Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

My wife noticed mouse droppings in our basement today (we live in
Cincinnati). I am a little bit puzzled because we don't take food
down to the basement, and we don't have mice on the upper floors of
our 2-story house. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the
mice are attracted to water -- sometimes we leave open containers
while washing clothes. I have never had to deal with this type of
problem before, and I am hoping that I can get good suggestions here
as to how to get rid of the mice.. Thanks,

JD

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

wrote in message
ups.com...
My wife noticed mouse droppings in our basement today (we live in
Cincinnati). I am a little bit puzzled because we don't take food
down to the basement, and we don't have mice on the upper floors of
our 2-story house. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the
mice are attracted to water -- sometimes we leave open containers
while washing clothes. I have never had to deal with this type of
problem before, and I am hoping that I can get good suggestions here
as to how to get rid of the mice.. Thanks,

It is cold in Cincinnati right now. What would you do (if you were a
mouse)?

Door gaskets might help.

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

Rodents go where they can find food.
You don't think those droppings are made with just water, do you?
Oh, c'mon, do you really believe they are staying in the basement?

Get a blacklight bulb, look around in the basement. You'll be able
to follow their trails.
Right up the wall.

On Feb 16, 6:12 pm, " DaileyJohn.
wrote:
My wife noticed mouse droppings in our basement today (we live in
Cincinnati). I am a little bit puzzled because we don't take food
down to the basement, and we don't have mice on the upper floors of
our 2-story house. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the
mice are attracted to water -- sometimes we leave open containers
while washing clothes. I have never had to deal with this type of
problem before, and I am hoping that I can get good suggestions here
as to how to get rid of the mice.. Thanks,

JD

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

In article , Lar wrote:
wrote:
My wife noticed mouse droppings in our basement today (we live in
Cincinnati). I am a little bit puzzled because we don't take food
down to the basement, and we don't have mice on the upper floors of
our 2-story house. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the
mice are attracted to water -- sometimes we leave open containers
while washing clothes. I have never had to deal with this type of
problem before, and I am hoping that I can get good suggestions here
as to how to get rid of the mice.. Thanks,

Well, make sure they are mice droppings. The large outdoor roaches, aka
water bugs, palmetto bugs, tree roach, will have droppings that can be
larger than mouse.

Yeah, but those things don't live in Cincinnati...

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

In article . com, " wrote:
My wife noticed mouse droppings in our basement today (we live in
Cincinnati). I am a little bit puzzled because we don't take food
down to the basement, and we don't have mice on the upper floors of
our 2-story house. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the
mice are attracted to water -- sometimes we leave open containers
while washing clothes. I have never had to deal with this type of
problem before, and I am hoping that I can get good suggestions here
as to how to get rid of the mice.. Thanks,

Ummmm.... mousetraps?

Standard Victor-brand snap traps. Bait with a fresh raisin: mash it down good
and hard onto the bait pan, then set the trap.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

In article . com, " wrote:
My wife noticed mouse droppings in our basement today (we live in
Cincinnati). I am a little bit puzzled because we don't take food
down to the basement, and we don't have mice on the upper floors of
our 2-story house. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the
mice are attracted to water -- sometimes we leave open containers
while washing clothes. I have never had to deal with this type of
problem before, and I am hoping that I can get good suggestions here
as to how to get rid of the mice.. Thanks,

You'd be surprised what they'll consider food. In my current
home we've seen one mouse. It found a (sealed) pack of chewing
gum, in a backpack, stored in an understairs cupboard.

To erradicate, you basically have a choice of:

* A cat.
* Traps of various kinds.
* Poisons of various kinds.

Blocking every conceivable entrance will work in theory
(but probably not in the real world).

If you have small children (living there or visiting) you'll
probably want to pass on the poisons and use a child-safe
design of trap. Said kids might heartily approve of the
feline solution too!

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

"Malcolm Hoar" wrote in message
...
To erradicate, you basically have a choice of:

* A cat.
* Traps of various kinds.
* Poisons of various kinds.

