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Mouse Wars

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Ron D View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ron D Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 July 2021 at 10:56pm
Last time I was in southern California (Marines) there was always a ton of these little ground rat-squirrels (a.k.a rodents) running around, and I mean herds of them. I don't remember their real name. But at the rate they chewed our gear if you weren't watching and left it parked too long, they'd chew through that expensive car bag in a heartbeat and be pooping it all over before you figured out what you were stepping in.

Cats are cheap and plentiful......maybe import some from south of the border like everyone else seems to be doing? You might even get government assistance money to export them to the interior U.S where they can do good work! Good luck!


Edited by Ron D - 21 July 2021 at 11:21pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Michaeltru Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 July 2021 at 1:59am
Fiesta cats?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cpt logger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 July 2021 at 11:22am
I am unsure about those bags. If they keep out water they also keep moisture in. Not something I think is good for our rust issues. Even here in the high desert, if you store steel in a sealed plastic bag with a touch of moisture, it will rust.

I have no idea where in California there is a lack of mice, but IME, they are fairly widespread, or at least they were in the 60s, 70s, & 80s. They are in the mountains, both coastal & The Sierra Nevada range, on the beach (at least in Northern California) & in the desert. IDK about LA, but SF & Sacramento have them.

I spent a fair amount of my childhood in California. I also spent a fair amount of my early adulthood there in my sojourning years. I have friends & relatives spread through out the west many in California & Oregon. They all have mice.

Also IME, they will chew through anything that is not metal or concrete. They chew through those blue plastic barrels if feed is stored in them. Yes, the plastic does slow them down, but if they want in they will get in.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cal.bar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 July 2021 at 11:29am
Originally posted by cpt logger cpt logger wrote:

I am unsure about those bags. If they keep out water they also keep moisture in. Not something I think is good for our rust issues. Even here in the high desert, if you store steel in a sealed plastic bag with a touch of moisture, it will rust.

I have no idea where in California there is a lack of mice, but IME, they are fairly widespread, or at least they were in the 60s, 70s, & 80s. They are in the mountains, both coastal & The Sierra Nevada range, on the beach (at least in Northern California) & in the desert. IDK about LA, but SF & Sacramento have them.

I spent a fair amount of my childhood in California. I also spent a fair amount of my early adulthood there in my sojourning years. I have friends & relatives spread through out the west many in California & Oregon. They all have mice.

Also IME, they will chew through anything that is not metal or concrete. They chew through those blue plastic barrels if feed is stored in them. Yes, the plastic does slow them down, but if they want in they will get in.

Yes, of course we DO actually have a few mice from time to time out here in the So Cal. burbs, but NOTHING like what is described in the initial posts.  My jeep has been in my garage for about half a decade and not a single mouse has ever munched on it.  So.... no, rats and mice really aren't a problem in the burbs.  But I am still curiouis about the bags. They would seem to isolate the entire vehicle from the mice/rats  AND with a few bags of dissicent would have a MUCH lower humidity level than most of the midwest and south on ANY given day.  Has no one tried them to winterize?  What do you have to do to protect a jeep stored say in a barn or uninsulated building from the brutal winters most of the country faces?



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Stev View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stev Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Aug. 2022 at 8:36am

Update: I put 2 bars of Irish Spring around the radiator felt and one on the windshield under the trap.  Took this picture yesterday afternoon 8/1/2022.  Irish Spring does not work.




Edited by Stev - 02 Aug. 2022 at 9:01am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jeff J Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Aug. 2022 at 8:54am
A good cat will keep the mice population low. Personally, I throw a lot of poison into the corners of my buildings. Around here the snakes follow the mice so keeping the mice population low helps keep me from sliding under a vehicle and getting nose to nose with a moccasin, copperhead or rattlesnake. I had a snake on top of my lawnmower battery one day when I went to jump start it. I don’t bother the rat and king snakes on the property because they help too. 

Mothballs seem to deter some varmints. 


