the neck snapping kind.(by the way hes also a meat eating buddhist, AND this is at a buddhist center where all incoming guest get in thier packet a notice not to kill anything including bugs...*sigh*)

    ANY ANY ANY ideas of bait that they might not be able to resist? or why in the world there is never any poop anywhere????

  24. #24
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    We had mice in our kitchen. We have a waste disposer for food, and now they haven't come back because there are no food smells anymore.

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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    I had this problem with squirrels and chipmunks on my deck (where my container garden is located). The Havahart traps (hardware stores or <shudder> Home Depot) work well although the critters sometimes figure out how to take the food without tripping the door. I have heard 2 miles is the distance for relocation. For those people who argue that killing is better (no vegans of course ) I would argue that blood, vomit, flies, etc all spread germs more than a live trapped animal. No one wants to come across a diseased, bloated dead animal that someone "forgot" about. This happened to my old roommate after coming home from a trip when he decided to put out traps in my absence and then forgot to check them on a daily basis.

    Also, the electronic radiowave devices seem to work but you need one plugged into every room for best results. Since they can be pricey I'm sure some people wouldn't consider this an option.

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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    If you are in the UK it is illegal to set up a humane trap and release the creature captured elsewhere. It has to be killed or released onto the same property. Which means the only way to get rid of them legally here is to kill them.

    We have recently found a mouse in our garden. We have spotted it 3 times now (we're hoping its the same one).
    I've asked my mum not to put traps out but to instead stop
    A. feeding the birds anywhere else apart from her bird tables.
    B. putting biodegradable food matter (eg Teabags, Fruit skins) into out plant beds.

    By not leaving any plant matter outside this means we have to put our biodegradble stuff into our 'Green' bins. If youre in the UK and you've joined the scheme to cut down on the waste we produce you will have been given two bins (one for garden waste and the other for anything else... along with 3 other boxes - plastic, paper & glass) which you are not allowed to overfill unless you are prepared to take the leftovers to the recycling depot yourself.

    If you are considering putting in fruit skins, tea bags and the likes to your green bin you have to call up your council and check if it is okay with them first. Some councils do NOT permit you to do this whilst others do.
    Species killing species, Our species killing all species... but we call it 'Industry' not 'Murder'.

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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    Wow, that makes things a bit complicated.
    Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein

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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    T'is confusing but it has sure as hell limited the amount of rubbish coming out of our house. If the lids won't close on the dustbins the refuse workers don't have to take it. If you live in a house with more than 3 kids you can apply for a bigger bin - The standard ones are a bit small me thinks.

    The new recycling depot is great though - You can even recycle petrol & oils there and you can get to chuck your plastic bottes into the cool squishing machine. ;p


    Another reason its going to be quite difficult getting rid of mice here is the foxes... At least twice every week they knock over our bins to get the food out meaning rubbish is spilt all over the pace until my mum wakes up the next day and tidys it. Silly foxes ;p They aren't shy of people where I live either - If you lean out of the window to shoo them away they'll just glance at you and carry on what they were doing. I even know someone whos had a fox venture into there house.

    Anywho I think I've rambled too long...

  29. #29
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    Hi chons
    I wish we had such good recycling facilities in our area. I asked the council why they don't have a plastic bottle recycling bin and they said it'd use more energy transporting the used bottles than there is in the bottles themselves.

    It's funny the way urban foxes are so bold...here in the countryside they're much more wary of people, probably because a lot of rural people se foxes as the enemy. My mum lives in London and she saw one of the local foxes dragging its dinner off in a plastic carrier bag
    once in a while you can get shown the light
    in the strangest of places if you look at it right

  30. #30
    kokopelli's Avatar
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    Quote chons
    If you are in the UK it is illegal to set up a humane trap and release the creature captured elsewhere. It has to be killed or released onto the same property. Which means the only way to get rid of them legally here is to kill them.

    We have recently found a mouse in our garden. We have spotted it 3 times now (we're hoping its the same one).
    I've asked my mum not to put traps out but to instead stop
    A. feeding the birds anywhere else apart from her bird tables.
    B. putting biodegradable food matter (eg Teabags, Fruit skins) into out plant beds.
    I remembered reading that it's the law that you have to kill rats and mice on your property in the UK. I just checked in my 1963 Collins 'Home Doctor' book and it says:

    In 1910, Parliament placed upon the statute book an ordinance which makes it an obligation that every citizen shall kill every rat (and mouse) within his house or premises - indeed, the Act goes further, and makes it an offence should the citizen default in this duty
    We had a population explosion of rats on our compost heaps this spring, which was entirely our own fault for not ensuring that the heaps were rat-proof.

