ACK!! I Can Tell Autumn Is Coming... I Saw Two Mice In My Garage!!

[arwalden]

They know that the cold weather is ahead and they are looking for someplace nice to bed down for the winter... nibble into a box of stored clothes and shred them for their nest. Ugh!! Disgusting!!

GOOD thing we have a DETACHED garage!

Tomorrow I'm off to Lowes to find some traps or bait. Ewww-hu-hu-hu-huuu! Those disease carrying vermin things give me the creepy crawly skin shivers!

[Deja Q]

1. It seemed too warm for autumn today;

80 degrees out. x(

[Cannikin]

2. 95 in Little Rock. Yuck

[terrya]

3. I don't blame you. Ugh.

Mice are disgusting. I do have a cat, so that helps not having any here.

[sundog]

4. what is your preferred method?

sticky trap, standard trap, or poison?

[arwalden]

6. Traps... sticky or snap. At least I can control WHERE they die...

... and toss out the carcass. If I poison them, they'll likely die and ROT inside a wall. Yuk!!

[sundog]

8. isn't that a horrible thought?

i mean, like dying behind the fridge or something... no one knows till the smell

ewww :puke:

[arwalden]

9. At Least With SNAP Traps, You Know You Caught One When You Hear The SNAP!!

Assuming you're at home (or awake) when it snaps. Otherwise you just have to remember to check the trap to see if you caught anything.

[kick-ass-bob]

33. they tend to want water after poisoning.

if you put water nearby, they will probably go for that.
But it's definitely still not 100%.

[alittlelark]

5. Get a cat!

A rescue group could hook you up with a sweet loving kitty or a 'barn cat'.

[arwalden]

7. I Only Have Two Mice... Even If There Are Three Or Four Mice...

... it wouldn't be enough to sustain the feeding needs of a cat. I've had cats before... and it's a nice thought, but a mouse snap-trap or sticky-trap would be cheaper.

[alittlelark]

11. 'Sticky traps' are the most inhumane of traps

I saw a rat at our nursery school alive in one for 2 days before I put it out of it's misery. At the next meeting I got a rule passed that we would never use them again.

It's kind of like being stuck on a rooftop in a flood... trapped w/o food or water.... it's horrible.


PS - you only feed 'barn cats' every other day, and if you saw 2 mice multiply them by 5-10 to get an accurate assessment of the problem. Most rescue groups will adopt out barn cats for next to nothing.

W/O a cat the next best thing is one of these - http://www.hilaroad.com/camp/projects/mouse_trap/mouse_tr.html

A do it yourself version - http://www.hilaroad.com/camp/projects/mouse_trap/mouse_tr.html

[arwalden]

12. Mice are horrible! They carry diseases. They destroy property.

They bite! They poop everywhere.


<< W/O a cat the next best thing is one of these - >>

That almost looks as fun as one of these...

[alittlelark]

13. They are also part of your ecosystem.

Work with your system. Out here our 'Los Altos roof rats' (kangaroo rats) were here long before the houses arrived. My 5 cats have gotten rave reviews from neighbors who don't even like cats. Working w/in the system makes more sense.


PS - a bite from a human is more dangerous, and we poop too.

[arwalden]

14. They Aren't Gonna Be Part Of Any Ecosystem In My Garage...

Obviously these mice are too dumb to know where it's safe to live. I'm about to clean up their gene pool and remove this dumb gene from their family tree.

Jumping rats? That'll send shivers down my spine! I'd like to see them try and JUMP once they've tried to take the millet seeds off of a glue trap.

<< PS - a bite from a human is more dangerous, and we poop too.>>

Perhaps... but there are no flea-ridden humans setting up house in my garage and scurrying around leaving poop everywhere.

[alittlelark]

17. Sigh............

[arwalden]

48. Here's Something To Think About...

http://www.orkin.com/pressroom/mat102104.asp

“Not only are rodents hard to control, these filthy pests can be dangerous, contaminating food and spreading diseases in your home,” says Frank Meek, board-certified entomologist and technical director for Orkin, Inc. “It’s important to contact a licensed pest control company for help in identifying and eliminating rodent problems.”