Edited by Jeff J - 02 Aug. 2022 at 8:56am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oilleaker1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Aug. 2022 at 12:19pm
My latest try for mouse control is from a You Tube video. The guy buys the cheap food storage plastic containers about 4 x 6 x 3 inches. Clear snap on lid with a black plastic base. Open a access hole in one end. 4 spoonfuls of honey flavored cornbread mix mixed with 4 spoonfuls of baking soda. He swears in two weeks time, no more rat/mouse sign. I have 3 of them placed in my sheds and yes, I have evidence they have been eating. Supposedly they eat, leave, get a drink and the soda expands and kills them. Predators (like kitty cats) can eat them with no ill effect since it's not poison. So far, I think it's working. 

I hate the actual traps due to the horrid smell you get if you don't check the traps everyday. it costs next to nothing and it's worth a try. Wink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jeff J Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Aug. 2022 at 1:55pm
I forget where I encountered the idea but the bucket trick works well for the more rodent friendly among us. Make a ramp to the top of the bucket with a bridge that rotates to the other side. A free spinning piece of pipe on a heavy wire or rod works. Bait the rotating part over the middle of the bucket. Mouse goes for the bait, the bridge rotates and dumps it into the bucket. Bucket can be filled with something to drown or poison the mouse or empty to relocate. A smooth metal buck works best but anything they can’t climb works.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bruce W Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Aug. 2022 at 2:18pm
  My grandpa used to mix flour or cornmeal with Portland Cement and leave it out. The mouse eats the mixture then drinks water. The cement becomes concrete in their stomach etc and kills them. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oilleaker1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Aug. 2022 at 2:33pm
Bruce, that must be where the term "Hard Core" comes from eh?

Edited by Oilleaker1 - 02 Aug. 2022 at 3:03pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Joe Friday Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Aug. 2022 at 3:23pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WeeWilly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Aug. 2022 at 5:56pm
   Where can the tan horse hair welting be purchased to replace what the mice have stolen.  I have seen the gray but I need the tan.

   Jim
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stev Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Aug. 2022 at 4:56pm
WeeWilly,

The horse air/ felt is from Quarter Ton and Military.  I put new felt /horse hair on last July 2021.  The mice really do a great job fluffing it up for their nests.  Got to give that to them. I am going to add more hardware cloth.  The wire mesh seems to work pretty will in the areas I have used it.  Currently the mice are destroying the side welting where there is no hardware cloth.

Stev

 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WeeWilly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Aug. 2022 at 8:49pm
  Thanks Steve, I will order some. The mice removed the top piece and part of one side and I cant remember where I bought it to replace it to match. 

   Jim
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bill2A Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Aug. 2022 at 9:34pm
An alert cat or two should reduce mouse problems.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stev Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Aug. 2022 at 8:38am
Trying something new - sprayed down the horse hair / felt with WD40.  Checked it two days later no new mouse activity - so far. 

Edit update - September 12th.  1 Month later and no sign of mouse activity.  Hosed the hair down again with more WD40 so far so good.


Edited by Stev - 12 Sep. 2022 at 4:02pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oldpappy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Sep. 2022 at 1:28pm
I have had a bucket trap down in the barn for a while. I occasionally find a drowned mouse in the bucket but not very often.

I tried the cornmeal mixed with baking soda Oilleaker mentioned above. The mice love the stuff and I think it must be killing them. When I first put the boxes out a couple of weeks ago there was a lot of evidence of them getting into it. Since then I have found half a dozen dead mice and activity around the boxes greatly diminished. I don't think drinking water is what activates it, I think it is the reaction of the soda with the stomach acid, just like mixing soda and vinegar.

I may also try the corn meal cement mixture Bruce mentioned if I find any more damage from the little boogers. 


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote oldscot3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Sep. 2022 at 1:43pm
Knock on wood... so far, I have not had mice problems with Chigger. I have much sympathy for y'all that do because I used to have a big mouse problem out at the ranch.

I have an old feral cat that hangs around my garage and I think maybe the smell of her keep them away. She doesn't really hunt anymore that I can tell because my wife feeds her now, but at least lives nearly fulltime close to where the jeep is parked.

More importantly, I have several gray foxes that live nearby. I see them frequently and sometimes it's when they are coming out of my storeroom/garage area. I admire their hunting motivation as creatures beholding to no man. You can bet I'm happy to have them around as often as they wish.
James 4:6 God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
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