    It ended with my sons (who are both life vegans) shooting two rats, against the wishes of my daughter and myself. Now my partner and I have made a compost heap for food scraps from rat-proof wire mesh, in an attempt to prevent the problem recurring in future. Garden waste is composted on separate heaps.

    In our old home in the London area, there was an outbreak of rats coming up from the sewers through broken manhole covers. We trapped the ones which got into our garden with a humane trap and let them go miles away on common land. They probably didn't survive long there, away from their 'natural' habitat in close proximity to houses. So I'm not sure that option is really entirely 'humane'. Maybe it was just a salve to my conscience. I've read that the mortality of rats is over 90% in the first year in any case. And country rats seem to be more wary of humane traps. At least, we've been unable to catch any in ours.

    I entirely agree with you, chons, that prevention is much better than allowing a situation to get out of hand through carelessness and lack of foresight. If rodents don't have a food source, they won't breed. But bird tables can also cause problems in my experience, because birds often scatter food off the table onto the ground, where mice can get it.
    once in a while you can get shown the light
    in the strangest of places if you look at it right

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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    It is crazy how bold they are. Where I used to lie never saw them and when I moved to where I am now they are everywhere! I've seen them in my front garden lots and it is right on a really busy road. I've also seen one in my back garden which is completely fenced off at all times. My dog goes crazy at them when he sees/hears them and wakes everyone in my house up.

    Chaning a subject a little - the other day I was coming home from my boyfriends when the car infront of us stopped in the middle of oth lanes stopping traffic on both sides. I went to get out to see what was going on when a lady appeared and did the 'okay' handsign. Two seconds later a baby deer walked out infront of us and she was coaxing him to the side of the road to safety. In an area like mine I wouldv'e never thought deers even existed here! Just goes to show that in even the most busy places we aren't the only ones there
    Species killing species, Our species killing all species... but we call it 'Industry' not 'Murder'.

  32. #32
    kokopelli's Avatar
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    Yeah, maybe eventually cities will become oases for wildlife
    Did you hear about that lady who kept a record of all the species in her suburban back garden, and there were THOUSANDS of different plants and animals, because she deliberately fostered them and created attractive habitats.
    Sometimes I think a lot of the countryside is actually a harsher environment, because of the widespread use of herbicides, insecticides, chemical fertilisers, overgrazing, monoculture etc.
    once in a while you can get shown the light
    in the strangest of places if you look at it right

  33. #33
    Stu
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    Default Dere's a rat in me kitchen, what ammm I gonna do?... Humane mouse traps, anybody?

    Ahem... I have a wee mousy living in my flat.

    Have you ever used a humane mouse trap? Did it work? Where can I buy it? Etc.

    Ta!

  34. #34
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    We had mice about a week ago. You could hear them chewing on the wood behind the kitchen cupboards. I had a look on the internet for humane mousetraps but my dad refused to get one because they are too dear. I felt quite guilty because I didn't put my foot down and insist on looking for a humane trap. He couldn't wait and so far he's killed about four of them

  35. #35
    Kevster
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    Yeah i've heard humane traps are quite pricey i'm about to look in to them now, we've got a number of rats currently in our place. Came across three the other morning in the kitchen, one dieing from some forgotten about poison left somewhere..... But everything is now well put away and no sign of them in the kitchen last few days, the sonic plug ins don't seem to be too effective at present.

    Probably going to buy the Monarch humane trap for about £20 i'll post on how things go....

  36. #36
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    That's my four cats department. They take care of rodents, well the small black cat does - the others are useless

  37. #37
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?


  38. #38
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    Instructions for making your own humane trap:

    http://www.smithsax.btinternet.co.uk/products.htm

    Haven't tried it but (for what it's worth) there are some testimonials on the site suggesting it works.

  39. #39
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    I have successfully humanely trapped mice - but a BIG word of advice here. PLEASE do get as large a trap as you can buy - mice die very quickly as they need to eat and drink most of the time - my trap is quite large - about 6" (150mm) x 9" (225mm) so that you can put in food, water in a shallow container (like a jam jar lid) and some hay so that they can burrow out of sight - it's nice as well because sometimes I have caught more than one and then when you release them hopefully they stay together.... Rats are much harder to trap - I have had no success and the neighbours killed the rats in my area with poison while I was trying to catch them..... The internet is a great place to find humane traps.

  40. #40
    Barley's Avatar
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    HUMAN trap Antony? Knowing you I'm sure that's not a typo.....! Sounds good to me though I could never afford the number I'd need!!

