Preventing Rodent Damage During Tractor Storage

[bdhsfz6]

This topic has been discussed many times here at TBN but not recently. I keep hoping someone will come up with a scheme that really works.

Five years ago, I purchased an adjacent piece of land with a deteriorated, rodent infested house and a steel pole barn. I tore the house down which seems to have forced the rodents, mostly mice, to move into the barn where I store my tractors & equipment.

I use a combination of traps, the Tom Cat brand seems to work best, Decon rat bait and mothballs. In 5 years, I've killed hundreds of mice, a few rats a snake and a couple of chipmunks. Even so, I still lose hydraulic hoses and fan belts every year to the gnawing pests. You'd think I would have put a dent in the population by now but the critters just keep on coming in droves!

A few cats would likely help the situation but my wife is allergic and that isn't an option.

To make matters worse, the poison isn't effective anymore. Decon's original formula worked pretty well and I would find dead mice on a regular basis. My supply of the old stuff ran out last year and the new formula is all but useless. The stuff gets eaten but no more dead mice. I swear I'm just feeding the rodent population with it. I've read they eventually become immune to the products active ingredient. I believe a law was passed a few years back forcing the formula change.

I'm curious how others deal with the problem and if anyone here has found that "better mouse trap".

 

[ericm979]

The new poison may be working more slowly, allowing the mice to hide as a sick animal often does. The problem with poison is that it often kills the predators that eat the mice. That is the opposite of what you want.

There are some mouse traps that claim they can trap multiple mice in one setting. I have not tried them as snap traps seem to be enough here.

 

[Teachu2]

1. Get a few cats.
2. Keep the cats in the barn at night.
3. Don't let the cats in the house.
4. Don't keep the wife in the barn.

 

[Thumper & Buttercup]

We use the Hawk poison in our shop and it does a great job, we get the pellets and
put them on plastic lids. We change it out a couple times a year. We've had no
damage to anything in our shop.

Amazon.com : Hawk Rodenticide Place Packs - 1.5 Ounce : Home Pest Lures : Garden & Outdoor

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Sounds like you need to rodent proof the barn. If its in any way open to the outside you are never going to win the battle.

 

[wagne223]

1. Get a few cats.
2. Keep the cats in the barn at night.
3. Don't let the cats in the house.
4. Don't keep the wife in the barn.

^^^^^^^
Best solution!

I hate poison for many reasons. The main ones are the poison going up the food chain, killing non target animals and poisoning is a horrible death.

Snap traps are my favorite.

Glue traps work great but they too cause suffering.

I have heard that a 5 gal bucket with peanut butter inside, lid on with 2 inch hole in the center, will trap many rodents in one setting. You can then kill them with CO2 (hose from exhaust pipe into bucket)

 

[LMychajluk]

Our family has a vacation home that field mice always manage to find thier way into, probably not too far from the OP. It's not 'infested', but I'll catch a couple a week in glue traps around the first floor. I read recently that mice don't like the smell of Peppermint, so I bought some Peppermint seed and planted it in the flowerbeds around the house to try and help keep mice out. Supposedly, it spreads fairly quickly, and some sources on the internet say it's not an effective repellent. Not sure if I'll regret planting it or not...

If it works, I may add some around the garages as well. I've used the ultrasonic repellent and things like fox urine around the garage w/ little success. You do have to keep anything that they could possibly eat sealed up.

 

[JRobyn]

Our pest control guy uses the "blocks". Contrax, I think. He occasionally changes from red to green ones. He explained somehow how it does NOT go up the food chain, but I forgot the details. We have had VERY few sightings since he started using a few of these scattered around the basement.

Rat Poison & Rat Bait (Rat Killer) | Rat Control | DoMyOwn.com

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

I hate poison too, for many reasons. Have had great results from these humane traps:

Amazon.com : HUX EYE Humane Live Mouse Trap Catcher with An Inspection Window, Easy to Use Mice Traps No Kill, Orange 3 Pack : Garden & Outdoor

To set the trap, I put in a half a paper towel on the bottom, a grape or slice of apple for hydration, and usually a cracker with some peanut butter on it.

I literally catch up to 6 at a time; you get the whole family in one go. Sometimes looks like mom, dad, and 4 young'uns. They will eat the cracker, shred the paper towel to make themselves a little nest, and look pretty content when I check the trap the next morning. Then I drive them 5+ miles away where there are woods/fields, no houses and let them go. The traps are reusable so less money too.

Before using these traps, they were getting into the Jeep and did a lot of damage to the electrical system.

Also, if you have bird feeders, bring them in at night.

I cannot in good conscience torture/kill God's creatures, but can't have them destroying my property either. For me this was a great solution.

 

[big bubba]

good for you, like your method over the easier toxic version. wish more would follow the same