Battling mouse problems in the country.

[HonorAndHonesty]

So We live in the country, next to a farm field and by a horse barn. We don't tend to get mice in the house, but they get into the attic or walls occasionally and die and stink. We have one right now and it stinks of mouse death, just barely, in certain rooms in the house.

Years ago, we had a new house, in a new subdivision that was a recent cornfield and we had mice in the attic there as well. I am so tired of battling mice over the years its not funny.

I am ready to move to an established subdivision as it seems there are a lot less mice problems there, and I am tired of the country life.

The neighbors had barn cats over the years that would run around our property and it seemed that we still had mice, but then I also had a barn cats that would get in our garage if we left the door open unguarded, and then they would pee in our garage if they got locked in there at night. I also had one get into our van and got locked in overnight when i was loading recycling into it one night.

There are no more barn cats next door because they were all fixed (which is good!), so they have all died of old age, getting hit by cars, eaten by animals ect..

I really don't want a cat, because even if it was an outside "barn" cat, I would feel responsible to take it to the vet and such. We don't need anymore bills.

So do you have mice troubles in the suburbs?

 

[John_K]

We have had mouse problems, and subdivision was built in 1960.

Cats in the neighborhood seem to have helped, but new garage door weatherstripping has been a big help.

 

[PimTac]

You really don’t know??

Mice and rats are everywhere. So are lots of other varmints. City, suburbs, farms, the boonies. You cannot escape them.

 

[Silk]

Cats are much better at killing mice than humans. When we had a mice problem in a large farm house we lived in, we went and got a cat from the SPCA, the mice were sorted in a day...he caught 12 and one rat, end of mice problem, they stayed away from the house.

 

[HonorAndHonesty]

Originally Posted By: PimTac
You really don’t know??

Mice and rats are everywhere. So are lots of other varmints. City, suburbs, farms, the boonies. You cannot escape them.



Well... I did live in big city growing up and we never had mouse issues there. I think its because the city was very proactive with their rodent control in the alleys.

Family over the years that have lived in established subdivisions have had very little mouse issues.

I think a huge part of are issue is the farm field, and the neighbor do not take car of their property. Its an unkempt field on both sides of us. Plus there is horse feed in the barn that the mice can easily get to.

I have coworkers who also live in the country, but in the woods, and they have very little mice issues compared to us.

 

[jhellwig]

Bait bait bait and more bait. Every building shed nook and cranny. Fill the attic and crawl spaces with bait. Use different kinds also. If one kind doesn’t get them another will. The ones that do make it into the house most likely die out in the open where you can get rid of them.

 

[HonorAndHonesty]

Originally Posted By: jhellwig
Bait bait bait and more bait. Every building shed nook and cranny. Fill the attic and crawl spaces with bait. Use different kinds also. If one kind doesn’t get them another will. The ones that do make it into the house most likely die out in the open where you can get rid of them.


I have, I just get tired of it. Plus then you get the dead mouse smell if they die in an inaccessible spot. I even put outdoor bait stations in.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted By: 5AcresAndAFool
Originally Posted By: PimTac
You really don’t know??

Mice and rats are everywhere. So are lots of other varmints. City, suburbs, farms, the boonies. You cannot escape them.



Well... I did live in big city growing up and we never had mouse issues there. I think its because the city was very proactive with their rodent control in the alleys.

Family over the years that have lived in established subdivisions have had very little mouse issues.

I think a huge part of are issue is the farm field, and the neighbor do not take car of their property. Its an unkempt field on both sides of us. Plus there is horse feed in the barn that the mice can easily get to.

I have coworkers who also live in the country, but in the woods, and they have very little mice issues compared to us.




I grew up in a port city so seeing rats was commonplace. Some were bigger than the cats. Mice, possum, raccoons all were around usually attracted by garbage, pet food left out etc. It does depend on location.

Imagine leaving a ball game in downtown Seattle and seeing rats scurrying along with the druggies and hoodlums. Not a nice place to be.

First, he has to check and make sure nothing is out to attract them. That goes for the neighbors as well.

 

[SZR48207]

Get chickens. They seem to have an instinctual appetite for mice.

 

[HonorAndHonesty]

Quote:
First, he has to check and make sure nothing is out to attract them. That goes for the neighbors as well.

This is half the battle. They are not going to do that...

 

[edwardh1]

do you have pet food stored in or near the house

 

[Kira]

Not one mention of those electronic sound emitter things which make the mice run away. I don't know if they work.

What are these "cat" things everyone is talking about?

 

[vwmaniaman]

We have a pair of Hawks in our neighborhood. They love mice.

 

[Fitter30]

I have lost so much to mice they even got into a vacuum cleaner ate the plastic parts. Don't have them in the house but in the crawl space and garage. Put out rat poison out in both places and change types every other time. They still get into things but not as often. Live on 60 acres and would have a cat but allergic to them.

 

[Thefilterguy]

Google the 5 gallon mouse trap. Basically, it’s a 5 gallon bucket, half filled with water. Make a little ramp from the ground to the lip of the bucket. Put a dowel rod or coathanger through an empty water bottle. Put the rod or wire through holes in the top of the bucket. Coat the bottle with peanut butter. Your rodents will climb the ramp, do the tightrope to the bottle, it will spin and they will be collected in the water. It works amazingly well and won’t kill your dog.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted By: 5AcresAndAFool
I am ready to move to an established subdivision as it seems there are a lot less mice problems there, and I am tired of the country life.



LOL. Shangri-La not turning out quite as promised by some others???? There are no guarantees about anywhere you live. You might move to the suburbs and get the neighbor(s) from Hades that makes your mouse problem pale in comparison. Just treat it like dandelions - stay on top of it, but don't expect perfection.

I, too, live in the country and put up with the good and the bad. Just last Sunday, during mid-day, a coyote managed to get past our fortress and into our chicken pen. 12 prized chickens, roosters, and guinea fowl dead. All with names given by my wife. Imagine her grief.

I'm glad that you have made everyone aware of the "other side" of the so called blissful country life.

Good luck. Even good sanitation and sealing up all the cracks only goes so far. Rodents are relentless.

 

[Donald]

Assume there will always be mice outside. You just need to prevent them from getting in especially in the fall when they are looking for a winter home.

Seal up anyway they can get in house or attached garage. Snap traps along the perimeter walls or similar places. Mice do not run across a room they go around the perimeter. A cat will help but only get a cat if you like cats, not to catch mice. I am on the fence about ultrasonic repellers. If they do work they do not go through walls or go very far.

Mice in cars can be nasty also. $1400 in damage to Crosstrek after parking by cruise line pier in NYC for a week.

 

[HonorAndHonesty]

I put place packs in the knee wall storage areas, in the garage and basement and so far none have been touched.

My wife and daughter cant smell the mouse smell, nor my mother (my mom couldn't smell it even if it was strong).

So it was either my extremely sensitive sense of smell and/or the smell of the hog barn a mile away crept over here which has happened before a few times.

There was no breeze those days so maybe that's it.

I still have a mouse battle here so I will remain vigilant.

We haven't had any in the house or basement this year so the sealing work I have done seems to have worked.

 

[ridgerunner]

I live in the boonies on 58 acres. U have to be relentless with bait and traps. I dont use much bait due to having a dog so I run lots of traps

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: Kira
Not one mention of those electronic sound emitter things which make the mice run away. I don't know if they work.

What are these "cat" things everyone is talking about?


They don't.