My rats don't smell

[Wild_Bill]

OK, they're actually mice, but the same idea applies.

We were getting overrun with mice, so we bought a bunch of the plastic head snapping traps, but they are a pain to maintain and one mouse ran off with the trap and died in the wall. Pee-yew. So I put out a bunch of bait boxes, fully expecting to have a bad smell at some point, but nada so far. These are anticoagulant baits, as they are all I can buy in Canada at the moment. I understand that the mice need to eat several doses of this before they die, but it's been about a week. There do seem to be fewer droppings around and they have been into the baits. Do I have super mice?

I just purchased some single feed poison from the US, I just have to wait for it to arrive. This is a neuro toxin, I think it's the stuff the Russians use. I also put out some flour and Plaster of Paris in the food areas of the kitchen. The mice have been into at least one of these.

We don't have any children and waking up each day is a major accomplishment for the cat. Our old cat would sit for 24 hours to wait out the mice and used to ask me to remove vent covers and move stuff to get at them.

My next task is to replace some of the outdoor vents with rodent proof versions

[Dean2]

Check out this thread


http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...highlight=trap

I got tired of emptying traps. We had such a bad infestation 2 years ago the grass was completely messed up after winter. Went to these Warfarin feeders, one summer, no more mice problem. They are good because cats, squirrels, birds can't get into them. Spread 5 of the feeders out around the edge of the property.Went through 100 of the blocks to knock the population down. The Warafrin works much better than the other version that they need water and multi doses.

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/w...1964p.html#srp

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[AndrewM]

Find a farmer who has access to the ufa. They have much more options there.

[obsessed1]

Originally Posted by Dean2

Check out this thread


http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...highlight=trap

I got tired of emptying traps. We had such a bad infestation 2 years ago the grass was completely messed up after winter. Went to these Warfarin feeders, one summer, no more mice problem. They are good because cats, squirrels, birds can't get into them. Spread 5 of the feeders out around the edge of the property.Went through 100 of the blocks to knock the population down. The Warafrin works much better than the other version that they need water and multi doses.

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/w...1964p.html#srp

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Do those blocks kill the mice inside or do yt? Hey run out and die? Used poison bait once and a cat ate the poisoned mouse and died. Haven't used poison since. This is a bad year though and snap traps are a pain.

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by obsessed1

Do those blocks kill the mice inside or do yt? Hey run out and die? Used poison bait once and a cat ate the poisoned mouse and died. Haven't used poison since. This is a bad year though and snap traps are a pain.

Only ever found one body, but from the reduction in damage I know it culled many hundreds. Warfarin is not near as toxic as the old Strychnine we used to use. The research I did says it is very unlikely to harm subsequent animals. The article below isn't the one I read originally but same basic info.

https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrW...TQKz3Eli4dMcI-

[Sooner]

Originally Posted by obsessed1

Do those blocks kill the mice inside or do yt? Hey run out and die? Used poison bait once and a cat ate the poisoned mouse and died. Haven't used poison since. This is a bad year though and snap traps are a pain.

I believe the mice go in, eat their fill and die somewhere else. Mother in law uses the bait stations in her yard here in the city but has no cats. Now I wonder about the neighborhood cats who might find a dead one.

The mice in her area eat the poison like candy. She is always refilling it so there must be a bunch dropping dead somewhere.

[Red Bullets]

Forget about poisoning them and smelling carcasses. Yuck.

This is a good version of a live trap. Could be modified to become lethal too by adding water in the container but not really humane. But then again poisoning isn't really humane either. Poisoning is a slow death from the inside.

Gruesomely inhumane, I used to use a big dark colored bottle with a lath propped up to the top. Cheese in the bottle. A little cheese rubbed on the lath for a scent trail. Every mouse in the area will walk up the lath and end up in the bottle. Not a pleasant thing as the bottle fills up but sure works good. Put the cap on the bottle and bury or throw away.

Could supply the local snake and reptile owners with mice with the live version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5PCYsYkU0Y

[Reeves1]

3" - 4" of used oil & PB on the can. Works year round.

[EZM]

I've used traps, they work, but are a task and gross to maintain.

The pet proof blocks, as dean mentioned, will eliminate your problem. I use these pet proof ones and them cover them with an additional layer of protection from the dogs (like a upside down milk crate on the sides of the house and the corner of the garage. Put something on top, make it dark and "safe" and these critters will eat themselves to death.

No more gross mice around here.

As far as secondary poisioning, the residual is low after initial ingestion, in other words, when the mouse eats it, it absorbs and does it's damage but doesn't have a high concentration and long chemical after life - so even if a pet ate it it would only contain a fraction of the poison.

So something I read said they measured the poison before it was eaten, immediately upon death, then 24 later in the carcass and the 24 hours later was less than 1% active poison. It basically attacks fast and wears off fast - but they just load up on toxins and die.

The other thing is, cats and dogs need a heck of alot more of this as they are 1,000 time or more the mass of a mouse. I think your average dog would have to eat 6-8 blocks of it to die or something like 100 mice, within hours of their death, or something ridiculous like that.

Can't remember where I read this, but it was scientific in nature and not an opinion - and seems to make sense.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Reeves1

3" - 4" of used oil & PB on the can. Works year round.

This actually works better then most would suspect. Glue boards work well too

If you use snap traps anchor them or put them in a box with a hole smaller then the trap for mice to enter

[Grizzly Adams]

Glue boards work well too

Tried those, all I got was some fur. I like the multi catch metal traps. if you keep up on them, not really gross and you get a body count.

Grizz