Effing rodents

Jessey

Jessey

Well-Known Member
Dec 20, 2004
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Suffolk, UK
I opened my shed last night to find a trail of powder all over the floor and the pot the opposite side of the shed to where I left it
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The little suckers must have a real thing for copper (I reused an old tub) as they haven't had a go at any of the other tubs I have sitting in the same spot, they had eaten 3/4 of the way round the top to get into it :mad:
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What's your favorite way to kill them off? I think its mice as the teeth marks don't look big enough for rats. I hate to do it but I also hate having stuff wrecked by them and I don't really want to use poison as I have a lovely cat that visits and catches mice and also the barn owls that live not 300m away. Mice will always be a problem here, nature of the beast, is there any kind of chemical deterrent that I could put out?
 
traps if you do not want to put poison down - Rats are our worst enemy at the yard, its near the beck so we are never really without them - we use the rat traps with the poison inside otherwise we would be overrun. they destroyed a couple of rugs I thought were securely packed away.
 
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Omg @Jessey I feel your pain! At our old house we had loads of rodents and no cats!! I had some lovely rugs that were Joe's ruined. I used humane traps for the mice but they quickly learned how to escape from them. In the end the rats were the worst problem and I just about had to move everything that they could gnaw into the house and leave just odds and ends of essentials in the tack room. Blasted things!!!!! I worried about using poisons for same reason as yourself, we had lots of owls and other birds. Shame the cat you have visiting doesn't get more.
 
I am river fronting and have lots of unused buildings on the land, long grass and big patches of brambles so def never going to get rid of them but need to control the population somehow.
Trewsers said:
Omg @Jessey Shame the cat you have visiting doesn't get more.
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He's over there daily, and seems very successful :) I would rescue some farm/feral cats if I knew I was going to be there long term. I think traps is going to be my only option...I really hate emptying them though
 
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I totally hate rodents

We have no see traps here like plastic
Boxes
And old time traps and sticky paper stuff
And hair bars and pellets

Peppermint oil is awesome to deter them
Is get them In The old house
And find ways Into really old built in kitchen drawers etc
I put peppermint oil in drawers
cabinets. All around the floor edges
And it does work

I use it in the barn and tack areas too

It's better in more confined places

I also if i store things in plastic boxed put a drop or 2 in them

You do hsve to re do it
But it does smell nice

I get 2 oz bottles at a place called whole foods
It's an essential oil and I put drop
On cotton ball into cabinet etc

It goes a long way

I pay about 12.00 for the bottle

I've also tried boiling peppermint
Tea bags and putting in spray bottle
But it's not nesr as strong as the oil
So I add some oil drops

And spray out around
Walls of hay area
Groom area etc

And tops of plastic,boxes stored out
In the
Tack shed

I also threw around the boiled tra bags
To spot something looks like something was
Digging neat of the goats club houses

And planted some nesr the tack shed foundation

For some reason mice do hate it

Old house had field stone foundation
So ugh lots of places to get in

I really really like the poured concrete
Foundation here

But in case I still use
The peppermint oil
 
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Ale said:
Store everything in metal bins and sweep up well might help deter them
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Unfortunately the hay is stuck in the carpet tiles, I am very careful not to spill feed they go after. I wish I could get more solid containers, I might have to look at kitchen canisters lol I've never had them go for those ones, I only filled it with copper 36 hours before, they didn't bother the one with zinc in right next to it, or the 2 with treats in even.

I will definitely try the peppermint oil @horseandgoatmom thanks
 
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Sometimes it's just wanton descruction from mice. I remember now what started our population at the old house. We had a stray racing bird as a pet and they were stealing his Top Flight food - and secreting it away in a trunk that they handily chewed a hole in the side of:mad:
When I opened it to get rugs out later that year about twenty of them leapt out:mad:
 
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Ugh I hate when they stock stuff away.
I found some dry noodles up in a cabinet in the attic at the old house few years ago ugh.

And worse yet I had used some bait bars and pellets. they have a distinctive turquoise color.
I found stashed pcs of the bar and pellets.

How did they manage to get that up intact and live???

Bad thing about that stuff is it does kill them and where do they go die??
I have heard horror stories of people with dead mice in walls etc and the
smell is horrible and people had to tear walls open to get them out.

I am very happy if I can just send them off and not have to kill them.
 
I can handle mice. Not that I like them eating food.. can't stand rats!!! At one yard we had poison and traps. At another we had nothing and I hoped I never saw any. At the first yard we had 3 yard cats. They were fab! You hardly saw them. The odd time you would see them playing with it :(
I rememer one time one of the girls had to throw a full bag off feed away due to the mice. We left all 3 in the feed room that night. No more problems :D current yard we have a cat live near by. But I would be tempted to go with traps.
I do know someone who kept ferrets and they very quickly sorted the mice problem out!
 
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Try to use poison, like a Tomcat All Weather Bait Chunx. It is a quality and good poison for rats. If you don't want to us poison, try to buy any ultrasonic repellent. They are work's 50\50.
 
John123john said:
Try to use poison, like a Tomcat All Weather Bait Chunx. It is a quality and good poison for rats. If you don't want to us poison, try to buy any ultrasonic repellent. They are work's 50\50.
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Is that safe for owls and cats if they eat the poisoned mice then? Ultrasonic is not an option with no power.
 
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