According to Orkin, Inc., mice alone contaminate 10 times the amount of food they actually consume. Rodents in general can carry fleas known to spread various types of plague and are also notorious for carrying and spreading diseases such as murine typhus and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a potentially deadly disease transmitted by infected Deer mice through urine, droppings or saliva, was first recognized in 1993 and has since been found in 30 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of September 2004, a total of 379 cases of hantavirus have been reported in the United States, 38 percent of which have resulted in death.

http://www.orkin.com/pressroom/mat102104.asp

[Starbucks Anarchist]

21. I'm with you, arwalden.

I had a mouse problem at my old apartment and caught them with glue traps.

I don't care if they're running around in the wild, but if they enter my space, they're dead.

[noonwitch]

44. The glue traps do work

I'm not one of those PETA people, I have no problems with using them. I have a cat, now, so I don't worry about mice too much. I used to get them at my old house, before I got the cat. I used the glue traps because they worked well. If I found one trapped, but still alive, I killed it and put it out of it's misery. I have no problems with killing mice. If they wanted to live, they'd stay out of my house.

[arwalden]

47. How Did You Kill It?

I've used glue traps before, once the little bastard was already dead. Another time it was still alive. I put the trap and the vermin into an empty coffee can and filled it with water. Later, I carefully emptied the water and just threw the whole thing away.

[LisaL]

16. Have it ever occurred to you that you can also feed your cat?

Cat doesn't live on mice alone.

[arwalden]

22. Hmmm....

Glue Trap: $2.50


va


Cat Food For A Year: $60.00
Cat Vet Bills (Annually): $120.00
Cat Litter: $25.00
etc
etc
etc



Cats are nice enough... but the glue trap is a BARGAIN.

[oneighty]

24. One mouse plus one mouse

do not = Two mices. Normal math fails here. You got whole lots of cute little mices.

I bought a live trap (bout fifteen dollah). No baiting necessary holds up to ten-er-so live mices. I empty the cute things into the garbage bags and ship them off to the dump where they retire full of life hope lotta food and tousands of fellow (And girl) mices, sort of a mice heaven.

180

[arwalden]

25. They Are Gay Mice... No Kids... And Tastefully Decorated Nests.

:hi:

[oneighty]

26. Cool!

180

[Beware the Beast Man]

10. Mice+ broken basement door+ neighbor with a ton of outdoor cats= no fun.

During one of my college breaks, I brought a bunch of laundry home to wash, including bedding. One evening I noticed one of the pillows smelled strangely like cat urine. I picked it up do reveal a mouse laying dead on the floor, full rigor mortis, where the pillow had been. The damn cat must have killed it, hidden it under the pillow, then marked the pillow for safe keeping. :grr:

[tyedyeto]

15. In this part of the country, you know it's fall when

the rattlesnakes are everywhere. Forget mice, these critters are dangerous!

[alittlelark]

18. Get a Roadrunner!!!!

I grew up in NM and watched MANY RR's feast on rattlesnakes.

But, uh, don't ask me how to adopt one....?

[tyedyeto]

19. I see them all the time

Even in my backyard where I've also found rattlers.

Snakes! Yuck!!!

[saged52]

20. freaking critters built a nest in my old Jeep

now I can't turn on the fan for the air or the heat -
any suggestions for preventative medicine?

[arwalden]

23. You Know They Have GLUE TRAPS For Snakes Too?? Very Cool!

[kick-ass-bob]

27. forget the sticky trap. I just feed them poison so their insides rot out.

:7

:hide:

[zanne]

29. Sounds sadistic.

Do you enjoy watching them die? I know you have to do something about a vermin problem, but you seem a little too gleeful about it.

[kick-ass-bob]

31. Yeah, I watch 'em eat it and I follow them back to their home

to watch.

[zanne]

32. Why are you so proud of being cruel?

Does is make you feel macho?

[kick-ass-bob]

34. Did you read what I wrote?

Who the hell follows a mouse to watch it die? Did that not strike you a bit IMPOSSIBLE to do? :7

I was actually making a point - there is no "humane way" to kill a mouse. Poison, sticky trap them, snap trap, even a cat (who will play with and torture the damned thing) - all pretty gruesome, none are always immediate deaths.


