Blocking mice?

[Bm101]

Hi . This is my first posting . Regarding JWC 911 comments we also live in a very old farmhouse , surrounded by orchards . We use Lentek PR40 plug in Pest devices and have no mice in the house View attachment 102784

Hello and welcome. Not disparaging in any sense, do you have pets, dogs? Just wondering if the audio range would bother other animals. Looks like a good solution.
Also, pssst ... Got any cider for sale?

On the wire wool solution, for those situations where it is viable, copper mesh might be better. You can ram it into small crevices etc and if exposed is weatherproof.

We have two maine coons, (cat breed, the Mrs' cats, not mine) famously good hunters. The male is just a small dog that sleeps all day and follows me down to the shed. Top lad, cr*p cat. The female is an obsessed killer. 2 or 3 mice a day at times. (We have woods behind the house.) Also sadly, shrews. (Rivers also). But also brings live prey into the house in a misguided effort to turn dog cat into killer cat. She drops them in front of him and he'll do stuff like sit on them. Really. Useless Pri*k. In all honesty, never had so many rodents in the house since we had cats. I found a pisse* off looking starling in the toilet once. I'm not even kidding.

He was alright in the end. Dried him out with a hair dryer.
Few wood pigeons the cat caught got stripped of feathers and met with a more grisly end at the end of my strictly legal air rifle I bought off my mate Alan when I was 15 for twenty notes and some skateboard wheels. Tasted fine although not hung.
Edited for last comment: Personally I like the cats but I'd far rather have the birds back in the garden.

 

[artie]

I find a 12 bore equally effective against both mice and rats!

I have in the past dispatched a few rats with a 12 bore but it's overkill. As for mice I would never have dreamed of it.

I have seen .22 shot shells which can be fired from a rifle inside a barn but have not used them other than to fire at a cardboard box to assess potential damage.

 

[JAW911]

We have dogs and they happily sit/sleep in one of the rooms with one of the electronic deterrent devices. I bought them on Amazon and will see if there is a current link. It has a random frequency which apparently is vital as otherwise they get used to it and ignore it.

 

[CornishWoodworker]

I catch and release at least a mile from house

 

[Rorschach]

I catch and release at least a mile from house

It would be more humane to kill them in a trap. Releasing far from their territory almost certainly causes a slow stressful death.

 

[Phill05]

I remember when I were a lad and worked on a farm the boss showed me how to get rid of the mice in the feed room he would slowly move a bag of feed and quick as a flash go under with his other hand and make a grab for what was there and come out squeezing them dead and say that's how you do it lad, I did it for a while then one day took my ferret and shut him in he did far better than any of us until boss went in one day and come running out screaming with ferret hanging on tight to his thumb guess who got a telling off (not politely)

 

[Creekhash]

We do not have any pets , so not sure if the audio device's affect any other animals in the house .

 

[Krome10]

It would be more humane to kill them in a trap. Releasing far from their territory almost certainly causes a slow stressful death.

How come? Do they try to get home and fail? Or?

We once considered humane traps but then figured that if you catch a mother and take it away the babies will die. I've no idea what the life cycle of mice is, for how long babies are reliant on their mothers, etc. So that might be complete b0ll0cks! In the end, the wire wool in the hole fixed it for us so I never bothered or needed to look into it further...

 

[Rorschach]

How come? Do they try to get home and fail? Or?

We once considered humane traps but then figured that if you catch a mother and take it away the babies will die. I've no idea what the life cycle of mice is, for how long babies are reliant on their mothers, etc. So that might be complete b0ll0cks! In the end, the wire wool in the hole fixed it for us so I never bothered or needed to look into it further...

If not taken far enough away from "home" they just come back so the problem isn't solved. If you take them far enough away that they can't come back the stress caused by being in an unknown location basically causes them to die a much nastier death. This of course doesn't even include the stress from being trapped in the first place, possibly for hours before being found, transported and released.