I haven't had any real personal experience with the feline part, but my
understanding is not every cat is a good mouser. I've heard it said they
have to be taught the process by their mother (she catches something, brings
it to the kittens to play with while still alive, etc.) . I did date a
woman who had mice for a time, her cat couldn't care less. On the other
hand, I had a few in a garage that was attached to the main house via a
breezeway, occasionally one would get in there. An English Setter I had at
the time would go after them with a vengeance. Certain terriers might be
even more keen ;-)

I have found a combination of traps & bait can work, though again from what
I understand mice have built up a good immunity to the general over the
counter anticoagulant baits, requiring multiple ingestions to croak. May
want to see if there's an exterminator's supply place that will sell you
something stronger, assuming as has been said this is not a threat to any
kids or pets.

Then there's the part where they eat the poison, then crawl into some
inaccessible place & die, creating a stink. Probably not too much of an
issue if you only have a few.

Dan

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

In article , "Dan" wrote:

I haven't had any real personal experience with the feline part, but my
understanding is not every cat is a good mouser.

That is certainly true.

Then there's the part where they eat the poison, then crawl into some
inaccessible place & die, creating a stink. Probably not too much of an
issue if you only have a few.

Yup, that's an issue too.

I used traps in the house and also placed some poison in the
crawlspace (which appeared to be the entry point). Since
there should be no kids/pets in there I wasn't too concerned
about a safety hazzard. And since it's also very well
ventilated, a smelly corpse wouldn't be a real issue.
Nevertheless, I removed the poison a few months later.

Traps are often the best option. You may need to experiment
with different baits. As has been reported here several
times, raisins work for some folks while others have more
success with peanut butter. I think there's broad agreement
on dispensing with the cheese as an effective bait.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

"Malcolm Hoar" wrote in message
...

Traps are often the best option. You may need to experiment
with different baits. As has been reported here several
times, raisins work for some folks while others have more
success with peanut butter. I think there's broad agreement
on dispensing with the cheese as an effective bait.

You just can't believe anything you see on cartoons regarding cat & mouse
behavior. My then-girlfriend now-wife had 2 cats while we were dating.
Cats aren't relly my "thing", but I tried to make nice, & I had learned from
COUNTLESS Tom & Jerry episodes that cats LOVE SARDINES! So I took a can
over. Bloody creatures wouldn't touch the damned things!

Yeah, cats really aren't my thing...

;-)

Dan

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

wrote in message
ups.com...
My wife noticed mouse droppings in our basement today (we live in
Cincinnati). I am a little bit puzzled because we don't take food
down to the basement, and we don't have mice on the upper floors of
our 2-story house. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the
mice are attracted to water -- sometimes we leave open containers
while washing clothes. I have never had to deal with this type of
problem before, and I am hoping that I can get good suggestions here
as to how to get rid of the mice.. Thanks,

JD


My experience after one year of owning a new double wide which we use as a
cabin is that the mice will run off with scads of bait and hide it in the
most improbable places. I learned from a pro, right here on this NG that
traps are a more efficient solution. Set the traps with the bait towards
the wall (being rectangular this means that the narrow edge with the bait
pad goes against the wall). This is because the mice slink along the wall
using their whiskers as feelers and often blunder into the trap. The bait
that I have used successfully is peanutbutter - it's aromatic. I feel that
the traps are more humane than the sticky paper because death is quick and
not prolonged with great struggling. Our mouse problem is less constant but
since the little buggers are great breeders there will be a nearly endless
supply of them. An outside cat is usually a better mouser because they
aren't spoiled and they remain curious and aware. When I've had outside
cats in the country I've not had much problem with mice getting into the
house.

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

C & E wrote:


My experience after one year of owning a new double wide which we use as a
cabin is that the mice will run off with scads of bait and hide it in the
most improbable places.


HaHaHa! I recently removed a 275 Gal oil tank
in the basement. We Sawzalled the legs off close to the
floor. These were hollow pipes, open at the top.

When removed, there were 4 tidy piles of bait on the floor.
The mice had been dutifully carting the stuff all the way down
from the attached garage, thru the crawl space.

