Mice - homemade cures? (forum)

amanda starts with ...
Hi All, Please Help!? we have a mouse plague and they are eating everything!! Does anyone have any ideas for homemade traps or baits at all?
They are driving me nuts :-( I buy 2-5kg of bait at a time and go thru it in a week - it's very expensive. I have 8 "jaws-of-death" on the go and 3 commercial live traps (which they have got used to and don't go in anymore!)

I would be really grateful for any help?

Time: 15th March 2010 7:41pm

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About the Author amanda19
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BJ says...
My cats are excellent micers - perhaps someone local has a cat they could loan you for awhile. My neighbour (inner city) had a mouse plague so he asked another neighbour to mind his dog when we let our cats out (they have "ablution time" as I don't like changing kitty-litter-trays) and they were catching 2-3 mice each every hour I let them out. I didn't have to feed them for a week and in that time they had shown me over 70 mice they caught.
Cats are effective!

Time: 15th March 2010 8:56pm

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amanda says...
Hmnn..no cats BJ....plenty of dumped half wild ones here..plus I have Ground Larks nesting....thanks tho' :-)
Was hoping someone may have a brillant trap idea?
Or maybe there might be a home made bait recipe out there?

I also have families of raptors on the block now and am really worried about poisoning them too..

I am thinking over some trap ideas involving lengths of greased plastic pipe and a bucket of water at present...

Time: 15th March 2010 10:13pm

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Original Post was last edited: 15th March 2010 10:20pm

About the Author amanda19
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amanda says...
I googled "homemade mouse traps" ... and found this one...!
I will still work on my greasy pipe idea tho' !! :-)))
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1

Time: 15th March 2010 10:54pm

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Peter says...
Hell,
Just wondering were you are? Look at www.gettrapped.com for mouse and rat traps
Peter


Time: 12th April 2010 4:02pm

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About the Author Peter22
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Jimmy says...
Go to landmark and buy "mouseoff ZP" its dynamite, well 2-3 grains per square metre kills them really well.

Time: 12th April 2010 5:38pm

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About the Author Jimmy
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amanda says...
Thanks guys! Just spent $80 for 3kg of storm bait :-( Now have ticks for the first time on the chooks too...I suppose they came with the rats - which we have never had b4 either. My snakes must be fat n happy n sleeping!!??

Time: 12th April 2010 5:45pm

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John Mc says...
Aren

Time: 12th April 2010 7:30pm

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gus says...
I have heard that rats hate the smell of burnt rosemary. Dunno if it works for mice though. My mum use to always say that mice wont cross a line of peppermint oil, but have never tried it.

Time: 12th April 2010 8:30pm

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About the Author gus2
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amanda says...
Hi gus - apparently napthalene and/or camphor flakes ok too? I have too much space to cover...just about everyone in town is having a problem - the keep pulling up n eating my seedlings - very frustrating! grrr

Time: 13th April 2010 1:05am

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Jantina says...
Hi Amanda,don't know if this is any good but think they have a moneyback guarantee- check out mouse and rat repellents at www.birdguard.com.au
Good luck, I think mice and rats are up there with cockroaches as those who will inherit the world.

Time: 13th April 2010 10:22am

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amanda says...
Hi John Mc...I was toying with the idea of a length of pipe on a pivot (a bit like those water features with bamboo that tip when a certain weight fills the end??) I would have a nice glob of peanut butter at the end (to entice them in) and then when they get to the end it tips them into a bucket of water. The pipe would need to be oily or slippery in the end half - otherwise they would scoot back up it, maybe.

The can idea did not work well 4 me (i smeared peanut butter in a circle around the middle so it didn't need to right itself) I reckon a piece of smooth dowel with a little tack in the middle to hold a piece of pork rind is the go...it would roll around well (and yes - something for them to climb up the side of the bucket)

Thanks for the link Janitina - i will see what they have too!

Time: 13th April 2010 6:37pm

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About the Author amanda19
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Lissa says...
Having a lot of trouble with the rats eating my seeds right out of the seed trays lately. Many of my brocolli and cauliflower seedlings were nibbled clean off as well.

My dogs are keen raters but I think we've killed off the stupid ones and only the smart ones remain to avoid capture.

They're in my ceiling (again) and we throw bags of rat poison around up there but can't use the stuff around the yard due to the dogs.

A funny aside - I thought for a time it was slugs eating my seedlings and left out beer traps....which the rats obviously enjoyed very much as they drank the lot.

I've bought a wizzbang trap with little elastic rings that snap around their throat and throttle them. Yet to catch anything with it.

A gardening friend yesterday tells me of a recipe he found online for rat cakes - equal parts baking soda, sugar and flour mixed with enough water to make patties.

