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Humane Mouse Traps for Clever Mice!

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    #32
    cletus
    Registered Users Posts: 7,874 ✭✭✭cletus


    At what point do you know you don't have re-visits


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    #33
    Calypso Realm
    Registered Users Posts: 416 ✭✭Calypso Realm


    cletus wrote: »
    At what point do you know you don't have re-visits

    Given the original entry point in our case ie door it's highly unlikely. We last had cats until about three years ago and even in the intervening time we've never had any mice at all, ever.

    I have to say though I am surprised at the numbers we've caught though!


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    #34
    cheif kaiser
    Registered Users Posts: 632 ✭✭✭cheif kaiser


    Calypso Realm wrote: »
    Given the original entry point in our case ie door it's highly unlikely. We last had cats until about three years ago and even in the intervening time we've never had any mice at all, ever.

    I have to say though I am surprised at the numbers we've caught though!

    You mentioned previously that you caught one bigger than the others. Can you recall if you have caught a big one more than once?


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    #35
    Calypso Realm
    Registered Users Posts: 416 ✭✭Calypso Realm


    cheif kaiser wrote: »
    You mentioned previously that you caught one bigger than the others. Can you recall if you have caught a big one more than once?

    Yes, I wondered if there were two litters as well.

    Difficult to say about size as most bolted out of the trap so quickly and ran off into the undergrowth! One or two were released at night as well. And, while I've little experience of observing mice at close range :eek:, none appeared to be very small. Of course I never saw the last one as well, so could well have been a bigger one. Hard to tell all around.

    I'm keeping the traps baited anyway, just in case. To date I've gone through about half the peanut butter!


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    #36
    cheif kaiser
    Registered Users Posts: 632 ✭✭✭cheif kaiser


    Calypso Realm wrote: »
    Yes, I wondered if there were two litters as well.

    Difficult to say about size as most bolted out of the trap so quickly and ran off into the undergrowth! One or two were released at night as well. And, while I've little experience of observing mice at close range :eek:, none appeared to be very small. Of course I never saw the last one as well, so could well have been a bigger one. Hard to tell all around.

    I'm keeping the traps baited anyway, just in case. To date I've gone through about half the peanut butter!

    What I was actually wondering was, had the Mother returned. The Mother can sometimes find her way back to her litter and is she did, she would have left a scent trail for the others to find their way back to Mama.

    I would take to releasing them a little further from home, just in case.


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    #37
    skooterblue2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,816 ✭✭✭skooterblue2


    We have a humane rat trap at home. We allow the jack russell to cast judgement afterwards. If they can escape the jack russell in the center of the lawn then they deserve to live. doesnt happen though.


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    #38
    cheif kaiser
    Registered Users Posts: 632 ✭✭✭cheif kaiser


    skooterblue2 wrote: »
    We have a humane rat trap at home. We allow the jack russell to cast judgement afterwards. If they can escape the jack russell in the center of the lawn then they deserve to live. doesnt happen though.

    And when your dog catches leptospirosis from the rats, I hope you have enough cash to pay for it’s treatment or probably more accurate, it’s euthanasia.


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    #39
    cletus
    Registered Users Posts: 7,874 ✭✭✭cletus


    chief Kaiser wrote:
    Don't be so cynical. None of the mice I caught came back.
    cheif kaiser wrote: »
    What I was actually wondering was, had the Mother returned. The Mother can sometimes find her way back to her litter and is she did, she would have left a scent trail for the others to find their way back to Mama.

    I would take to releasing them a little further from home, just in case.

    ...


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    #40
    TopTec
    Registered Users Posts: 1,167 ✭✭✭TopTec


    As I said before the two infestations I experienced involved 16 and 13 individuals..... I released them about 400 yards away up the lane. The mice varied in sizes and it was always the biggest one I caught last. The trail cam I had set up revealed there were sometimes 3 hunting around the kitchen for scraps at night.

    Perseverence is the key... took me several weeks to clear them out.