Jim

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

Joseph Meehan wrote:
wrote:

Cats are good, if the cats feel like chasing mice. I once had one
that I had sitting on my lap about three feet from its food bowl and
watched the mouse run down the counter hop into the bowl and take out
a chow and run off with it. It followed the mouse by turning his
head, but did not budge. That mouse ended up in a glue trap and then
in a fish tank as my daughter's pet. She is now a zoo keeper. Other
cats I have had have been much better.

Then there's Towser.

During her 23-year lifespan, Towser caught 23,898 mice at the Glenturrent
Distillery in Scotland (plus a few rats and an occassional rabbit).

Towser is immortalized both by mention in the Guinesss Book of Records and
by a bronze statue of her at the distillery.

Here's a test: If the cat will chase a laser pointer dot, I'd bet she'd be a
good mouser.

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

On Fri, 16 Feb 2007 17:34:03 -0600, Lar wrote:

wrote:
My wife noticed mouse droppings in our basement today (we live in
Cincinnati). I am a little bit puzzled because we don't take food
down to the basement, and we don't have mice on the upper floors of
our 2-story house.

How do you know that? Do you think they will have a parade? For the
most part, I've found that mice don't like sweets, but when I left a
plastic shopping bag with a bag of Hershey's miniatures on the floor
in the dining room a week before Halloween, 2 days before Halloweeen
all the little candies were gone. I thought maybe I had eaten them
and not remembered it. In the following year, I foudn about 5 of the
wrappings in corners of the basement. Still haven't found most of
them.

The only thing I can think of is that maybe the
mice are attracted to water -- sometimes we leave open containers
while washing clothes.

OPen containers of water! I fill my washer from a pipe. :)

I have never had to deal with this type of
problem before, and I am hoping that I can get good suggestions here
as to how to get rid of the mice.. Thanks,

JD

During my slob period, I noticed that mice ate through the bottom of
used microwave popcorn bags. So sometimes I put those blue-green
mouse poison blocks in them and leave them where I think the mouse
might be. I use popcorn with theatre butter. Of course now there is
only one theatre in Baltimore that uses real butter. The rest use
"golden liquid" or some such name.

Well, make sure they are mice droppings. The large outdoor roaches, aka
water bugs, palmetto bugs, tree roach, will have droppings that can be
larger than mouse. They may not be looking for food or water, mice are
one of the few animals that can live their life without actually taking
a drink of water. It/they may just be exploring about the basement
with the food source being something they have stored up themselves.
Mice see poorly and mostly will run along with their whiskers touching
something, like a base board, placing traps along such area or where you
are seeing the dropping should get them easy enough. For bait for the
traps, take your pick on what to use or nothing at all. For mice I don't
use any baits on the traps, though many exterminators I know swear by
wrapping the trigger a couple of times with yarn then two drops of
either vanilla extract or Hershey's chocolate syrup.

Lar

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

On 16 Feb 2007 16:24:57 -0800, "Michael B"
wrote:


Get a blacklight bulb, look around in the basement. You'll be able
to follow their trails.
Right up the wall.

Really? Where can I get a black light bulb? Do I have to go to a
head shop?

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

On Fri, 16 Feb 2007 22:18:56 -0500, mm
wrote:



During my slob period, I noticed that mice ate through the bottom of
used microwave popcorn bags. So sometimes I put those blue-green
mouse poison blocks in them and leave them where I think the mouse
might be. I use popcorn with theatre butter. Of course now there is
only one theatre in Baltimore that uses real butter. The rest use
"golden liquid" or some such name.

A lot of people here think poison leaves dead mice within walls that
smell. Not a problem for me. My house is dry, and I've found a dead
mouse or two not in a wall that is completely dried up with never a
smell.

OTOH, in college a cat died in the basement of the place I lived, and
the basement was so crowded with other people's stuff that no one ever
found the cat afaik. It smelled bad down there for weeks.

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

On Fri, 16 Feb 2007 21:08:36 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Here's a test: If the cat will chase a laser pointer dot, I'd bet she'd be a
good mouser.