The digestive system of rodents cannot expel gas and the idea is that bicarb produces CO2 when it comes into contact with acid (in this case stomach acid).

The gas causes the stomach to expand, resulting in either an implosion or suffocation - by pressing up against the lungs.

Not a nice way to cause something to die, but then neither is rat poison.

Time: 30th May 2011 5:25am

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About the Author Lissa
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Brendan says...
Hi Lissa,
Have a look at this site, they have smaller models as well. I'm having trouble with bandicoots at the moment, this should fix em.

http://www.derwenttraders.com.au/contents/en-us/d398.html

Time: 30th May 2011 7:39am

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About the Author Brendan
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Sambo says...
We've had a mouse plague in western QLD for the last six months, where I work we have tried all the different traps and baits and there is only one trap which catches bulk amounts of mice!

similar to the bucket idea above, all you need is a stick about 2 metres long and tape a beer bottle to the end with the neck pointing away from the stick. Place the bottle above the bucket so the mice can run up the stick to the top of the bucket and onto the bottle. Grease up the bottle with some margarine and put a blob of peanut butter in the bottle opening.

The mice run up the stick and slip off the bottle into the bucket full of water.

We've had up to 40 mice a night caught in these traps just inside the office... but down to about 15 a night now!

Time: 30th May 2011 4:11pm

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Jason says...
I have lots of mouse problems where I live also at this time of year. I don't like killing them but on the other hand it's better to kill 3 than have to kill 200 in a few months time. That way if you are poisoning them you are less likely to kill major amounts of other animals up the food chain. It's a bit of a bad circle, since there shouldn't be this many mice and there should be more birds eating them,,, but with all the poisons all all over the country the birds are already dead etc.

Anyway, I like to get rid of them all as soon as I see one and then there's less suffering for everyone. The most important thing is to find the bodies and get rid of them before a bird can eat them

Time: 31st May 2011 7:00pm

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About the Author Jason
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Julie says...
Someone on a forum I visit had success with this.

www.earthkind.com

He used it in a shed, as the mice were eating the horse's food (I think - a while ago).



Time: 4th June 2011 5:19pm

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About the Author Julie
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ringelstrumpf says...
After using live traps (the blue ones with the yellow lid) and a usual one I think that mouse traps work once. They are intelligent.

Time: 6th June 2011 6:31pm

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amanda says...
Probably true ringelstrumpf - I bought an expensive multiple live catcher (a neat set up too) and it caught 8 in the first night...now I am lucky to get 1 in there...?
My best traps have always been the 'jaws of death' and the live catcher "cray pot".
I stopped using bait because I was told that it would kill the snakes if they ate the poisoned mice...?? I don't know if that's true - reptiles a bit different to mammals..?
Anyway - I have young childrens pythons around the place now...

Time: 7th June 2011 4:50pm

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About the Author amanda19
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MG says...
We use a homemade water trap like this (but with a lemonade bottle) smeared with peanut butter. As long as the mice can reach the top of the bin, they tightrope walk along the fencing wire, the bottle/can spins and they fall into the water and drown. Catches many in a night! My father also used this and caught too many to count in one night. Just make sure the water is deep enough to drown them, but not high enough for them to get purchase to get out.

Good luck

Time: 7th June 2011 8:45pm

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Lissa says...
Thanks once again Brendan :)
It's been a while since I posted the comment above, and I've bought a kind of throttling trap from Bunnings in the interval. It has a rubber ring that you stretch and this closes around the rats neck when the rat triggers the lever. Quicker and more humane than poison.

Having said that, we had to throw poison around in the ceiling as we can't get up there to do anything else and it has killed two of the rats. There has been no sign of activity since so the new trap is yet to be tested.

Interesting bit in the link you sent for the cage trap:
"Best to wear gloves when setting up the trap to avoid transferring human odours onto the trap."

Time: 15th June 2011 6:09am

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About the Author Lissa
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Brendan says...
Hi Lissa,
Funny thing, we haven't had many rats/mice around here lately, I suspect it's because we have a VERY BIG Red Belly Black Snake lurking around!!!
He'd be easy 2m long and 40mm thick, and he's not scared of me! I wouldn't like to tangle with him.

Time: 15th June 2011 9:16am

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Lissa says...
Good lord! Watch your step won't you. Worst I've ever had around here is yellow eyed whip snakes and pythons trying to eat my cockatiels.

I've put all the good suggestions into the Brisbane Local Food group site http://brisbanelocalfood.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?user=25t0o7h11ojsm for perusal when the problem returns.....which it will.


