Mouse problem (or human problem, to be more accurate)

[Guest guest]

My gf's family has a mouse problem. Her parents have set up some of

those vile mouse traps that snap the animal's neck. I was thinking

of buying one of those " no kill " traps online and putting in their

basement, then hopefully taking the live mice to the woods nearby. I

was just wondering if anyone has ever used these traps, and if so,

were they effective? (i.e. do they actually not harm the animal?) I

found one for sale on ebay, and it says they don't even need bait.. I

can't imagine why a mouse would wander into a trap without bait. Any

input would be greatly appreciated. heres the auction I found on

ebay...

 

Dave

 

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?

ViewItem & item=2385252764 & category=20651

[Guest guest]

I would but bird seed in the trap and some old cotton pill bottle

stuffing or something like it. They will be in there overnight and

some food and something to keep them warm is very humane. Night air

or basements can be come very cold and a metal box can be even

colder. Check your local shelter and see if the have ones you can

rent (ours has some to get ferral cats but not mice, but bigger

cities do) and also check a larger size hardware center.

 

 

 

 

, " dave " <dave4sale>

wrote:

> My gf's family has a mouse problem. Her parents have set up some

of

> those vile mouse traps that snap the animal's neck. I was thinking

> of buying one of those " no kill " traps online and putting in their

> basement, then hopefully taking the live mice to the woods nearby.

I

> was just wondering if anyone has ever used these traps, and if so,

> were they effective? (i.e. do they actually not harm the animal?)

I

> found one for sale on ebay, and it says they don't even need bait..

I

> can't imagine why a mouse would wander into a trap without bait.

Any

> input would be greatly appreciated. heres the auction I found on

> ebay...

>

> Dave

>

>

> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?

> ViewItem & item=2385252764 & category=20651

[Guest guest]

That is so nice of you to try to take care of the

" problem " in a kind/gentle way. I love mice

but I know they can be terribly destructive to

host in your home.

I have cats, so they don't like to take up residence

here inside my house. But I have heard those

mouse traps do work. Our neighbor had different

ones than the one you showed in that picture.

We had rat trouble when our mango tree was fruiting.

Auntie Junie (our neighbor) liked to catch them only

to drown them in a bucket of water! Ach...used to give

me shudders. I like your idea of letting them go out in

the wild. I know she used food in the traps. Like you

I cannot imagine why a mouse or rat would want to

enter a trap without some motivation. Good luck!

 

~ PT ~

 

What is the use of a house if you haven't got

a tolerable planet to put it on?

~ Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~~~~~~>

, " dave " <dave4sale>

wrote:

> My gf's family has a mouse problem. Her parents have set up some

of

> those vile mouse traps that snap the animal's neck. I was thinking

> of buying one of those " no kill " traps online and putting in their

> basement, then hopefully taking the live mice to the woods nearby.

[Guest guest]

Around here we use a little plastic humane trap for the mice. We put

a little food and water in there. The mouse pushes the little

huinged door open to get to it, and since it only opens one way (to

the inside), they are trapped inside. We also take the trapped mouse

and release it into the woods, unharmed. These traps work very

well. We have used them many times with great results.

 

However, we have had problems finding one to catch the rats we have

around here. Most of the humane traps - I think the last one we

tried was a Have a Heart - was too small for the rats to fit in.

These are big rats! (We live in the woods, so many of them are the

big wood rats - almost as big as our cats!) However, the next size

up - made for bunnies - is too big. The little thing that they are

supposed to step on doesn't trigger the door like it should, probably

because they don't weigh quite enough. All I know is that we have

never been able to catch even one rat. We have many of them hanging

around here, destroying lots of our stuff, including eating the wires

under the hood of vehicles. My last repair job on the wiring cost me

$90 at the repair shop, plus towing. The only way that these rats

have been stopped so far is when one of the dogs gets them, sadly

enough. Hopefully one day we will find a humane trap that works for

this size of rat. But, the mouse trap works very well.

 

Good luck!

 

Virgil

 

In , " ~ PT ~ "

<patchouli_troll> wrote:

> That is so nice of you to try to take care of the

> " problem " in a kind/gentle way. I love mice

> but I know they can be terribly destructive to

> host in your home.

> I have cats, so they don't like to take up residence

> here inside my house. But I have heard those

> mouse traps do work. Our neighbor had different

> ones than the one you showed in that picture.

> We had rat trouble when our mango tree was fruiting.

> Auntie Junie (our neighbor) liked to catch them only

> to drown them in a bucket of water! Ach...used to give

> me shudders. I like your idea of letting them go out in

> the wild. I know she used food in the traps. Like you

> I cannot imagine why a mouse or rat would want to

> enter a trap without some motivation. Good luck!

