| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| bodger |
I hate them meeces to pieces !Since the disapearance of our beloved cat around 12 months ago, we've gone from hardly ever having mice to a plague of them not far short of biblical proportions.If i go to check my pigeons or chickens after dark, I see loads of them as I switch the lights on. Anyway I declared war on them last night and used four little nippers that I found tucked away in a draw, as part of my first act of aggression. I caught three last night which fell to some rather bland Cheddar that I pinched from the fridge. I have a sneaky feeling that using my little nippers alone to control their numbers is going to be like sweeping the beach of sand. I can and do use poison in some areas but can't really use it in my pigeon loft or in the chicken pens, how do other folks control their mice ? I've found some rather cunning plans for making DIY multi catch live traps which I might well have to have a go at making. |
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| RichardW |
Cats, poison & kill traps.
You could get an owl? |
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| JB |
Don't underestimate the little nippers. At the very least continuing to use them will give some objective measure of how many mice are left. The problem, one of the problems, with poison is that mice will stash the bait away elsewhere so bait disappearing doesn't mean they're eating the poison and bait disappearing in large quantities doesn't mean you have large number of mice.
(though I've never tried the live multicatch traps so I can't compare to that) |
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| chicken feed |
we have used live mice traps in the chicken runs and my parents also use the mouse / rat glue that is on the market they place it on some wood under a small gauge mesh so the chickens and wild birds are ok and the mice just walk on the glue and cant get off. | ||
| Barefoot Andrew |
Re: I hate them meeces to pieces !
 Clearly unrefined meeces.
A. |
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| bodger |
As common as muck !
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| Shan |
Hmmmm, I sense a kitten will be moving in with you shortly.... 
We got 2 rescue kittens and they have been decimating the local shrew population. Yesterday, Tigger caught a baby rat and this morning he left a live shrew in the shower for Mr Shan...lololololol
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| marigold |
I'm not particularly soft-hearted about killing vermin, but the glue method sounds horrible even if you check the traps twice a day as recommended. |
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| Rob R |
Little nippers were always my preferred method- I avoid poison because you never quite know where the bodies end up We bought a Rat Zapper which turned out to be utterly useless for rats- they just wouldn't go into it. Mice, on the other hand, seem more curious and always do, for a little bit of wheat, the zapper seems to have one in every morning until they are all gone.
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| shadiya |
Although sometimes you do... Our hot water smelt funny for ages.... 
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| bodger |
Wanted ! Second hand zapper. Must be cheap and in good condition.
I've got some of that rat glue and its horrible stuff. The creatures normally die over night. Its obviously as near as damn it the same stuff that the bird limers used to and still do use. |
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| lottie |
My cat had to be killed a couple of months ago----meanwhile peanut butter seems to be the best rodent bait----much better results than cheese or chocolate. | ||
| LynneA |
With Sheba at home and having been adopted by Little Ginge at the allotment, the only mice we see are the ones Sheba shows us.
But now we have the hens, I've bought some Eradibait. Not sure how effective it is, but with cats, frogs and possibly hedghogs, it was a better option than traps or poison. From previous experience, it's a good way of guaranteeing rain 
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| Green Rosie |
You need our Husky Alsation Cross - she's the best mouser I know 
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| bodger |
My score is four so far.
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| Lloyd |
In how many days? | ||
| bodger |
Today, and i've just had a quick check, better make that five. I've tried them with mature cheddar tonight. | ||
| chicken feed |
your right marigold the rat glue is not nice but neither is poison that can take days to kill it casuses internal bleeding and a slow death.
i am not in favour of cruelty of any type but i will use any method of vermin control when it comes to rats and mice. i did drop my guard last winter and the mice got in my potting shed i caught 8 in the first night in back breakers and the final total was 38 in a week. this year the traps are set before the mice arrive (fingers crossed) |
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| gorbut |
chocolate is a very good bait for a mouse trap although it could be considered a sin to waste chocolate
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| LynneA |
From personal experience, I know they also like brown sauce 
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| Mutton |
Worked for a big rat infestation we had that we were late spotting - they ate five chicks from under the hen during the night. Though it did take most of a large tub so about £30. That was back in the spring. They were hiding under a large heap of useful things in an out building, then moved into the wooden walls. Took a couple of weeks to clear all the rats out of the building with Eradibait. Would see them moving slowly once the dehydration had set in. So not as kind as instant death traps, but it worked. We did try a DIY trap before that - plank laid up to a deep plastic tub, grain up the plank and in the bottom of the tub, theory being they'd jump into the tub to get the grain, not be able to get out and we'd kill them in the morning. Too bright for that - they ate the grain on the plank but stayed out of the tub. Recently our small younger cat has finally got the hang of catching part grown rats - we've had three brought in dead (and a weasel!). There are a few rats around, but not an infestation. |
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| bodger |
The tub idea ?
According to an old book I have, the idea is to get them feeding on grain in the tub for a while and then take the grain from the tub and fill it with water. Then you float two or three inches of chaff on the top. The rats jump in as per normal, drop through the chaff and drown.
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| Dogwalker |
Does anyone have experience of the ultrasonic/electromagnetic plug in devices.
Now the cottage has been rewired I'm worried the mice will move back and chew the new wiring which isn't as well protected as the old. |
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| lottie |
My bruv got one--he had a plague of mice when everyone around him in London decided to extend into their cellars---he said it was totally useless---but that may have been because it was a big problem. |
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| Jenna |
Got our first one last night, but the traps have been set for a month. Have heard them scruttling about in the walls the last few nights. Now that we've got the fire on every day, at least they get a funeral fit for a king 
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| alison |
We tried these, and they aren't worth it, I am afraid. Little nippers, set frequently is the best method. |
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| Green Rosie |
For a while I have smelt mice in the chick shed. This morning when I opened up, 3 of the chicks started pecking and pulling at something in the corner by the door hinge. It was a dead mouse, well and truly stuck. Presumably it came in thin, ate just one grain too many and could not get back through its access hole 
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