mrbb

OK not sure if this is the RIGHT place to put this, wasn't sure where?

BUt does anyone have any special tricks or tips on best way to curb some problems with a field mice, getting into barns, crawl spaces, and sheds?

I have tried bait(bought a 5 gallon pail of some so called GOOD stuff(80 bucks) placed it all over, and they do disappear on me, but a few places I don;t really want to put it out due to some critters I DON"T want to eat it!

I have tried the old and true spring traps and they do work, but don't have the time to check every day and or re set!

I have a about 6-8 foxes in yard every evening, a dozen or two of coons, a bunch of Owls, and even 2 rather ALL day long hanging out red tail hawks,here??(Like to catch doves here?)

but I have never seen a one catch a mouse yet!
and also have about 4-5 stray cats, that seem just as useless ?? LOL


I am having these darn field mice, get into too many things I don;'t want them near, they ate thru a few wires recently, on an atv, ate wires on a skid steer on me, and just having my fill

anyone suggest any other things to try?

I DON"T l;eave food about
all bird feeders are FAR away from area's I have issue's with them

winter is coming so I know there looking for places to nest or?? and want to kill as many as possible and deter the rest if possible from moving in here?
I know its country living and there a part of it, but last few weeks , it seems like a herd of them moved in < never this many in 30+ yrs I am here?
so, any help??
suggestions, would be very appreciated!

MudderChuck

We had a Mouse infestation for awhile, my champion mouser Cat got run over by a car. Not all Cats are created equal, some are good at it, some aren't. This Cat was great, she was a runt, she'd kill Rats almost as big as she was.

Well anyway my son made up some ramp to teeter totter traps, on large plastic buckets filled maybe a quarter full of water. First night we had like fifteen mice in three buckets. Over the weeks it went down to one maybe every other night. Peanut butter for the Mice, Chicken bones for the Rats.

I don't worry about it anymore, I have three Terriers now that will kill anything inside their territory.

mrbb

thanks for the tip
I don't own any cats, but all my neighbors seem to hang out in my yard all the time day and night. they must be fed too good or??lazy
as they never go after anything LOL

Yrs back I remember we used to make some what the same trap at hunting camp
we used to use the old gallon thumb hole glass jugs, and would fill them 3/4's with fryer oil, and cover the top with oats and nuts that floated, and then build ramps to the opening and they would jump in thinking solid floor, and would die and sink in the oil and NOT stink up the place, as we would leave them for weeks' or months at a time and come back and have a few bottles of pickled mice LOL

but here die to I have so many other larger critters, coons, and such, I think if I did that, they would just tip it over on me
one of my building is only 3 sided, one wall is wide open all the time, so larger critters could be drawn by any thing that smells like food, so been not doing that there
funny part is I have two owls I see in there all the time in day time, roosting in the top, as well as see them there at night
not sure if they got picky on meals or lazy too, but this past yr has been horrible for mice here
30+ yrs here and never had any damage like this, and same things are in same buildings??
so need new tricks
got 4 of them wind up multi catch traps and two of the electric ones that ZAP things
so will see how they work
but very open to any other idea's if any have any ?

CalHunter

Those are pretty cool traps.

MudderChuck

I made some pipe traps. Inch and a half or two inch PVC pipe with two caps, maybe a foot long. Whatever my youngest son has laying around his plumbing truck.

Thick aluminum foil or thin sheet aluminum, I use old newspaper printer Aluminum sheets. Cut out some strips maybe three inches wide, 7 inches long. Cut notches to make it look like a comb with pointy splines. Cut the tips so they aren't too pointy. Roll it and hot glue it into the cap, cut a one and a quarter inch hole into the center of the cap, bend the splines down until they meet near the center. The aluminum sheet has to be thick enough not to bend easily, but pliant enough for a Mouse to push through. Peanut butter in the center of the pipe. I throw the pipe into my rain barrel to drown the Mice, then remove the cap and toss them into the compost pile. A dab of grease makes the cap come off/out easier. My measurements are flexible, no two of my pipe traps are the same.

The bucket trap works better, the pipe trap is critter resistant if you tie it down. I put the pipe traps along inner walls or fence lines, normal rodent runs.

