Mice Control

[Marty]

First you have to understand I am beyond anal about my stuff. My tack room has to be neat as a pin and very orderly. However over the winter I admit I was a bit of a slob and too busy freezing to keep things picked up and feed I spill swept up like I should. Now I have mice in the tack room. We found two nests and got rid of them. We pulled up the entire floor which is on dirt. Then I pulled every last thing out of there to disinfect it, added new flooring (gravel and I have rubber interlocking mats--its not concreted). Seriously, I was ready to yammy. I can't deal with mice. I"m the type to scream, puke and freak. I've never had this problem in there before.

Before you all go telling me to get cats, I have cats. Serious good mice hunter cats but I cannot lock them up in my tack room. Last time I tried that, they destroyed the place. Knocked things over, obviously in hot pursuit of the dang rodents, but left me with such a mess knocking stuff off of shelves, tearing it up, I was ready to loose my mind so no, not putting cats back in there, I'm not about to leave the door open for the cats either because the horses will get in there so that's out.

I also don't want to use poison. Too scared my dog will get ahold of it somehow, or the cats if they sneak in there so poison is out.

I saw these black plastic mouse traps at Tractor Supply and used them once and they worked pretty well.

Any other ideas? I don't want anything bloody.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I have heard that mice hate the smell of dryer sheets and if you stick them around popular nesting areas it will help.

For poison and pets.... I had purchased a locking trap where you put in the bait and it cannot be opened except by a key. The bummer is that they go off and die somewhere after poisoning, but the plus is that the critter that gets the bait has to be small enough to go into the lock box for the bait.

I also use the v traps and the box traps and the plain old wooden traps... I use peanut butter and that works well. With the plain old wooden traps I put it on a piece of paper and fold it up and throw trap and mouse away together. The bummer about the wooden ones is that they work best set on a hair trigger and I hate when it goes off when placing it. The black v traps work pretty well too... my favorite but pricy.

I have a serious mouse problem..We grow corn, we have mice... old house, not tight, the little suckers get in and drive me crazy.

I have terrific hunting cats but the mice still get in. Never ending battle. I just keep trapping and always have set at all times, I don't wait to hear or see the mouse.. To keep your pets from snapping noses in the trap, I cut mouse holes in a shoebox and put the wooden trap inside... Makes the peanut butter smell better to be inside the box. You don't have blood and you just pick up the box.. dump the mouse and trap and reset with a new trap.

hope this helps.

The bummer about just setting traps and walking away is that you forget them. I had company today and kept smelling something funky... I finally traced it to an old trap I has set ages ago and forgot about. Bummer... I hope my company didn't think I had the ultimate BO. Caught the mouse... my husband will get the fun job of taking out the funky trap. eewwwwwwwwwwww

sigh.

 

[amysue]

Deterring them from nesting in your tack room is better than having to catch them once they've moved in and made a mess. Dryer bsheets may help, so will moth balls. I use the electronic pest deterrent that emits a faint (undetectable to human ear) pulse tone that drives them away. I buy them at home depot or lowes. They just plug into a regular outlet and only take up one plug.I grew upnin an old farmhouse full of mice. These worked better than any poison or lazy cat. I decided to try them after catching 14 mice in just 3 traps in less than 4 hours (eeewwww). Good luck.

 

[shorthorsemom]

Never heard of that electronic pest deterrent before... does it drive dogs crazy though? I have a couple of dogs that are very sensitive.

 

[Marty]

Thanks for the ideas and keep them coming! Well stupid lazy me. I should have done a google search because I found a more ideas and I'd like to hear what everyone thinks works the best. i'm totally going with the dryer sheets right now because I have them on hand. I also read that peppermint oil or any scent of peppermint will keep them away. I read about the electronic thing too and it says it doesn't effect dogs or cats.

 

[Marty]

Here's that thing!

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Pest-Offense-Electronic-Indoor-Pest-Control-POBD-I-01/202712850

 

[amysue]

Yes I forgot to mention they're pet friendly and they work awesome. Mint does work too but it needs reapplied periodically. I have a ton of mint in my garden that grows like a weed. I dry it and stuff old socks to make "sachets" to put in tack trunks and dressers full of pads, wraps and blankets (if I dont I find mice nest in there). Good luck.

 

[wingnut]

Sometimes, nothing works as good as a professional. A professional exterminator can help you determine the best method to use that will take into consideration all of your concerns. I can't do poison because I don't want the cat or the dogs to get a hold of poisoned mouse and then be poisoned "secondhand". For us the cat is enough of a deterrent. But the tack room has an open upper wall into the stall area and he can come and go as he pleases.

I have the same feelings you about mice. I can handle just about anything but mice give me the heebie jeebies like crazy and I become utterly and irrationally unglued by them. I have found that snap traps are really the best choice when all is said and done. When hubby can't dispose of any creature caught by such a trap, I've forced myself to deal with it. Heck, the cat brought me a FULL dead squirrel a few weeks ago and laid it so nicely in one of our stalls. Hubby wasn't around and I couldn't leave it where it was. So I took a deep, cleansing breath, grabbed a shovel and got rid of it.