| Author | Message | ||
     Natexlh1000 |
Yay! This year, they colonized both the X1 and the Uly. They tagged the Uly TWICE in a week. Both times, damaging the wiring. the second time, dropping off six pink babies. The trap got the mommy I think. Here is a Walmart bag full of three nests:  Here is what I had to clean up this morning:  I didn't even see the babies until after I took the picture. Damn things were squeaking.  I really hate mice and don't care about killing them but it still freaked me out picking out the stupid little cocktail weenies. The harness is mostly electrical tape back there by now. I'm going to have to step up my trapping game. One doesn't seem to cut it. | ||
| Aesquire |
Those hideous monsters got my VW... Twice! $500+ wire harness & labor. I call them names because otherwise I might let the cute factor overwhelm me. Basically I dislike rodents by training and study. Never owned a pet rodent. Never wanted one. Although a friend's daughter had a hamster that learned it was invulnerable in it's ball, and would charge the cat, ramming it, and terrorizing the poor thing. The living room at their house was one step down, and it would fearlessly charge off the cliff into the living room at high speed. But as cute as some are, I remember 2 things. Plague. And rodents are our direct competition for the food we raise. Loss to rats has led to famine in the past, and if the idiots in society win, in the future. Then again, when I spent far too much money on a precision rifle for varmint hunting, I love to explain how it's for rats, mankind's #1 Enemy. This didn't go over so well as I hoped in domestic budget discussions, though. | ||
| 86129squids |
Might be time to get a kitty kat. I'm not much of a cat person, but my sis has two and I've known some cool cats over the years. If I got one myself, I'd look at those Maine Coons. There are lots of cool breeds, but the best thing to do would be adopt. Keeping a cat versus the troubles of dealing with mice? Easy choice there. Having two dogs precludes a cat for us though. Every now and then one or two of the little buggers shows up here- then we have to clear the cupboards, clean, find where they're going/nesting, clean that... grrr. | ||
| 86129squids |
I hate rats. Had issues with them when I got this house, managed to clear them. When we had the back deck built, we got around to doing the deck stain one day. Blocked off the deck from the dogs, so they stayed in the yard all day. At one point I noticed them working all around the shed out back, busy busy. My Jack HaHa was going under the deck, even the Basenji was going under. Once herd a "yelp!"... thought to myself I'd be heading out for glue traps. Took a break, getting ready to go get traps, here comes Rocky the Jack HaHa with a big ole rat in his mouth! Still alive, but they broke his back. Eeeks ensued from my honey and her brother... I got to dispatch the thing. Fun times. The best one was when I was moving in. Working on spackling/painting and such, WDVX playing... my first Basenji, Loki, just inspecting everything. A naturally curious breed, they're usually checking everything out. At one point I noticed he stopped making his rounds. Went to the kitchen, he was studying the drawers real close. Up to look at the countertop, then back to each drawer. I'd noticed the day before that a critter had gotten into some peanuts and such, already knew I'd have to do something. Then I had an instinct to act... silently but lightning quick, I yanked out the top drawer. Almost. A BIG ole mama rat had bailed out the back of the drawer, but the back facing had caught her back leg and tail, drawer and rat hanging out the cabinet face. Now, what to do? Sequester the dog. Screeching squiggling rat hanging. Don't move the drawer, rat escapes. Don't touch the rat, lose a finger/get rabies. That thing would bite right through any gloves I had. Thought I had a big set of channel locks, of course couldn't find them. Rat now chewing my cabinet in desperation. Finally I walked outside, saw my neighbor pulling in next to her shed. Borrowed some branch loppers. Went back, secured the rat with the loppers and a claw hammer, removed the drawer, then outside to finish the job. Later I noticed I had a voice mail. Turns out I'd butt-dialed myself during the ordeal,, bluegrass music going, rat screeching, me talking to/cussing the rat, on and on. Didn't have the foresight to save that voicemail, was hilarious. More fun times. | ||
| Sifo |
A few years back my neighbor tore down the shed in his backyard. He said mice scattered everywhere. Right after that I noticed them getting into our kitchen cabinets. They came in right at the outside water spigot, right below the kitchen window. That gave them a direct line to follow the plumbing into the kitchen cabinet. That night I set a trap in that cabinet. A few minutes later... SNAP! Repeated that process about a dozen times in one night. The next day I sealed those areas really well, and no more mice. Mice are disposable. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Years ago, I bought a little house with a big garage next to a large feral field. In the Fall I would get inundated with mice. Took to stalking them with a AA Mini-Maglite and a Benjamin pump air pistol. Small game hunting in the domicile... it was a lot of fun. Until a pellet went thru Mr. Mousey's head, bounced off the counter and the back-board and ended up against my teeth, between my lips. Wasn't the same after that. Z | ||
| Torquehd |
I'm not much of a cat person... Me either. But, I once had a cat named Otis. When he was outside, he was a natural-born killer. He loved dropping dead mice and moles on the porch like he was an Indian collecting scalps. But inside, he loved to snuggle without being bothersome. It's hard to find a good cat. But once you do, you'll change your mind. About that cat alone. I've had rats in my barn that got past live traps, rat-traps, and glue-traps. Pellet guns work best but that takes patience, and then when you miss, you're punching holes through your sheet-metal. | ||
| Torquehd |
Zac4mac, I've seen a lot of ricochets in my life, but pellets are usually too soft and flat to ricochet like that. were you using one of the pointed-tip field pellets? | ||
| Torquehd |
Also, next season I plan on trying this | ||
| 86129squids |
I've seen that, brilliant trap. I worked at a restaurant on the river here in Knoxvegas, dude would empty full traps into a bucket filled with soapy water. I prefer the SNAP and done, more humane, but hey. I'd prefer a good health score on my kitchen than not. Equate them with cockroaches... almost as prolific, just as nasty. Cute, sure. I kept a couple of pet mice and gerbils as a kid. No more. | ||
| Mnscrounger |
I turned a bunch of .177 pellets out of a teflon rod one time. It was a hoot stalking mice in the cabin with a semi auto airgun. It had enough velocity to really whack em, but on contact with a hard surface (like the woodwork, the wall, or a window) It would simply deform into a pancake. It didn't usually break skin on the mice either, but would flip them and stun them often enough to sweep them to a better vantage point, where I could "lower the broom" on them. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Don't even need a rolling log on the bucket-trap. I have a carwash bucket in the garage and I have to keep a lid on it because the dumbasses will just drop in and drown. Maybe they like Simple Green? Another goodie from my RV days - dryer sheets. They hate Bounce...and sheets smell a LOT better than mothballs! | ||
| Steveford |
The best mouse and rat trap in the world is a snake. They'll track them no matter where they are and clean out the whole bunch, poop them out and go look for some more. | ||
| Ducbsa |
Tough to find winter snakes. Otherwise, a good idea. | ||
| Ourdee |
I lived in a rental in Indianapolis 27 years ago. The traps would get the large mice but not the little ones. I put a 1 x 4 along the base board on the far side of the living room. A Crosman 760 Pumpmaster BB gun took many. The BBs would stay lodged in the pine. | ||
| Zac4mac |
I had a Crosman 760, remember putting 4 or 5 BBs down the barrel when shooting at birds on the power lines. So slow you could watch them. Z |
