Mice in my Cabin

[ihookem]

I have a cabin in the woods with a yard with very tall grass. To make matters worse my son is very allergic to that mouse smell. The mice come in cause northwest Wisconsin has cluster flies, or wind flies. Somehow they come in the cabin when it gets cold outside and they feel warm in the cabin. This is good mouse food. I have never found out how to get rid of either. I do fill 5 gal. buckets with 2" of water and squirt catchup 3" down from the rim. I can catch 3-5 mice a night this way. You can also put the bucket under the cabin and let it work for a few weeks unless the coons decide they want catchup with their new mouse meal. We also put a bucket inside the cabin if we are coming back in a few weeks. Victor mouse traps are the best. The yellow plastic ones are good. I bought a few traps made in China and they suck. Can't even make a mouse trap.

 

[Dogballs]

The bucket trap is the gift that keeps on giving....

 

[eray1066]

If you have electricity, you could augment the traps with an ultrasound generator. I have 3 set up using old injured ipod touches (cracked screen or backlight not working) bought on craigslist for $20 or so and cheap dock or speakers. Download Ultrasonic repeller and turn it up. Seems to keep mice out of a walk in cooler in the barn, the greenhouse, and a couple of houses that are not always occupied. It is like that Rodar that has been advertised in Yankee magazine since Roosevelt was president.

 

[Pilot]

Go for the bucket trap. Set 'em and forget 'em, sort of. Just have to empty out the bodies frequently and add water once in awhile. Had a mouse in my bucket trap in my hangar today--hadn't messed with the trap for a couple months and no signs of mice during that time.

I have used Victor traps and another brand, "Tomcat" made in Taiwan. The Taiwanese traps are a little better. With both kinds, you have to be careful about setting them--they often have to be adjusted. Too often they go off just as you set them down or they don't go off at all. Bend wires or whatever to make sure it will go off--that sounds like your problem with the traps.

Set traps along walls; they prefer edges rather than open areas.

A friend sets them in threes in a "T" formation. 2 traps along the wall and one perpendicular. Don't really know if this is better, but he likes it.

Obviously they are getting in somewhere. Mice can go thru a 1/4" hole, so carefully block all potential entrances. There's probably one or two places where they are getting in.

 

[2manyrocks]

The second we walked in the door yesterday we say two or three. I shot one with the pellet gun and my neighbors German Shepherd got another one. All the poison was gone. All the traps had the cheese or peanut butter removed without tripping.


Thanks.

I hope your neighbor's dog didn't eat a poisoned mouse.

Used to be you could get a reliable wooden mousetrap. Now these things either are so sensitive that they won't set right or they are so insensitive that they won't trip. If they do work, then you have to dump the dead mouse.

Could be the 5 gallon bucket method is a good idea except for the smell. Wonder if you could put some of that RV toliet stuff in there to control the odor and still catch mice or would the smell keep them away?

 

[Bird]

I shot one with the pellet gun and my neighbors German Shepherd got another one.

In 1974, we had a female German Shepherd. We had a big stainless steel bowl on the patio for a water bowl for the dog. One morning, the dog & I walked outside and there was a small mouse swimming around in that bowl. And before I could decide what to do with it, that dog just slurped it up, chomped twice, swallowed, and looked up at me as if to ask, "Where's the rest of my breakfast?":laughing:

 

[brin]

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[N80]

I did not let the dog eat the mouse....but if the poison wasn't hurting the mouse then it probably would not hurt the dog.

I was surprised how good a mouser she was. She's big and old but she went nuts when she got the scent of that mouse.

 

[Mousefield]

I hope your neighbor's dog didn't eat a poisoned mouse.
Used to be you could get a reliable wooden mousetrap. Now these things either are so sensitive that they won't set right or they are so insensitive that they won't trip. If they do work, then you have to dump the dead mouse.

Could be the 5 gallon bucket method is a good idea except for the smell. Wonder if you could put some of that RV toliet stuff in there to control the odor and still catch mice or would the smell keep them away?

While it's not good stuff the amount of poison in a mouse relative to the size of a dog shouldn't cause any harm to the dog, the amount would be very small. Best is if a dog or cat doesn't eat a poisoned mouse or rat at all.

 

[forgeblast]

glue traps are nice too, you can even buy the glue in bulk to make your own. They also catch spiders.