What did mice do before there were lasers?

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

Doug Miller wrote:
In article , Lar wrote:

wrote:

My wife noticed mouse droppings in our basement today (we live in
Cincinnati). I am a little bit puzzled because we don't take food
down to the basement, and we don't have mice on the upper floors of
our 2-story house. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the
mice are attracted to water -- sometimes we leave open containers
while washing clothes. I have never had to deal with this type of
problem before, and I am hoping that I can get good suggestions here
as to how to get rid of the mice.. Thanks,


Well, make sure they are mice droppings. The large outdoor roaches, aka
water bugs, palmetto bugs, tree roach, will have droppings that can be
larger than mouse.


Yeah, but those things don't live in Cincinnati...

Sure they do...they can be found in all 50 states. And any that were in
a wall of a home before the Winter hit will migrate inwards toward the
house warmth.

Lar

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

Dan wrote:



I have found a combination of traps & bait can work, though again from what
I understand mice have built up a good immunity to the general over the
counter anticoagulant baits, requiring multiple ingestions to croak. May
want to see if there's an exterminator's supply place that will sell you
something stronger, assuming as has been said this is not a threat to any
kids or pets.


Most of the newer generation of anticoagulants are made to be for
multiple feeding before death. Not so much for mice, but rats are known
to of eaten baits, but not enough for a lethal dose to occur and the
sick rat can learn what food made it sick. If it takes several days for
the effect, it is unable to associate what made it sick, along with more
of a probability that it has taken in a lethal dose of the product.
Buying from a pest supply house is not going to give you stronger toxin,
but the baits they sale are going to be made more for the rodents taste.
The rodents have to eat it if a bait is going to kill it.

Lar

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

As a former exterminator I would recommend using traps with expanded
triggers. or standard triggers setting with cotton soaked in peanut butter
and setting along a wall with the trigger side facing the wall.
I have two wind up traps the have a tunnel through them and you place it
against the wall. As they go through it throws them in a chamber for
drowning in a five gallon pail later or just let them starve to death . If
that sounds cruel wait till they chew a electric cord and burn your house
down. It will hold about 15 mice. They are nice because you can leave them
in the garage basement armed year round and they wont hurt your pets . kids
and leave no poison in the environment. Dead mice do stink when dead
depending on the area.
Do not wash the trap as the smell will attract others as a safe haven. FYI
Mice can enter through a 1/4 " hole
most likely a gas pipe or along the sill plate
wrote in message
ups.com...
My wife noticed mouse droppings in our basement today (we live in
Cincinnati). I am a little bit puzzled because we don't take food
down to the basement, and we don't have mice on the upper floors of
our 2-story house. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the
mice are attracted to water -- sometimes we leave open containers
while washing clothes. I have never had to deal with this type of
problem before, and I am hoping that I can get good suggestions here
as to how to get rid of the mice.. Thanks,

JD

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

How about when your car starts running poorly and the critters have filled
up the air box with corn or chewed up the main wiring harness on your car.
"Speedy Jim" wrote in message
. net...
C & E wrote:


My experience after one year of owning a new double wide which we use as
a cabin is that the mice will run off with scads of bait and hide it in
the most improbable places.


HaHaHa! I recently removed a 275 Gal oil tank
in the basement. We Sawzalled the legs off close to the
floor. These were hollow pipes, open at the top.

When removed, there were 4 tidy piles of bait on the floor.
The mice had been dutifully carting the stuff all the way down
from the attached garage, thru the crawl space.

Jim

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

On Sat, 17 Feb 2007 03:04:36 GMT, Speedy Jim wrote:

C & E wrote:


My experience after one year of owning a new double wide which we use as a
cabin is that the mice will run off with scads of bait and hide it in the
most improbable places.


HaHaHa! I recently removed a 275 Gal oil tank
in the basement. We Sawzalled the legs off close to the
floor. These were hollow pipes, open at the top.

When removed, there were 4 tidy piles of bait on the floor.
The mice had been dutifully carting the stuff all the way down
from the attached garage, thru the crawl space.

