Speaking of mice…

At one time there were around 10 to 15 cats running around the Marina. In the last couple of years someone declared war on them and now there are none.

This fall, for the first time, I found droppings in my camper. Chewed on some crackers and nibbled on TWO of my Emergency Twinkies! Plus collected some scraps of TP out of both bathrooms. I set glue traps snap traps in all the locations there had been signs.

Now it’s spring and I have yet to catch a mouse or see a sign since fall.

I have never heard of a mouse moving out once they’ve found food. I did let the air temp drop frequently over winter but is that enough to make them move on? I’m still looking for the scraps of TP it used for a nest.

I would far rather have Cats around than Mice. Find the person who declared war on the Cats and get rid of them. They are your real problem. Once they are gone get a cat that has been spayed or Neutered and the mice problem will be solved.

fishthumper wrote:

I would far rather have Cats around than Mice. Find the person who declared war on the Cats and get rid of them. They are your real problem. Once they are gone get a cat that has been spayed or Neutered and the mice problem will be solved.

Our cats have kept the garage mice free and the garden rabbit free

May have gotten into your spam and left the building.

jagermeister wrote:

May have gotten into your spam and left the building.

I was thinking they got into the spam supply and are having a party in the hull somewhere, only to come out at night and re-up the Spam and bring more mice to the club. Sleep well BK!

Now is the time Bk to learn to like snakes as well, something like a five foot long bull snake otta do it.

Agreed with iowaboy!

If you want mice numbers kept to a minimum, get a good mouser cat and don’t feed it too much. If you want no mice within the area whatsoever, find a couple bull snakes and give them a place to shelter nearby.

Snake and mice don’t bother me…although if either were under my covers when I woke up…well, I think the FW would be putting the camper up for sale.

Has anyone ever heard of mice leaving?

PS I’ve checked all the Spam and Hamm’s cans…twice!

buckybadger wrote:

find a couple bull snakes and give them a place to shelter nearby.

Let them go in the hull your saying? I don’t want to clean up the mess when the get wrapped in the drive shaft or belts up front. Otherwise… well…No.

I am sure the mice where overwhelmed with the musky smell of testosterone and moved out.

You may be on a hiatus. I’d bring the cats back.

BK, I don’t think temp bothers them much. On going issue in my non-heated pole barn.

A property I manage has mice issues in a yurt. I see them come a go throughout the year. More activity with humans is less they stick around

Good points Randy. Hell they may have taken a whole Emergency Twinkie down below somewhere.

jagermeister wrote:

May have gotten into your spam and left the building.

Left the Building ??? More than likely died. Even a hungry mouse has more taste in food than that !!!

Bring back the cats. It’s not just the mice they catch. Mice find food and avoid predators by using their sense of smell. The smell of a cat will send the mice packing and the ones that don’t take the hint are the ones the cat gets.

Don’t starve the poor cats. A good mouser hunts for sport, not for food. A cat that hunts for food will range too far and stop hunting when he’s full. You want a cat that hunts because he wants to hunt. My MIL had a cat that once he caught scent of a mouse in the garage, he’d sit motionless in his mouse blind on a shelf for an entire day listening and watching, all without moving a muscle until he got the mouse. Damn that cat had game.

Get a good mouser or two and tell the SOB who declared war on the cats that if they disappear again, you’re going to live-trap the mice and guess where they get released? In his truck.

Grouse

Make sure the cat has a collar if it is outside so no one gives it the suppressed .22 treatment.

I have had good luck with electronic mouse deterrents. Keep in mind, they are line of sight. They have to be able to project across the room. If it hits a wall or furniture, it’s done. Place them on opposing walls. We had an old mobile home/deer camp. Mice were thick. It reduced them over 90%. My brother also put them in his pole barn, that is almost rodentproof with a concrete floor and sealed doors. Said his baits went untouched. It takes a few of them to cover a room.

Keep in mind. Free-range cats are among the biggest threats to songbirds and put a dent in small game and gamebirds.

stevenoak wrote:

Keep in mind. Free-range cats are among the biggest threats to songbirds and put a dent in small game and gamebirds.

Very true. We have three cats, the mice have pretty much vanished from our garage/house but they do occasionally bring back birds for show.

Mice get into places you cannot believe and it doesn’t matter if it is inside or outside. I spent about 8 hours troubleshooting wiring issues on my uncles combine last year, all caused by mice. They must have chewed through at least 12 wires

Haven’t had any mice in my house or garage for years. In January, I set a bag of trash in the garage to put in the bin the next morning. When I picked up the bag something had eaten through it to get to something inside. Set up 5 traps. First night a mouse, third night a shrew (I think) and 5th night a mouse. That was it. Nothing had gotten in to the boat. No traps in the utility room have been hit.

We live “rural” and have mice issues. We also have a trailer parked up on the north shore of Cook County. The key for me was to use what I refer to as the “wheel of death”. A 5 gallon pail with a 1/4″ threaded rod drilled thru the top edge of the pail that acts as an axle. Drill out the top and bottom of a beer/soda can with a 1/4″ hole to “spin” on the axle which is then coated with peanut butter. I have one in my garage attic with about 2″ of anti freeze/water mix in the bottom..won’t feeze in the winter. Add a basic wood “ramp” to the top edge of the pail and the little bas#%@ds will climb up and jump to the peanut butter coated can, spin into the drink and drown. The nice thing is they can stew in there for months without any smell at all. Once I didn’t check it for a long time and fished 11 pickled mice out of the bottom. We keep one in our trailer up north when gone for an extended time and all winter too. Just can’t be where a dog would get into it.

Living rural and cat-less, mice have been a plague in my garage that I always tried to keep in line via trapping. A typical year results in 50-75 mice being trapped….This year, however, I had a new resident move into my garage in October. Total for the yr in my mouse traps is 1. My new buddy gets a free pass!

We named him Heenen.

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Timmy, that is awesome! I’ll take one.

If I had a camper with mouse turds in it my wife is so afraid of mice she would never go near it!!! How much do you want for it?