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DianaT
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Cute Little Field Mice
OK, they are really cute and the nests they can build in a matter of a couple days are engineering marvels. But they are destructive and they only
come when we are gone for a couple of days or more and they are destructive.
Our carpenter traps his with have a heart type traps which we would like, but that would be really cruel when we are gone for a few weeks---a snapping
trap is more humane than starving. So, we trapped a couple of them. Sad.
Now, how do you keep them out? We are having new doors made and they will have the rubber on the bottome, but our carpenter tells us the mice chew
little doors in the rubber and come on in and make themselves at home.
So, how do you keep them out? Please don't suggest a cat. Having the dogs seem to do a good job while we are here.
Thanks
Diane
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Cypress
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A good mouse-eating snake could put a dent in your rodent population.
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Martyman
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stuffing steel wool into any holes works well. I'm not sure what to do about under the door...
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DianaT
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Besides holes, maybe we will try stuffing steel wool under the door when we leave---have to bring more down.
Cypress, not a bad idea, but it could start a whole chain!
Diane
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backninedan
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My two cats said they were yummy.
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DanO
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The steel wool definitely keeps them out, but if you have any that have taken up residence inside, traps and/or poison are a must. As to the ones who
set up camp in my water heater, all I had to do was fire it up.
\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
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woody with a view
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or build a better mousetrap
just add peanut butter to the can and 6 inches of water in the bucket. within a week you will have cut down most of the family tree with this
beauty.......put it on the porch so you don't have to listen to the "splash" every hour......
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Cypress
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woody in ob, Nice little mouse drownder.
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Al G
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Woody...most ingenious...will most likely be upsetting to...oh well let's not go there...seems like a great thing for Baja...
I brought back ants...tiny little bastards...c-ckroaches...big a** bastards...and some real cute rodents...
Forgot to mention I travel in a MotorHome
[Edited on 8-10-2007 by Al G]
Albert G
Remember, if you haven\'t got a smile on your face and laughter in your heart, then you are just a sour old fart!....
The most precious thing we have is life, yet it has absolutely no trade-in value.
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BajaWarrior
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As far as those door bottoms Diane, they should be of the lowest profile possible (rubber wise). If a mouse can get his head in, he can squeeze the
rest of his body in. Thresholds (aluminum) are important too, the type with a 1/4"to 1/2" "step" just inside the door prevents them from getting in if
they were to chew a "little hole" in the rubber on the door bottom (called a sweep, aluminum and rubber)
I also like Woody's idea as a backup. Genius.
[Edited on 8-11-2007 by BajaWarrior]
Haven't had a bad trip yet....
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woody with a view
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just make sure your "sweep" is TIGHT to the threshhold....like you GOTTA PUSH the door to make it latch....the tighter, the better...or so it seems!
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Iflyfish
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I one had a neighbor lady who kept cats, lot of them. They dearly loved using my window boxes as their personal toilet......grrrr.
At any rate I purchased a small box that emitted a high pitch sound, beyond the human range that worked great at keeping the cats out......till she
got a deaf one.......no, I am not kidding.
Anyway, the device was designed as a rodent deterant.
Now, Woody's has it's own charm and there is the saddistic pleasure that one can gain by listening to the high pitched squeals of terror as they go
down for second time and realize just how bad things are for them. Up peanut butter creak without a paddle eh??
There is also something really efficient and dare I say ecological in using the beer can, string and bucket. Good one woody!
Iflyfishwhennotplottingthedemiseofratusratiorhiscousinratone
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Capt. George
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D, they make great tacos........you never know, the cost of living in Baja just keeps rising?
woody, what, no jelly? things tight for you too?
\"The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men\" Plato
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Bob and Susan
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that's an "expensive" beercan
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Bajagypsy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by woody in ob
just add peanut butter to the can and 6 inches of water in the bucket. within a week you will have cut down most of the family tree with this
beauty.......put it on the porch so you don't have to listen to the "splash" every hour...... |
We use to do the same thing with our cabin before we left it for a long period of time, except we used antifreeze instead of water so that it didn't
have the dead mouse smell when we got back.
[Edited on 8-11-2007 by Bajagypsy]
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meme
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We have used the bucket of water trick(peanut butter not needed) so yes, it works but if you have to listen to them splashng around before drowning
it's kinda not so nice.
We now buy a poison called Just ONE Bite. Just drop it into a nest or hole in the ground , they will soon eat it, not come back & no smell.
BTW_ it is not sold in Ca. but you can buy it online or in Az. Az. is where we first bought it as we had trouble with Pack-Rats, works great on them
also!
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rhintransit
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for packing any holes around pipes or such, the steel wool works but when I had a cabin on the Washington coast there was a lead wool (?)
product...hardware store item...which was more dense and sealed tightly around those little spaces. harder to pull out with tiny paws than steel
wool.
reality\'s never been of much use out here...
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Bob and Susan
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i don't think "lead wool" would be allowed in california any longer
the enviornmentalist have "moved in"
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DianaT
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Some good ideas. Thanks for posting the picture, Woody.
We have no thresholds down here---probably should buy some in the states.
We got rid of the couple that had taken up resisdency---peanut butter and old fashion traps. I hesitate to use poison as my aunt lost a dog who just
licked a poisoned rat. As long as we are here with the dogs in the house, the mice seem to stay away, but maybe we will use the bucket trip while we
are gone---have to think about that.
IFYFISH, did that sound thing really work for cats? Could use that at our other home!
Thanks for the ideas, as always -----
Diane
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Diver
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Glad to hear you're avoiding poisons, neighbor ! 
Our pooches will thank you ! Rita is a mouse catching lab !
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