It soon became obvious that cheese-based foilage wasn't a good idea...
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
MisterBeasleyI discovered that when I had peanut butter traps in the summer, they would draw an endless parade of mice indoors, even though it was nice outside.
I use peanut butter on rat traps outdoors, in the summer, to control the chipmunks, another destructive pest.
The ones I'd really like to eliminate are squirrels. They've destroyed lots of stuff stored in my detached storey-and-a-half garage (a former house, over 150 years old and impossible to seal effectively). One of my sons-in-law lent me a live trap for squirrels, but the mice and chipmunks could gain access to the trap no matter where I put it, stealing the bait without tripping the trap. I'd otherwise shoot them, but living in a relatively built-up area, that's neither practical nor safe.
Wayne
Mice are remarkably unattracted to cheese by the way, compared to peanut butter.
A friend saw his beautifully forested layout look like the devastation near Mount St Helens when a band of mice invaded his basement, evidently while his dogs stood by and yawned. We have had mice in the house and our cat was utterly uninterested (it is believed cats have to be taught how to hunt and kill by their mother.)
While natural materials (a/k/a mouse food) make wonderful looking trees, perhaps the answer is in changing what the scenery is made of. I can recall when steel wool and brillo pads were used as tree material. The old plastic trunked Woodland Scenics tree kits are I think still being made.
Dave Nelson
doctorwayne I'd otherwise shoot them, but living in a relatively built-up area, that's neither practical nor safe.
I live right in town, 66' lot, close neighbors on each side, I use a 22ca. air pellet gun. Has a great scope. I do my "hunting" while the neighbors are at work.
Howard needs to plug up the holes where the mice can get in.
I don't get why people are trying to be so humane to mice?
If thats the way going to attack the problem, you'd be better off living with them.
Good grief!
Mike.
My You Tube
mbinsewiI don't get why people are trying to be so humane to mice?
I agree, Mike. In addition to the diseases that mice may carry, there's also the possibility that they'll chew the wiring in your home, possibly causing a fire. Squirrels and chipmunks are known to eat the insulation of some automobile wiring - my daughter had to replace the main wiring harness in her Accura due to squirrel activity - not a cheap repair by any means.
I've had occasional mice visit the layout. I imagine they think it is a giant funhouse!
Just the other night I was moving some hopper cars that have been on a distant siding for quite a while. One of the bays of the hopper had quite an accumulation of sunflower seeds in it. The little buggers must have been going out to the bird feeder and "stocking up" for the winter. Another time I found some slag cars in the steel mill with the thimbles full of collected mouse food.
Yes, this is a mouse turd in the back shop!
IMG_2818 by Edmund, on Flickr
In the past few years I have been actively sealing up "chinks in the armour" and I belive I'm finally successful. Of the six or eight spring traps I have set in the layout (basement) room, none of them have been active in the past year
Good Luck, Ed
We tried sonic deterents on our deck to keep the squirrels from building nests and eating the wiring. Waste of money!
I agree with what several others have said. Find the entry points and block them off. There is a type of expanding foam that is resistant to varmits. We have used that in a couple of places and it worked. We have also used steel wool to good effect.
At our cottage we used snap traps with peanut butter and they worked well too. I just didn't like having to start my mornings off by emptying the traps. Somehow that seemed to detract from my ability to enjoy my coffee with Baileys.
There is a home built trap that can be quite effective for trapping larger numbers of mice. You will need the following:
- 1 pail, 3 to 5 gallons,
- 1 dowel long enough to bridge the pail,
- 1 pop can with both ends removed,
- 1 narrow board long enough to form a ramp from the floor to the top of the pail,
- 1/2 gallon of automotive antifreeze*, (used will do), *optional
- 1 gallon of water,
- 1 dollop of peanut butter.
1. Place the antifreeze and the water in the pail.
2. Put the dowel through the can and rest the dowel across the top of the pail with the can in the middle.
3. Put the peanut butter in the middle of one side of the outside of the can. The mice have to be forced to climb onto the can so don't put the peanut butter close to the ends.
4. Lean the stick up against the pail so the mice can climb up and get to the rim.
What will Happen:
The mice will smell the peanut butter, climb up the stick and cross the dowel to get to the peanut butter. Once they are on the can the can will rotate thus dropping them into the antifreeze solution. The mice can't hang on to the can. The mice will drown. The antifreeze will keep things from smelling so you can let the trap work for a few days. Then you can just flush the mixture down the toilet.
If you aren't in favour of flushing the antifreeze into the sewer system, you can use plain water but you will have to empty the pail regularly.
KEEP PETS AWAY from the antifreeze!!! It is very poisonous!
Happy hunting!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I used to be a home inspector. I attended an entire continuing education class that was dedicated to rodents. Mice by themselves are not dangerous. The problem is that they carry fleas and ticks. Ticks can transmit Lyme Disease and mice carry fleas. A video was shown during the home inspector's class of a house that was infested with mice. The people that lived in the house had to leave the house because there were fleas jumping all over the place. That's right, the video showed these small black specks jumping up and down. The specks were fleas. One more thing, if mice get into your house they usually die inside of walls or ceilings which results in a horrible smell. It is really important to keep mice out of ones house. I use poison bait traps around the outside of our house. No more mice in our house.
I have no objections to killing mice. They are nothing more than vermin.
