Mice

9mmprincess · Post by **9mmprincess** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 3:20 am

We have a bad mouse problem - have ever since we had to put Wonton to sleep. I got some glue traps for spiders, and sort of half-heartedly put them out in the mice areas too - and they caught two mice. Watching them struggle, I felt awful. I couldn't get them off the glue trap to set them free (outside in the local park), so I googled how to deal with them humanely. I found lots of stuff about how cruel glue traps are. I disposed of the mice the most humane way I could think of, but still feel bad. On the other hand, we have a really bad mouse problem. If it were one or two I wouldn't care. It's bad.

I've ordered two humane traps from the net but they wont be here for a week.

Should I stop putting the glue traps down? The other part of me is like dammit, I know they're living creatures but they're ruining my apartment, and I have a right to live in a clean, healthy place and defend my home.

I don't know. Any thoughts at all are appreciated.

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 3:58 am

IMO nothing beats a good cat. Can't really say the cat way is humane though. lol

9mmprincess · Post by **9mmprincess** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 4:29 am

I know - I was really surprised how much of a difference Wonton made. Once he was gone a couple months we started actually noticing mice. Sorta my fault I guess that it got bad - I turned my head cos they're cute and I didn't want to hurt them. Now we have a mouse problem.

I rescued mice from Wonton sometimes, but I didnt feel bad if he killed them when I wasnt around. Cats are meant to catch mice

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:17 am

Don't use poison, they'll run off to somewhere like above a ceiling or in a wall..die..and then stink up the place.

You live in an older city right? Old buildings? Probably old heating..pipes going through walls? If so, seal up holes with steel wool.

Access to basement or attic?

The humane traps, unless you're hauling them way out in the boonies....if you're releasing them in a sorta dense city area like a park they'll just zoom over to the next closest building and get in there, to someone elses displeasure.

brembo · Post by **brembo** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:22 am

Look up "Hanta Virus" and you'll go back to glue traps with a smile on yer face.

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:37 am

9mmprincess wrote:I know - I was really surprised how much of a difference Wonton made. Once he was gone a couple months we started actually noticing mice. Sorta my fault I guess that it got bad - I turned my head cos they're cute and I didn't want to hurt them. Now we have a mouse problem.

Time to get another cat.

After having 2 here we still don't have mice anymore, but I think thats in part cuz the neighborhood cats hunt in our yard daily.

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 10:12 am

9mmprincess wrote:We have a bad mouse problem - have ever since we had to put Wonton to sleep. I got some glue traps for spiders, and sort of half-heartedly put them out in the mice areas too - and they caught two mice. Watching them struggle, I felt awful. I couldn't get them off the glue trap to set them free (outside in the local park), so I googled how to deal with them humanely. I found lots of stuff about how cruel glue traps are. I disposed of the mice the most humane way I could think of, but still feel bad. On the other hand, we have a really bad mouse problem. If it were one or two I wouldn't care. It's bad.

I've ordered two humane traps from the net but they wont be here for a week.

Should I stop putting the glue traps down? The other part of me is like dammit, I know they're living creatures but they're ruining my apartment, and I have a right to live in a clean, healthy place and defend my home.

I don't know. Any thoughts at all are appreciated.

people say NOT to use poison,but
I have used this stuff for years,they eat it,go back to their home and die ,very effective and easy to use.
I never see or smell the dead ones.
I am a very compassionate person when it comes to animals in our world,but I have no problems killing mice/rats this way.
http://www.d-conproducts.com/baits/bait-bit-trays.html

is your place a rental ? if so,have you talked to the manager/landlord ?

Unholy · Post by **Unholy** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:22 am

Rat Zapper FTW, just have to keep the batteries fresh.

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:18 pm

Unholy wrote:Rat Zapper FTW, just have to keep the batteries fresh.

Seconded.

Easy, clean, and more humane than glue IMO.

Or spring traps, which are hit and miss. Either kills them quickly or just cripples them.

