I need advice getting rid of mice

[TomSeller]

I don't have any dogs or cats but my neighbor's two Catahoulas, a brown retriever, and a white German shepherd practically live on my front porch. Those dogs eat field mice like chocolate. If they are around when I bush hog, they will chase the field mice, catch and swallow them whole.

I hope they crunch them first

 

[MossRoad]

Keep hosing out the mice as often as possible if that seems to be working. And keep setting traps. It will take a while, but eventually you'll start getting the numbers down, then you'll have to maintain your trap line, so-to-speak. Never let up!

We had a similar problem with moles. They killed our swimming pool! So I started trapping. On one acre, I killed 29 the first year, and stopped counting at 50 the next 5 years, so there's about 300 in 6 years on one acre. Then, just like that, they dropped off to only a handful per year for the next 10 years.

You gotta put a huge dent in them and keep denting them until the numbers are down.

I know you don't like individual traps, but these are VERY effective, easy to set, easy to empty, and come in 24 packs for about $24. Jaws 409 mouse traps.

Amazon.com: JT Eaton 49BULK Jawz Plastic Mouse Trap, For Solid or Liquid Bait (Pack of 24): Industrial & Scientific

 

[JulieMartinez]

I would suggest you get in contact with the professional pest control services.

 

[EddieWalker]

Update on the mouse problem. My wife posted on FB asking for barn cats, or kittens. We had multiple offers from people giving us kittens for a grand total of 14, with two being nursing moms and the rest kittens from a total of four different moms. We kept them all inside our garden kitchen for about a month and a half. They all got along great, but most of them had stomach issues. My wife treated them for just about everything possible with mostly good results. We lost two. Worms where probably the worse issue. Free pets are always the most expensive!!!

While the cats where in there, we also had three eggs hatch from our chickens and we put those chicks inside the kitchen with the cats. We also had a hen get hurt by one of the horses, so she went in there too. The chickens are kept in cages, and the cats just got used to them being there.

When we let the cats out, both mama cats took off and never came back. That surprised us because they seemed so friendly. They literally just took off on a run straight out into the woods!!! Then over the following month, two more kittens disappeared. No idea what happened to them. They 8 remaining seem to have it figured out. One of them still has some stomach problems that we are treating, but none of the meds have had any significant results. She seems happy, friendly and playful, but she is half the size of the others and her rear end is a mess from diarrhea.

As for the mouse issue, they have made a serious dent in their population. We regularly see one of the cats with a mouse in it's mouth, or playing with it's dead body. Sometimes they will fight over a dead mouse, which is kind of funny to see. The noises they make are unexpected!!!! I put a cat door in the garage and another in the garden kitchen, so they can come in when they want, or be outside. Mostly they like it in the garage. Some of them will spend the night in the chicken coop. There is no telling how many mice they kill. We find dead ones first thing in the morning, but then the chickens eat what the cats are too full to eat and leave behind.

Cats really are the best thing ever for killing mice!!!!

 

[FTG-05]

Eddie, for worms (and most other internal parasites) I use a bit of food grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE). I just mix in a little with their food every couple of weeks or so. One of my cats ended up with worms and the Vet charged me $20 for one shot. I have 8 cats and three dogs - screw that. Learned about DE and never looked back.

And it is disheartening to take care of a cat for 1-2 months, then have it leave and/or die on you. RIP Egg, Toast, Biscuit and Oatmeal.


Good luck!

 

[jclaudii]

Did you start taking the food out? We free range during the summer as well and it is easier to spread a little feed out in the yard than leave it as free choice for the birds. If they are not expecting it all the time, they usually gobble it up pretty fast.

 

[bigtiller]

That has been our experience with cats also Eddie. How did the "Tin Cat" work for you that was referenced in post #6?

 

[oosik]

I've found that cats work best - but I don't have any chickens to worry about. Right now I have zero cats - too many coyotes, hawks & owls. However, I'm "in the market" for about 4-6 farm cats.

I've tried the tin cat - it didn't work for beans here. Nothing ever went inside to be trapped. I now have a bucket in operation - its doing good - 3-4 chipmunks & 3-4 mice/day.