My cat deals with any mice we have. I even caught the same mouse twice and released it, only to have it come back a third time to be eaten by our cat.

[zanne]

35. I read what you read in your previous post.

If it was meant as sarcasm you didn't make it obvious enough. You mentioned something about "feeding them poison so they rot from the inside out". I don't know about anybody else, but that makes the cruelty meter swing to the right, if you know what I mean.

[kick-ass-bob]

36. I don't point out my sarcasm.

It is intended to pull out funny discussions like this one.

[arwalden]

38. Hey Bob... For What It's Worth... Just So You Know...

... Once I was wound-up so tightly that I had a hard time spotting humor too. These days, I'm more relaxed, so I saw the sarcasm and wit in your posts.

I thought it was amusing... dry... but still amusing. :thumbsup:

[zanne]

40. Well, you're not known for your love of animals....

Enough said.

[kick-ass-bob]

41. That's what makes it even more amusing.

I AM known for my love of animals.

We have rescued cats, done the catch, spay and release, and even adopted a feral. We cared for a tiny cat that had a thyroid(?) disorder and died at about 5 weeks old after having too many seizures. His name was Lucky, and he was the size of a soda can. I buried him myself.

Enough said.

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[arwalden]

46. Well, Zanne....

<< He and I have had run-ins before, so he realizes that. >>

Previous disagreements do not give you Carte Blanche to ignore DU rules about making personal attacks and make blatantly untrue statements about me.

[Name removed]

50. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[arwalden]

51. You are making UNTRUE statements about me, Zanne.

<< I'm not speaking untruths of you, arwalden >>

Bullshit! Yes you are.

<< We were once involved in a long flamefest about shooting stray cats. >>

I don't recall such a conversation with you.

<< You were all for it. >>

I was? Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. I don't recall any details of that thread.

But even if I was, you're breaking the rules when you resort to name-calling and making blatently untrue statements about me.

<< If you could coldbloodedly kill an animal like that, you're no animal lover; >>

You are in no position to make such a statement.

<< and if you think you are, you're in deep denial. >>

So you're a psychiatrist too?

<< I hear you have a pet of your own. >>

Irrelevant. None of your business.

<< I truly hope you don't and I'm very glad you're not one of my neighbors. >>

That's a personal attack, Zanne. You're again attacking the MESSENGER instead of sticking to the subject.

<< I'd have to protect my pets from you. >>

Ad hominem attack.

<< So say what you want, arwalden. If you think you can pass yourself off as an animal lover after the things you've said, you're hypocritical. At least admit what you are. >>

More of the same overwrought bullshit and personal attacks on the messenger! Stop it.

[zanne]

52. I'll end this now.

Obviously, you can't handle it.

[arwalden]

53. No Matter How Much You Try...

... it's not about ME. Stop being so overwrought and emotional. Try to make your arguments without resorting to ad hominem attacks and without making UNTRUE statements.

[arwalden]

45. Bullshit, Zanne!

I'm not known for my love of PETA. You are in no position to make assumptions or generalizations about me and how I feel about animals.

You are spreading falsehoods about me.

[kick-ass-bob]

42. .

:hi:

[Midlodemocrat]

28. Eek. I am with you. I once had mice in an apartment and it

freaked me out so much I had to move. Not my thing at all.

[BigMcLargehuge]

30. you know what really works well in keeping mice away...

Get some homeopathic traps. They are like little sachets of corn meal and glucose that were once mixed in bulk with a single cat hair. The corn meal and glucose "remember" the effect of the cat hair, and broadcast the "feline energy" into the surrounding area. Mice are terrified by the feline energy and move somewhere else. You could also look into some psychically charged cheese, available at many Russian "science" sites. These wedges of cheddar, infused with the psychic energy of Madame Romanovski, are guaranteed* to foster a sense of ill ease within any mouse who eats it. That feeling of ill ease will encourage the mouse to throw itself under a car tire for squishing.












*guarantee will not be honored

[arwalden]

37. Hot Damn!! Gotta Git Me Summa Dat!

[Richardo]

39. .

:rofl:

[arwalden]

49. ** SNAP! ** One Down... One To Go (Possibly More...)