Does this mean that they didn't die from it? How long does it take
for this stuff to kill a mouse, and do they carry it back to their
nest before or after they eat it?

Jim

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

mm wrote:
On Sat, 17 Feb 2007 03:04:36 GMT, Speedy Jim wrote:


C & E wrote:



My experience after one year of owning a new double wide which we use as a
cabin is that the mice will run off with scads of bait and hide it in the
most improbable places.


HaHaHa! I recently removed a 275 Gal oil tank
in the basement. We Sawzalled the legs off close to the
floor. These were hollow pipes, open at the top.

When removed, there were 4 tidy piles of bait on the floor.
The mice had been dutifully carting the stuff all the way down

from the attached garage, thru the crawl space.

Does this mean that they didn't die from it? How long does it take
for this stuff to kill a mouse, and do they carry it back to their
nest before or after they eat it?


Jim


Most cause death 4-5 days after consumption. The D-con type pellets are
easily carried away, with the bait blocks and meal baits they tend to
eat it where they find it.

Lar

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

had my engine cleaned one time and the mechanic found LIVE mice living
in there.
they chewed up the head gaskets for bedding.
hence why my engine needed cleaning.


"Speedy Jim" wrote in message
. net...
|C & E wrote:
|
|
| My experience after one year of owning a new double wide which we
use as a
| cabin is that the mice will run off with scads of bait and hide it
in the
| most improbable places.
|
|
| HaHaHa! I recently removed a 275 Gal oil tank
| in the basement. We Sawzalled the legs off close to the
| floor. These were hollow pipes, open at the top.
|
| When removed, there were 4 tidy piles of bait on the floor.
| The mice had been dutifully carting the stuff all the way down
| from the attached garage, thru the crawl space.
|
| Jim

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

"Lar" wrote in message
. ..
mm wrote:
On Sat, 17 Feb 2007 03:04:36 GMT, Speedy Jim wrote:


C & E wrote:



My experience after one year of owning a new double wide which we use as
a cabin is that the mice will run off with scads of bait and hide it in
the most improbable places.


HaHaHa! I recently removed a 275 Gal oil tank
in the basement. We Sawzalled the legs off close to the
floor. These were hollow pipes, open at the top.

When removed, there were 4 tidy piles of bait on the floor.
The mice had been dutifully carting the stuff all the way down

from the attached garage, thru the crawl space.

Does this mean that they didn't die from it? How long does it take
for this stuff to kill a mouse, and do they carry it back to their
nest before or after they eat it?


Jim


Most cause death 4-5 days after consumption. The D-con type pellets are
easily carried away, with the bait blocks and meal baits they tend to eat
it where they find it.

Lar

After going thru several large boxes of the stuff I figured that they were
either immune, had a colony of hundreds or decided that this was like canned
peaches which they would save for times when the natural food sources were
covered with snow. After finding the pellets in our bed and on a high shelf
at our cabin I wnt to the traps. Three mice later I didn't have another
infestation for a couple of months, caught two more a couple weeks ago so
we'll see how long that lasts. Traps... **get traps**!!!

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

In article , mm wrote:

Does this mean that they didn't die from it? How long does it take
for this stuff to kill a mouse, and do they carry it back to their
nest before or after they eat it?

How long? Too damn long. That's why you should use spring traps: they kill in
an instant.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

http://www.naturallighting.com/web/shop.php?crn=596

On Feb 16, 10:20 pm, mm wrote:
On 16 Feb 2007 16:24:57 -0800, "Michael B"
wrote:



Get a blacklight bulb, look around in the basement. You'll be able
to follow their trails.
Right up the wall.

Really? Where can I get a black light bulb? Do I have to go to a
head shop?

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

On Feb 17, 1:52�am, Lar wrote:
mm wrote:
On Sat, 17 Feb 2007 03:04:36 GMT, Speedy Jim wrote:

C & E wrote:

My experience after one year of owning a new double wide which we use as a
cabin is that the mice will run off with scads of bait and hide it in the
most improbable places.

* HaHaHa! * *I recently removed a 275 Gal oil tank
in the basement. *We Sawzalled the legs off close to the
floor. *These were hollow pipes, open at the top.