Sava700 · Post by **Sava700** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 3:46 pm

I don't use poison either.. I've setup a little grid before using a 110 hookup... instant jolt to them and they die on the spot...quick and less painful I would imagin than anything else.

Jamie_R · Post by **Jamie_R** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 6:20 am

I agree with Stonecat about the steel wool around pipes, in holes, etc.

Another thing you can try is moth crystals (crystals work better than moth balls)
We used to have a problem with field mice coming in whenever they cut the field behind our house. I would sprinkle moth crystals in the crawl space under the house and the mice wouldn't come anywhere near - they hate the smell apparently.
The crystals also help keep snakes away.

I don't know exactly where you could put them in your apartment - maybe around the perimeter, or where they are coming in when you find it, but the moth crystals will work.

Your house will smell like them for a few days, but imho the trade off is worth it.

Bastid · Post by **Bastid** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:51 am

what happened to Wonton?

9mmprincess · Post by **9mmprincess** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 1:11 pm

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I've decided to keep putting glue traps down until the humane traps get here - only because the mouse problem is bad and I just want them gone. I check them often and dispose of the mice as humanely as I can when I find them.

Bastid - he got really sick, and we tried a bunch of things but nothing was really working, and he was suffering, so we had to have him put to sleep.

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 1:53 pm

9mmprincess wrote:Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I've decided to keep putting glue traps down until the humane traps get here - only because the mouse problem is bad and I just want them gone. I check them often and dispose of the mice as humanely as I can when I find them.

Did you look at rat zappers? Unholy and I have both used them and they are awesome

http://www.ratzapper.com

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 1:59 pm

Humboldt wrote:Did you look at rat zappers? Unholy and I have both used them and they are awesome

http://www.ratzapper.com

Never saw them...looks like an excellent suggestion....fast (so sorta humane), no mess, easy disposal, no lingering stuff like poison.

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 2:35 pm

YeOldeStonecat wrote:Never saw them...looks like an excellent suggestion....fast (so sorta humane), no mess, easy disposal, no lingering stuff like poison.

They're the best thing I've ever used.

The humane traps tend to either be forgotten about (starvation isn't humane), or the animal becomes so displaced when it's transported it starves after being released. Best case scenario, you're moving the problem from yourself to someone else.

The zappers are easy to use, no springs, no glue. It's open on one end, just drop in a few kibbles of dog food or cat food or a cracker with peanut butter and make sure it slides to the far end.

Two metal plates, one in the tunnel and one on the closed end. Critter walks towards the food, touches both at the same time, and gets zapped.

You know you caught something when there's a blinking red light. Carry it to a trashcan, tilt, body slides out, repeat.

You can even get fancy add-ons that'll page you when a trap is activated

Would highly recommend them to anyone with a mouse or rat problem.

Blisster · Post by **Blisster** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 3:27 pm

Can't beat a good old-fashioned snap-trap. The gleu traps are nasty and make you deal with a dying critter.

brembo · Post by **brembo** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 3:28 pm

Blisster wrote:Can't beat a good old-fashioned snap-trap. The gleu traps are nasty and make you deal with a dying critter.

****ing french.

Blisster · Post by **Blisster** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 4:02 pm

el-oh-el

Sava700 · Post by **Sava700** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 4:17 pm

I still like my 110 hookup idea.. instant death by a slight jolt large enough to get a mouse.

RoundEye · Post by **RoundEye** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 6:16 pm

Trying to kill the mice as humanely as possible is a noble effort. They’re not something as majestic as a Bald Eagle, they’re just mice. There’s probably billions of them causing misery for billons of people worldwide. In the big scheme of things, taking out a few of those dirty bastards won’t have any effect on the natural progression of things.

I live in a rural area and I like the cat idea. It brings a smile to my face when I see a cat that has a mouse and the mouse is squirming around in his mouth and probably begging for his life in mouse speak.