    You are being very brave for someone who is not keen on the little critters.

    TT


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    #41
    skooterblue2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,816 ✭✭✭skooterblue2


    cheif kaiser wrote: »
    And when your dog catches leptospirosis from the rats, I hope you have enough cash to pay for it’s treatment or probably more accurate, it’s euthanasia.

    He has been judging them for the last 6 years and hasnt caught it yet. He just snaps their necks. He doesnt play with them.


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    #42
    decky1
    Registered Users Posts: 975 ✭✭✭decky1


    some people use a milk bottle at a slight angle with food in it , ok going in but can never get out. them leave it out for the milk man and he'll take it away , problem solved.


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    #43
    decky1
    Registered Users Posts: 975 ✭✭✭decky1


    reniwren wrote: »
    Surely letting them out just outside they just come back in, and releasing them too far from where they know is a death sentence anyway.

    'too far away from where they know ' ah stop will you:rolleyes:


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    #44
    cheif kaiser
    Registered Users Posts: 632 ✭✭✭cheif kaiser


    skooterblue2 wrote: »
    He has been judging them for the last 6 years and hasnt caught it yet. He just snaps their necks. He doesnt play with them.

    Been lucky so far so.

    My dog caught it and it almost killed him and indeed it would have killed him had I listened to the stupid Vet who said he just had a stomach upset. I diagnosed it myself from his symptoms and insisted she treat him for it. Tests later proved he was in a bad way and was lucky to survive. He lived for another 2 years but the damage to his liver meant he died sooner than he should have.


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    #45
    Calypso Realm
    Registered Users Posts: 416 ✭✭Calypso Realm


    I'm sorry to hear about your dog CK but kudos to you for being savvy enough to challenge the vet's diagnosis. I, too have had quite a few run-ins with vets over the years (I know I've a slight advantage given my background) but all the same, it can be quite a challenge at times, so I understand. Some of mine would have died had I gone along with some of the diagnoses they came up with. I actually begun to despair at some of the vets I came across in my time!

    Anyway, at this point I can safely say, we're at last mouse free! Despite hearing a few odd noises now and again, I haven't caught any more since I last updated and it appears none have come back either! :)

    I'm very impressed with those little traps I used. They really do work well.

    Thanks again for all the help everyone! All your tips contributed to our success.


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    #46
    Calypso Realm
    Registered Users Posts: 416 ✭✭Calypso Realm


    Been 6 weeks now and most definitely mouse-free! :)

    Needless to say no 'returners' either, despite being released at the bottom of the garden!


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    #47
    TopTec
    Registered Users Posts: 1,167 ✭✭✭TopTec


    Well done you. Not easy to deal with an infestation like this. I'm fine with mice but show me a spider and I am gone!
    TT


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    #48
    Calypso Realm
    Registered Users Posts: 416 ✭✭Calypso Realm


    Well, nine months in and not a single sign of any mice, returners or otherwise!

    Now-I had wondered at the time what these mice were living on as I'd taken every effort to clear up any crumbs etc in the kitchen,at night. Made sure all edibles boxed away etc.

    Anyway, during first lockdown I decided to clear out one of the spare rooms, which in recent years we tend use as a junk room (( know!) Amongst other long-forgotten items I came across some boxes of choc liqueurs I'd brought back from one of my trips to Dublin. Of course they'd riifled their way through them all!! Shredded remnants of the boxes everywhere! Might also explain why they were relatively easy to catch towards the end.....! Of course I found other items, mainly clothing which had been nibbled as well...one of my favourite T-shirts for instance!

    In addition on reflection, I've now come to the conclusion their mode of initial entry wasn't through the door (I'd initially thought so bec cleaner hadn't locked it properly and it was ajar) but down to a box which I'd brought in from the shed! While I'd always known we had them in there (shed) I hadn't expected one (or two!) to be in the box when I ferried it inside , that time! :) Of course we went away after that and it all took off from there....


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