You could likely put a brick or two into a bucket trap or a couple of inches of sand and make it harder to knock over. They work just as well on the work bench as they do on the floor.

I have a giant Walnut tree in the back yard, it draws a lot of Rodents in the Fall.

If you have a lot of Mice you may have Pine Martens around. Pine Martens and their relatives are notorious for eating the insulation off of wiring. I can usually tell when one is around, their scat and urine really stinks. They've chewed whole sections of engine harness right down to the copper in my trucks.

Phil from Maine

Just get yourself a five gallon bucket and put around 5 inches of water in it. Take a small piece of string/ rope and run it threw a tissue or paper towel roll. Tie it on so that it crosses over the bucket and put a little peanut butter on the middle of it.. ( on the outside) The mice will try and get the peanut butter and you will have stopped them. But you need to set it in a manner that they can climb up or step across to get on it.. It is safe to use in or out of the barn as well..

mrbb

Thanks guys, keep the idea's coming
as for using PVC pipe
I was thinking about something like that with a flap door they can push thru to get in that only works one way, then they can get in but cannot push door back open to get out, say a one way door
and then place a mouse bait block and some other goodies to lure them in

with all the bears here and coons, anything I leave outside with peanut butter on, will get them at it LOL
I have had them in my work shops and building countless times
never anything in there, but they do some times like to look stuff over,
so not trying to lure them in any more than needed , 30+ yrs and never a problem with bears, but these darn mice are a royal pain in the Azz~
and I am possitive its mice eating my wires and not martins or the likes, as a few have gotten stuck in between the rad and oil cooler on me and got cooked when running machine, plus in the enclosed cab, I have places simple snap mouse traps and caught several that way already!

would think all the spilled oil and fuel in these machines would keep em out, but nope, they don't seem to care at all this yr
its been amazing how many I have killed already and doesn't seem to be slowing them down!
all this rain, seems to be making them breed like mad?

Phil from Maine

While it clearly is your choice on how you go about it. You asked for help and all anyone can do is offer. You laughed at what I suggested and then tell me about bears coming after a little bit of peanut butter. I guess coming from a state that has one of the largest bear population in the country. One that has baiting hounding and trapping of them you clearly can not expect me to believe your concern this time of year with all their natural food sources becoming readily available. You know apples nuts and berries! I guess it is my turn to laugh now! A lot of Bear baiters go empty handed because of natural food. Again I only made a suggestion and it was not made to be ridiculed. I am done commenting on this one.

mrbb

well NOT sure where I laughed at you in any way shape or form?
but if you took it that way, I didn;t mean it at all!
I was asking for help and said thanks for all so far and to keep it coming?

as for you having more bears than me, or PA
I ain't trying to pick a war
but I have a ton of bears here, 17 in my yard so far this yr and growing as the apples are falling now!
have apple and pears tree's about 20 ft from the building I am having issues with, I have bears next to building this time of yr, several days a week and have a 100 plus acres of food plots less than 500 yards from it as well I hold and draw bears and all wildlife all yr here.
this ain't a normal backyard deal
SO< I hope this clears things up, I wasn't laughing at your suggestion or idea's or help!

but I am 100% sure if I put peanut butter on anything in this building,. bears will go in to find it, they come on my deck all the time for crumbs from bird feeders(out of reach for bears)


I know my place pretty well, and what will and what won't work, that's all my point was!

MudderChuck

I like your idea, cheap and simple. Maybe the only chance he has to thin them out is to use numbers, maybe a dozen buckets. Bound to get some Mice before the Coons get to the buckets.

My last choice and something I haven't used in twenty years is poison Corn or baits. If you feel you have to go that route, drive some pipe into the ground at angle a foot or more deep and put the Corn in there. My neighbor had Rats, I put out covered approved Rat poison stations. I killed a lot of Birds, you'd think a Bird wouldn't go in there, they do. A neighbors Dog ate a Rat bait, almost died and ended up blind.

Funny story about that, I was repairing some commercial refrigeration, I was way back behind the machine room. Someone had put a Rat poison station back there. First thing I noticed was hundreds of dead Cockroaches in a circle around the bait. Then I noticed a giant Zombie Rat sitting up and chowing down on dead Cockroaches. That Rat didn't run , it advanced, I ran.