Plus cats keeping the mouse population down in turn keeps the snakes away. I just happen to HATE snakes and sometimes my five year old plays in the yard. The last thing in the world I want is for him to get bit by a snake.

Do you live in an apartment? If so, neighbors moving in next door bring in boxes they had in storage that had gotten infested with mice.

Im sorry but glue traps, poison, snap traps, shocking them to death or picking them off with a shot gun, just get rid of those grubby little rodents any way you can.

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 8:11 pm

RoundEye wrote:, just get rid of those grubby little rodents any way you can.

thats what I'm talkin about !

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 9:11 pm

Dan wrote:thats what I'm talkin about !

I agree, the glue traps just really bother me. Nothing should have to suffer like that (ok, I can name a few people), unless the second it gets stuck you're going to jump out from behind the couch and nail it with a baseball bat.

Rat Zapper>T-Rex>snap traps>poison>glue

not sure where live traps fit in as they can either work well for everybody involved or be worthless for the person and/or uber-cruel to the rodent, depending on infestation and attentiveness.

Shooting I'd put right up there with rat zappers except there are the drawbacks such as severe property damage

Hell, years ago the mice got so bad in my apartment one year I'd scoop up babies wearing an oven mitt and flush them.

RoundEye · Post by **RoundEye** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:24 pm

Humboldt wrote:... Shooting I'd put right up there with rat zappers except there are the drawbacks such as severe property damage ...

Remember the movie Mousehunt.

I’m not really in favor of glue traps either, I want to take the little guys out as quickly as possible, I’m really not in favor of them suffering a slow death.

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:38 pm

RoundEye wrote: I’m really not in favor of them suffering a slow death.

That's what it's all about. Not sure if I could make a choice between dying of starvation on a glue trap or dying from poison, but if there's another choice I'll choose it. Not just for the sake of the critter but for the sake of what is very likely to eat the abait (dog or cat), or the poisoned critter, dog, cat, bird).

Warfarin
1. Warfarin is becoming common in rat poisons. It causes the blood to thin and stop clotting and the poisoned animal begins to bleed internally. It may take up to a week before the dog begins to show overt symptoms of poisoning, so the first sign may be a bright green stool from the dog. This happens because the pellets for the poison often are a bright green color. Other symptoms of poisoning include a cough due to bleeding in the lungs; blood in feces or urine; bleeding from gums, nose or rectum; and difficulty breathing in the latter stages.
Bromethalin
2. Bromethalin causes a buildup of fluids in the brain and in the membrane surrounding the brain. Symptoms of poisoning may include loss of appetite, impaired movement or paralysis and muscle tremors or seizures. The symptoms can occur anywhere from two days to two weeks after ingestion, so you also may see the bright green stool before other symptoms start.
Strychnine
3. If a dog has ingested strychnine, it will appear to be agitated, excited or apprehensive. This will start in less than two hours after ingestion. The dog will begin having large and painful seizures that last for about a minute. The dog will turn blue during the seizure because it can't breathe. Any type of mild stimulation, such as tapping the dog or clapping your hands, will set off another seizure. Other symptoms may include drooling and muscle spasms.
Sodium Fluroacetate
4. Symptoms will start soon after ingestion. They begin with vomiting, which is followed by excitability; straining to defecate or urinate; walking with an aimless, unusual gait; fits or convulsions and collapse.
Phosphorus
5. The first sign of ingestion may be the dog's breath, which will smell like garlic. This will be followed by diarrhea and vomiting. The dog may have a brief period without symptoms, but then will start vomiting again and will have pain in the abdomen, convulsions and then coma.
Zinc Phosphide
6. Zinc phosphide will depress the central nervous system. Symptoms can include difficulty breathing, vomiting, weakness and convulsions. The vomit will often include blood in it.

It sucks for just about anyone that ingests it. Rat, mouse, cat, dog, though the later two are rarely intentional.

So yes, mice and rats suck and I'd consider using poison if there was no alternative but there are several.