I don't have the horrendous volume of mice that Eddie does. I would be getting that chicken feed into something mouse-proof and figure some way of closing down the feeders at night.

That volume of mice can become a human health problem.

 

[EddieWalker]

That has been our experience with cats also Eddie. How did the "Tin Cat" work for you that was referenced in post #6?

After reading a bunch of reviews on it, I decided to pass on the "tin cat" and instead bought two dozen traps. The traps worked good, the chickens love eating the dead mice!!!! But they where not good enough to stop us from seeing mice on a daily basis. Mostly in the evening when closing up the coops. Since letting the cats loose, we have not seen a single mouse!!! I think cats are either sleeping or hunting 24/7!!!!! I've become a big fan of them.

 

[/pine]

As good as cats are at controlling rats and mice etc...feral cats and or cats that are allowed to run wild are one of the most devastating, invasive non native species ever released in America...

 

[Gem99ultra]

As good as cats are at controlling rats and mice etc...feral cats and or cats that are allowed to run wild are one of the most devastating, invasive non native species ever released in America...

Is that a bad thing?

 

[/pine]

Is that a bad thing?

Most folks with more than a dozen functioning brain cells would think so...

 

[Gem99ultra]

Most folks with more than a dozen functioning brain cells would think so...

That's a mean and ugly reply... I'm asking an honest question, conjured with all 11 of my brain cells.

 

[/pine]

That's a mean and ugly reply... I'm asking an honest question, conjured with all 11 of my brain cells.

New Study Reveals Extensive Damage to Wildlife Caused By Domestic Cats | The Wildlife Center of Virginia


Feral cats cause $17 billion in damages to bird populations | Natural History

 

[the old grind]

Feral cats spotted on my ten become targets. Raccoons seem to be top predators of turkey nests. Feral cats take care of most other avians. That said, they can be ground into a fox/coyote bait mix along with other scraps from the skinning shed.

Mice lack meat and are hard to skin, also aren't popular with fur buyers. Cats will keep 'em down, but have to be understood in context of the farm o'all. A multi-pronged approach is often indicated, so don't plan to rely on one method.

I'm still doing well with two sizes of snap traps and sunflower seeds. No ants, .. lots of mice, chippies, and 'reds' (worst of 'em all). No excuse for waiting this long to set up store-bought bucket 'roller', but I got a nice one with alum, SS, and polymer parts. (not that I like a 'wet mouse' smell ..)

btw. Do check your traps often. I came back from a sailing trip to find a young 'coon in a 'live' trap that, with the help of a litter mate ate and passed ~9' of a twelve ga extension cord. They pooped white, black, green, and orange plastic infused with fine strands of copper inside and outside the trap. (Duke 'HD large', or forget it )

 

[/pine]

Cat owners should have the right tool for the task...to transport or restrain a cat here is the just the right tool for the job...:

 

[kcflhrc]

I got a Great Horned Owl. He hunts in my back yard almost every night while I sit in the hot tub with the wife and watch him. Very entertaining. That thing is deadly and the most efficient hunter I have ever seen. He likes Voles too. If I could get him to eat skunk all would be good. And he was free and doesn't require any care at all. Best pet a guy could have.

 

[EddieWalker]

I have a Harris Hawk that does the same, but he or she, seems to fill up with just one. Cats will keep killing mice just for the fun of it!!!

 

[kcflhrc]

I have a Harris Hawk that does the same, but he or she, seems to fill up with just one. Cats will keep killing mice just for the fun of it!!!

I saw it kill and eat 4 somethings the other night. Mice or Voles, too dark to see. It perches on a high pole in our back yard and swoops down not making a sound. That thing can be on the ground quicker than you can blink.

 

[/pine]

... Cats will keep killing mice just for the fun of it!!!

That's a major problem with domestic cats...even those that are well fed but allowed to run free reek havoc on the native wildlife...Domestic and feral cats are by far the most destructive and devastating alien species to natural native wildlife...much worse than any of the marine or water borne species and much worse than the pythons and boas in the Everglades...