I have a model railroading friend that owns a pest control company nearby. He uses 12 by 12 glue traps to catch mice. Put some peanut butter in the middle, and toss it in the trash when the mouse it trapped.
I don't like poison, mice can wander off and die where you will never find them, and the smell is awful.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Mice by me only appear when it gets cold. Had a ground squirrel or chipmunk get inside and take up residence on the layout. Took quite a while to catch him. We have a lot of redtails and Coopers Hawks here if your lucky u get to see a Bald Eagle. Also Fox and coyotes kepep the vermin population down.
I agree about finding and sealing up holes in your walls or foundation.
I find that the glue traps work best out of all the trap types. Just lay them down in areas along your walls where mice go (they tend to run right along wall as opposed to out in open spaces) and they will walk right onto them. The glue traps I buy come pre-baited but sticking a dollop of peanut butter on them should help, as long as you don't have dogs that also like peanut butter!
As for (red) squirrels, they hate citrus. Scattering orange peels around a storeroom keeps them away in my experience.
A messy cat or dog food dish can easily become a mouse attractant. If your cats free feed put the dish on a table with a single centre support that is not near any walls or other things they can climb. We did that in our shop, and not only did the mouse count decrease, so did our cat food bill!
I had set up a trail camera, and got loads of photos of mice eating cat food, while the oldest, fattest cat watched them do it.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
We have used peppermint spray as a deterrent in our sheds. Spray around the perimeter. In our car storage area, we use scented dryer sheets including in the trunk and under the hood. I was considering the ultrasonic device out in the parking lot after a critter got into a car and chewed the wiring. At home, the problem pretty well vanished after we spray foamed the inside walls of the basement. All these pests seem pretty clever for dumb animals. Haven't seen any bears yet but coyotes and foxes are back in force at our shop. At least they will chomp up the smaller critters. Good luck Howard.
hon30critter Somehow that seemed to detract from my ability to enjoy my coffee with Baileys.
NOTHING, I mean NOTHING, should detract from enjoying a Baileys laced coffee, at any time of the day!!!
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Someone mention Bear's?......
Take Care!
Frank
My pest inspector told me mice can squeeze in holes the diamter of a dime!
You might want to ask a pest company for traps that have food in them that when eaten makes a mouse increasingly dehyrated. They it goes outside looking for water. When they find it, they are dead.
We had trouble with them getting into the garage, got into my wife's SUV and chewed up the wiring doing like $600 damage (NOT covered by the warranty by the way). We sealed up all the cracks around the base with steel wool and then caulk. We regularly spray the motors of both cars with peppermint oil. Be careful if you mix it in the house, it's really strong smelling.
Um, taking the Al Bundy approach has its merits.
Signed,
Anonymous
What happened to Howard?
Rich
Alton Junction
'Tis personal now. Not only kill that mouse, torture it. Smack him around. Throw it against the wall. And if there's one spark of life left in its twitching little body, strap it to a chair, tape its eyelids open and make it watch thirtysomething.
Pity Mike Semon's "Know Your Mouse" is out of print.
richhotrain What happened to Howard? Rich
Who's Howard?..................LOL, LOL..
I am concerned for Howard's well being, Frankie. Could the mice be alien creatures who captured Howard and took him up to the mothership?
Your right Rich! 2 pages, and nothing more from Howard!
His mouse problem might be a little more serious than the rest of think!
Anybody here live close to him?
richhotrainI am concerned for Howard's well being, Frankie. Could the mice be alien creatures who captured Howard and took him up to the mothership?
I find that the glue traps work best out of all the trap types. Just lay them down in areas along your walls where mice go (they tend to run right along wall as opposed to out in open spaces) and they will walk right onto them. My wife talked to a pest control guy who was dealing with mice at the house she is a nanny at. He recommended the glue traps. My mom had mice problems in her basement and since setting the glue traps we've caught at least 5 mice. I've also looked for entry points but didn't find any but will look again.
I find that the glue traps work best out of all the trap types. Just lay them down in areas along your walls where mice go (they tend to run right along wall as opposed to out in open spaces) and they will walk right onto them.
My wife talked to a pest control guy who was dealing with mice at the house she is a nanny at. He recommended the glue traps. My mom had mice problems in her basement and since setting the glue traps we've caught at least 5 mice. I've also looked for entry points but didn't find any but will look again.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
wjstixWe had trouble with them getting into the garage, got into my wife's SUV and chewed up the wiring doing like $600 damage (NOT covered by the warranty by the way).
Should have been covered under comprehensive on your auto insurance.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
mbinsewiYour right Rich! 2 pages, and nothing more from Howard!
I have noticed that Howard seems not to respond much to threads he initiates.
Overmod Perhaps they are kin of the mice in Mouse Hunt.
Perhaps they are kin of the mice in Mouse Hunt.
Mouse. There was only one, which makes him even scarier, especially considering what he did to Christopher Walken!
SD70DudeMouse. There was only one
Hey! I just thought of something! Nail those squirrel-trap inverted sheet-metal funnels on the legs of the layout and an angled sheet where it touches the wall...
... and if that doesn't quite work, electrify them.
Mice can jump.......keep that in mind when planning traps.
The first house we lived in was infested. We found two things that work: D-Con pellets and the Kness Mfg. Co. mouse trap. Get the drowning attachment for the Kness trap.
Ken Vandevoort