* When removed, there were 4 tidy piles of bait on the floor.
The mice had been dutifully carting the stuff all the way down

from the attached garage, thru the crawl space.

Does this mean that they didn't die from it? *How long does it take
for this stuff to kill a mouse, and do they carry it back to their
nest before or after they eat it?

Jim

Most cause death 4-5 days after consumption. The D-con type pellets are
easily carried away, with the bait blocks and meal baits they tend to
eat it where they find it.

Lar- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

A friends basement STANK he had used poision, he now uses traps.

I have used a live trap, and released them outdoors. nearly all
survived the elderly grey hair ones didnt do so well.

I had stupidly had a 50 pound sack of sunflower seeds in basement for
bird feeding. 10 years later I was still finding seed shells in wall
cavities.

When remodeling kitchen I put cement around all flooir openings like
gas line, the mice use those tiny holes as runways

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

I use Victor Tin Cats, about fifteen bucks each. They are a simple trap
that catches the mice live. It has no springs to set. It is about as big
as a cigar box. Available at any hardware store. They work good, just
check and empty them every couple of days. Smear some peanut butter around
in them, and once there's one mouse in there, the others come to join the
party. It has a simple one way door. Easy to clean, never wear out,
nothing to set.

Steve

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/RTP...le&kw=VIC-M310

A picture of the Victor Tin Cat.

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

Michael B wrote:
Really? Where can I get a black light bulb? Do I have to go to a
head shop?

Any box shop. Ask for a "Dark Bulb," the kind that when you turn it on, dark
comes out.

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

On Sat, 17 Feb 2007 08:39:46 -0500, "C & E"
wrote:


Does this mean that they didn't die from it? How long does it take
for this stuff to kill a mouse, and do they carry it back to their
nest before or after they eat it?

Most cause death 4-5 days after consumption. The D-con type pellets are

So this means it's possible they carry the portable bait to their
nest, but still eat it and die later.

easily carried away, with the bait blocks and meal baits they tend to eat
it where they find it.

Lar

After going thru several large boxes of the stuff I figured that they were
either immune, had a colony of hundreds or decided that this was like canned
peaches which they would save for times when the natural food sources were
covered with snow. After finding the pellets in our bed and on a high shelf

Oooo :(

at our cabin I wnt to the traps. Three mice later I didn't have another
infestation for a couple of months,

I have this too. and this is my big question, the part I don't get.
They tell me mice reproduce quickly, so how come if I kill two or
three, or even if I just straigten up the house, they disappear for
months at a time? Did I scare them away. Are they hiding and eating
food they stockpiled, or getting hungry. I thought they had to eat
every day or two.

For a couple weeks I would hear what were probably footstep in the
ceiling of my kitchen, but that stopped months ago. Did they not have
any babies?

Another time I seemed to have none for 18 months, so was I reinfested
or was I just not paying attention?

How come it SEEMS so easy to get rid of them.

caught two more a couple weeks ago so
we'll see how long that lasts. Traps... **get traps**!!!

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

On Sat, 17 Feb 2007 13:55:41 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

In article , mm wrote:

Does this mean that they didn't die from it? How long does it take
for this stuff to kill a mouse, and do they carry it back to their
nest before or after they eat it?

How long? Too damn long. That's why you should use spring traps: they kill in
an instant.

Not an instant I don't think. At least not all the time. Way back in
Brooklyn 24+ years ago, We had mice for a year out of the 12 I was
there, and one night I was still awake when the snap trap snapped. I
heard him whining for about 6 seconds before he shut up. 6 seconds
isn't that long though. My roommate said traps were cruel and we
should use a cat, but months later it occurred to me that cats really
torment mice before they kill them. If a mousee can feel fear at all,
he must be scared when the cat is holding him and taking him to the
kittens etc.

Even the silence after 6 seconds doesn't mean he was dead yet, because
in the glue traps they struggle for a while and then become still for
a long time. But if I touch the glue trap, they start struggling
again.