Time: 16th June 2011 6:19pm

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amanda says...
They have these fairly humane new traps that electrocute the mouse/rat as it passes over a sensor in the tunnel part...the only trouble is you can only kill one at a time (as the dead one then blocks the passage way..) At $40 - $80 a unit - it's expensive if you have a big problem and need a few...
I never use gloves when handling my snap traps - it's never put the mice off (and neither has the smell of their dead mates on the trap either!!) I like these the best (as they are fast kill) but can't find good quality ones these days - they are all plastic and don't last long? I also need at least 10 set every night when there is a plague.
If you use a "cray pot" style one - u can drown the mice in the cage all at once and much faster (by holding it under the water)
The bucket method is excellent for plagues - if a little stressful for the mice - but waht can u do.

I am hoping my baby pythons will hang around too Brendan! They are the Ultimate mousers! :)

Time: 16th June 2011 9:17pm

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About the Author amanda19
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Brendan says...
Hi amanda,
Someone told me to mix Plaster of Paris with wholegrain flour, leave some water next to this.
The little critters get a bit constipated after eating this!
Don't know if it works, but it should.

I've got some left-over (old) grated cheese, I was going to sprinkle that brew on the cheese, and see what happens :-)

Time: 23rd July 2011 8:58am

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amanda says...
Eek - that sounds pretty awful Brendan - but at least it's not poison laying around and that's got to be a good thing! I felt terrible that I may have been killing the snakes too...as much as they are a bit scary - they must be protected also.

Time: 23rd July 2011 10:41am

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Lissa says...
Re the plaster of paris mix - have a look at the link in my last posting. There's a similar recipe in there. Basically blows the mouse up.
Since I bought my whizz bang trap (throttling one) there haven't been any rats or mice around. It's just sitting there with it's nut bait probably going soggy.
What would you recommend is the best bait for traps?

Time: 27th July 2011 6:11am

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About the Author Lissa
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Julie says...
Mice just love pumpkin seeds.

Time: 27th July 2011 8:02pm

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jason says...
It's aid that peanut butter is good.

Time: 28th July 2011 1:39pm

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John Mc says...
Read an interesting paper online entitled "MYTHOLOGY OF VERTEBRATE PEST CONTROL" published by University of Nebraska - Lincoln Year 1990.

In a nutshell it debunked all the claims about plaster of paris, portland cement, carbonated drinks, electromagnetics and ultrasonic, amongst others. If anyone wants to read it, here's the link:

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=vpc14

Time: 28th July 2011 6:47pm

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Mike says...
In Australia bird and bat control has been very unsuccessful with noises,lights,reflectors,birds of prey and anything else they get used to.Enclosing an area with electrified strands or nets or other real physical barriers works however.All of the major vertebrate amphibian,avian and mammalian introduced pests have basically spread until they reach all suitable habitat.They typically haved a big impact at first then reduce population and stabilise and get more vulnerable to diseases and predators.

Time: 28th July 2011 7:05pm

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Lissa says...
I will keep the pumpkin seed in mind Julie, thank you.

I think the rodents are starting to make a comeback already as my dogs are hunting around the rats usual haunts in a very interested manner. Something is eating every strawberry as it ripens. Half missing, so not the dogs who would eat the entire thing!

Time: 13th August 2011 6:43pm

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Mike says...
If the wire was thick buttered fishing line,the water in the bucket had vegetable oil and the bait was a ball of rolled oats,peanut paste,oil and vanilla, it would work better.Pumpkin seeds rubbed with peanut paste and jammed through snap trap bait prongs has a high success rate.

Time: 13th August 2011 6:52pm

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nicole the cat hater says...
but their shit stinks

Time: 12th November 2012 2:17pm

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lenn says...
If you do not want to kill good predators like owls and snakes that keep rodents under control , do not use poison that says "one feed kills". Much safer for predators are the older warfarin poison that requires several feeds to kill; a bird eating a poisoned rat will suffer no consequence if the rat died from warfarin rather than one of the more potent baits.

Time: 12th November 2012 2:59pm

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amanda says...
I was told that Rucumin is the one that is raptor-safe..?

Time: 15th November 2012 10:26am

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About the Author amanda19
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Lissa says...
Went along to a field trip last week at a Persimmon farm on the sunshine coast and Heinz the owner/grower talked about Biodynamic Peppering. Well worth a look at to deter pests.

You basically get hold of one of your pests (rat or whatever) and cook it until it's ash. Mix the ash with water and spray it around the area they frequent.

Googling will bring up lots of info. Much of it refers to doing things by the phases of the moon etc. Heinz does not bother with any of that and has great success.

Time: 29th November 2012 11:55am

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