>

> ~ PT ~

>

> What is the use of a house if you haven't got

> a tolerable planet to put it on?

> ~ Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

> ~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~~~~~~>

> , " dave " <dave4sale>

> wrote:

> > My gf's family has a mouse problem. Her parents have set up some

> of

> > those vile mouse traps that snap the animal's neck. I was

thinking

> > of buying one of those " no kill " traps online and putting in

their

> > basement, then hopefully taking the live mice to the woods nearby.

[Guest guest]

thanks to everyone for the input. Unfortunately I'm not even sure if

my gf's parents will let us put a trap in their house... Her mom said

something like having a live mouse trapped in the house would

be " gross " . Why a dead mouse in the house isn't gross I have NO

idea. But that's meathead logic for you. I think I will check out

the hardware stores. I'm really strapped for cash, but just seeing

those traps makes me so sad I have to do something...

 

, " ~ PT ~ "

<patchouli_troll> wrote:

> That is so nice of you to try to take care of the

> " problem " in a kind/gentle way. I love mice

> but I know they can be terribly destructive to

> host in your home.

> I have cats, so they don't like to take up residence

> here inside my house. But I have heard those

> mouse traps do work. Our neighbor had different

> ones than the one you showed in that picture.

> We had rat trouble when our mango tree was fruiting.

> Auntie Junie (our neighbor) liked to catch them only

> to drown them in a bucket of water! Ach...used to give

> me shudders. I like your idea of letting them go out in

> the wild. I know she used food in the traps. Like you

> I cannot imagine why a mouse or rat would want to

> enter a trap without some motivation. Good luck!

>

> ~ PT ~

[Guest guest]

I don't know if this has already been suggested or

not, so I'll throw it out there anyway. I got this

idea from " experts " on rodent control at the Desert

Museum in Tucson. Rats don't like spicy food. In

fact they just can't eat anything that's been spiked

with red pepper flakes. So the Desert Museum started

spiking all of their bird food (which had been

attracting masses of rodents into the aviary) and the

problem largely disappeared. Birds apparently don't

have the receptors on their tongues that " fit " the

pepper molecules and hence don't taste/mind it.

 

Perhaps you could get a few bottles of tobasco and

liberally spread it over critical areas (like wiring)

in your house. It is as humane as a trap in that it

doesn't kill the animals, only leaves them with a

burning mouth for a few minutes (and alas...no beer to

wash it down!).

 

Ziya

 

 

 

 

 

Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam

 

[Guest guest]

I can tell you that this works for squirrels. They kept tearing up the

bird feeders and chomping down on the seed so I'd have to refill almost

daily. The next bag of seed I picked up had red pepper flakes in it.

The birds don't care, but the squirrels hate it. Seems like it's worth

a try.

 

Laura

 

On Mar 13, 2004, at 10:18 AM, Dr. D wrote:

 

> I don't know if this has already been suggested or

> not, so I'll throw it out there anyway.  I got this

> idea from " experts " on rodent control at the Desert

> Museum in Tucson.  Rats don't like spicy food.  In

> fact they just can't eat anything that's been spiked

> with red pepper flakes.  So the Desert Museum started

> spiking all of their bird food (which had been

> attracting masses of rodents into the aviary) and the

> problem largely disappeared.  Birds apparently don't

> have the receptors on their tongues that " fit " the

> pepper molecules and hence don't taste/mind it.

>

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

yep. Rodents squirrels capsicum and birds don't mind, they actually don't know.

squirrels (and maybe rats too) learn like we do... they hard way.

 

 

morgaana [morgaana]

Saturday, March 13, 2004 8:09 AM

 

Re: Re: Mouse problem (or human problem,

to be more accurate)

 

 

I can tell you that this works for squirrels. They kept tearing up the

bird feeders and chomping down on the seed so I'd have to refill almost

daily. The next bag of seed I picked up had red pepper flakes in it.

The birds don't care, but the squirrels hate it. Seems like it's worth

a try.

 

Laura

 

On Mar 13, 2004, at 10:18 AM, Dr. D wrote:

 

> I don't know if this has already been suggested or

> not, so I'll throw it out there anyway.  I got this

> idea from " experts " on rodent control at the Desert

> Museum in Tucson.  Rats don't like spicy food.  In

> fact they just can't eat anything that's been spiked

> with red pepper flakes.  So the Desert Museum started

> spiking all of their bird food (which had been

> attracting masses of rodents into the aviary) and the

> problem largely disappeared.  Birds apparently don't

> have the receptors on their tongues that " fit " the

> pepper molecules and hence don't taste/mind it.

>