Prevention is better than cure in my opinion, stop them getting into the house in the first place is always the best policy, but once they are in, a humane killing trap is the best solution.

 

[Krome10]

Thanks for explaining.

Prevention is better than cure in my opinion, stop them getting into the house in the first place is always the best policy

Totally agree. It worked for us and we found the entry point quite quickly. I guess for others it might be more difficult to find, but then isn't that half the "fun"?

 

[JAW911]

The devices I have are no longer available on Amazon but I did have a look and there are many listed there if you search there for ‘electronic pest deterrent’. Important to find one with random/variable frequency.

 

[llangatwgnedd]

Stainless Steel Scouring Pads Pushed in to the gaps.

 

[ossieosborne]

You still can't beat "Little Nippers" baited with peanut butter or sultanas/raisins

 

[AJS2018]

If using live traps, drop the mice off along way away, we had mice which I released a half mile off, came straight back, caught and released them 3 miles away, problem solved.

How did you know it was the same mouse? They all look the same to me...

 

[artie]

How did you know it was the same mouse? They all look the same to me...

It's like people on the train, you get to recognise then after a while

 

[stuckinthemud]

Funny thing, some mice like getting into traps, I supported some environment students who were surveying a woodland embankment. They trapped/marked/released mice over a few weeks and found certain mice kept coming back, warm safe room with tasty snacks supplied....

 

[Droogs]

I keep reading this thread as block of mince and it piques my interest everytime, until i realise not meat involved per say

 

[mikej460]

Hello and welcome. Not disparaging in any sense, do you have pets, dogs? Just wondering if the audio range would bother other animals. Looks like a good solution.
Also, pssst ... Got any cider for sale?

On the wire wool solution, for those situations where it is viable, copper mesh might be better. You can ram it into small crevices etc and if exposed is weatherproof.

We have two maine coons, (cat breed, the Mrs' cats, not mine) famously good hunters. The male is just a small dog that sleeps all day and follows me down to the shed. Top lad, cr*p cat. The female is an obsessed killer. 2 or 3 mice a day at times. (We have woods behind the house.) Also sadly, shrews. (Rivers also). But also brings live prey into the house in a misguided effort to turn dog cat into killer cat. She drops them in front of him and he'll do stuff like sit on them. Really. Useless Pri*k. In all honesty, never had so many rodents in the house since we had cats. I found a pisse* off looking starling in the toilet once. I'm not even kidding.
View attachment 102789
He was alright in the end. Dried him out with a hair dryer.
Few wood pigeons the cat caught got stripped of feathers and met with a more grisly end at the end of my strictly legal air rifle I bought off my mate Alan when I was 15 for twenty notes and some skateboard wheels. Tasted fine although not hung.
Edited for last comment: Personally I like the cats but I'd far rather have the birds back in the garden.

Well I'm with you there only we have 8 of 'em! All Maine Coons but only two are allowed out, one like your female a born killer of anything with a pulse (the record is nine field voles in a day), the other brings in live stuff but not only mice, we've had a squirrel, magpie, various amphibians and a water rail! The others have a large run and bring in worms, frogs, shrews and the odd careless sparrow that ventures into their lair.

 

[Nick.]

If you take them far enough away that they can't come back the stress caused by being in an unknown location basically causes them to die a much nastier death. This of course doesn't even include the stress from being trapped in the first place, possibly for hours before being found, transported and released.

Really? - I hope not. The ones I caught keep me updated on micebook - they loved their initial biscuits and peanut butter - and are now enjoying their new adventures in Leicester - several have since taken up new hobbies.
Seriously I didn't want to kill them - giving them at least a chance was fair I think. If they end up as fox/hawk food then that's down to them, but yup what a story for them to tell the grandkids.. if they do make it

 

[Terrytpot]

My father's caravan interior was pretty much destroyed by mice who managed to get in via the sink drain hose we think. Mathias has had frequent visits from them from his previous rural existence and did quite a decent job of showing what they can get up to..