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

On Sat, 17 Feb 2007 06:47:52 -0500, "Cabinets Galore"
wrote:

had my engine cleaned one time and the mechanic found LIVE mice living
in there.
they chewed up the head gaskets for bedding.
hence why my engine needed cleaning.

Isn't all but a millimeter or less of the head gasket tightly clamped
between two slabs of steel?

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

In article , mm wrote:
at our cabin I wnt to the traps. Three mice later I didn't have another
infestation for a couple of months,

I have this too. and this is my big question, the part I don't get.
They tell me mice reproduce quickly, so how come if I kill two or
three, or even if I just straigten up the house, they disappear for
months at a time? Did I scare them away. Are they hiding and eating
food they stockpiled, or getting hungry. I thought they had to eat
every day or two.

For a couple weeks I would hear what were probably footstep in the
ceiling of my kitchen, but that stopped months ago. Did they not have
any babies?

Another time I seemed to have none for 18 months, so was I reinfested
or was I just not paying attention?

How come it SEEMS so easy to get rid of them.

Perhaps, because when you find evidence of mice and set
traps or whatever, you're also careful to eliminate
accessible food sources?

I know that when I've had ants in the house, I'm really
careful about food storage, crumbs on the floor etc. for
several months after that.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

mm wrote:
On Sat, 17 Feb 2007 13:55:41 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:


In article , mm wrote:


Does this mean that they didn't die from it? How long does it take
for this stuff to kill a mouse, and do they carry it back to their
nest before or after they eat it?

How long? Too damn long. That's why you should use spring traps: they kill in
an instant.


Not an instant I don't think. At least not all the time. Way back in
Brooklyn 24+ years ago, We had mice for a year out of the 12 I was
there, and one night I was still awake when the snap trap snapped. I
heard him whining for about 6 seconds before he shut up. 6 seconds
isn't that long though. My roommate said traps were cruel and we
should use a cat, but months later it occurred to me that cats really
torment mice before they kill them. If a mousee can feel fear at all,
he must be scared when the cat is holding him and taking him to the
kittens etc.

Even the silence after 6 seconds doesn't mean he was dead yet, because
in the glue traps they struggle for a while and then become still for
a long time. But if I touch the glue trap, they start struggling
again.
I have a handful of customers that have the "Rat-Zapper" Impressed me
enough to want to sell them myself, but they are pricey to begin with so
don't think they would be worth what I would have to charge to be
profitable to handle.

Lar

Getting Rid of Mice in Basement
 

mm wrote:




I have this too. and this is my big question, the part I don't get.
They tell me mice reproduce quickly, so how come if I kill two or
three, or even if I just straigten up the house, they disappear for
months at a time? Did I scare them away. Are they hiding and eating
food they stockpiled, or getting hungry. I thought they had to eat
every day or two.

Under perfect conditions, a female may breed 45-60 days from being born.
Gestation is around 20 days, a litter of a healthy mouse during peak
breeding age is 10-12 pups. She is ready to breed again 48 hours of
having her litter. So if half the litter is female that will be ready to
breed in 5-6 weeks. By the time first litter came of age to start
breeding themselves mama mouse could of already had another litter and a
third on the way.

Part of the perfect condition would be a moussy(moussie?) world with
no predators. Most people are surprised to the amount of snakes that are
in any given area along with pet cats, ferrel cats, rats, owls, etc. all
feeding on the lower rungs of the food chain. Mice are also territorial.
Amount of available food may determine what populations you will see. If
there is not food to share with the kiddos they will be chased off to
find their own territory. The live catch & then go release elsewhere is
more of a feel good for the human doing the trapping. Chances are the
released mouse has gone through a couple of hard days of fighting for
their lives before dieing.

Lar



For a couple weeks I would hear what were probably footstep in the
ceiling of my kitchen, but that stopped months ago. Did they not have
any babies?

Another time I seemed to have none for 18 months, so was I reinfested
or was I just not paying attention?

How come it SEEMS so easy to get rid of them.


caught two more a couple weeks ago so
we'll see how long that lasts. Traps... **get traps**!!!