  41. #41

    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    Quote Barley
    HUMAN trap Antony? Knowing you I'm sure that's not a typo.....! Sounds good to me though I could never afford the number I'd need!!
    When I saw that, I thought, "That's not big enough to trap most humans I know!!"

  42. #42
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    Quote catalina
    When I saw that, I thought, "That's not big enough to trap most humans I know!!"
    Perhaps it would be if you cut them up - or squeeeezed them in - worth a try!!

  43. #43
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    Default Re: What to do about rats and mice?

    It's a typo, HUMANE HUMANE HUMANE

    I know a few human rats too


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    Default Re: How Vegan Are You?

    i would like to know some mouse control secrets. last year at this time we had mice at my work (upstairs in the stock and lunch area) my sweet mom and i got live traps and those smart mice wouldn't have anything to do with them. later we found out that my hard ass grandma bought mouse traps, and my dad set them. everyone besides my mom, sister and myself knew about it.

    the mice were gone, now they are back. last time we tried to use live traps with cheese then peanut butter (they are supposed to like that stuff). our fellow workers are getting pissed again, mice turds. i don't know what to do. my dad is threatening to get out the deadly traps.
    Last edited by flutterby; Oct 30th, 2005 at 10:02 PM. Reason: Post split from the 'How Vegan Are You?' thread.

  45. #45
    Seaside
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    Default Re: How Vegan Are You?

    Somewhere there is a thread on mice and rats; I just saw it a day ago I think.

    Mouse holes are probably harder to find. I did use sheets of aluminum to cover all the holes the rats were coming in from, otherwise they would have just chewed their way back in.

  46. #46

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    Default Re: How Vegan Are You?

    if they would only go into the live traps i wouldn't have a problem. why won't they let us save them?? i will put my mom on steel wool duty tomorrow! she'll gladly do it. she feeds the mice in her garage yet still eats meat. one day i will get through to her!

    when i first moved into my house we used steel wool to stop the holes, unfortunately the cats captured a few mice haven't had a problem since.

  47. #47
    told me to Mr Flibble's Avatar
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    Default Re: How Vegan Are You?

    perhaps these posts can be moved to the relavent place, but I'll reply here for now as this is where the question was posed.

    Quote mophoto
    i would like to know some mouse control secrets.
    As previously mentioned, the best way is to stop them coming in in the first place, which means sealing up any gap larger than something you can poke a pencil through. I heard this years ago but didn't believe it before i saw video of them being able to get their boddies through something so small. If you have ventillation grills, then cover them over with wire mesh (holes being smaller than a pencil of course). For holes that shouldn't be there (such as those were wires used to go through), use filler. I used some great stuff (it starts off like putty, then hardens within 24 hours) a few weeks ago to fill a hole in plater board and support a curtain rail which had fallen down. Not sure for holes around pipes, but i'm sure there's a way

    For catching, you should place traps along the sides of walls/skirting boards where they will naturally run - not in the centre of the room. They suggested using a glass vase or wide necked bottle, tilted at about a 30 degree angle with food in the bottom (they suggest fruit and nut chocolate over traditionally thought of things like cheese which apparently mice arn't that interested in). Mouse goes in, eats, can't get out. You then simply pick up the jar in the morning, and release elsewhere.
    "Mr Flibble - forum corruptor of innocents!!" - Hemlock

  48. #48
    antony abrennan's Avatar
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    Default Re: How Vegan Are You?

    Yeah I read some time ago that cheese is not preffered by mice but I think peanut butter was better.

  49. #49
    princessemma
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    Default Re: How Vegan Are You?

    Oh I would never kill a mouse, rat, spider bee etc. I am not having an ant problem (thankfully) I was just curious. The cat brought in a live mouse a few weeks back and I bought a humane mouse trap it worked a treat.

  50. #50
    Cake Fairy Cherry's Avatar
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    Default A Mouse!

    For the past 3 nights I have been woken, and kept awake, by the pitter patter of little feet in the wall behind my bed.

    It started when there was a massive thunderstorm - so I think the little mouse must have been scared and tried to find somewhere to shelter.

    What should I do!? I'm don't really want to tell the landlady as she semingly hates all animals (she periodically gets someone to SHOOT the rabbits on her lawn!!!! ) and I'm worried it'll end up squashed. I'm getting rather tired now though as I'm a light sleeper and it seems to enjoy pattering up and down, repeatedly!

    Any suggestions gratefully received. I may even try the asking it to leave approach tonight!

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