# Rodent problem



## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I just have to vent. I'm very irritated with myself :frusty: . 

First, for my birthday, my one indoor/outdoor cat left me a dead mouse on the doorstep. Next, I saw evidence of a rodent eating the wild bird food that I stored in the garage in its original plastic bag, so I put it in a heavy plastic, tight sealing storage container and forgot about it. Now I have evidence that the dang rodent has been in my house! Well of course :crazy:, cut off one food supply and it/they will go looking for another. This time they went to the side of the house opposite the garage to the cupboard under the bay window where I keep the dry cat food. Most of the food is in 2 heavy plastic, tight sealing containers, but I had a small unopened bag sitting in there. The bag had a hole chewed in it, and I could see a small hole in the floor of the cupboard going down to the crawlspace under my house.:mmph: The cat food is no longer in the bag and I plan to seal that hole as soon as I get the supplies.

I have purchased mouse/rat poisoned bait that I have put in the cupboard, garage and attic, situated so that none of my cats or dogs can get to it. Any other suggestions? I will not use sticky traps as the rodents will just chew off whatever is stuck (learned that the hard way at college, chewed off rat tail on sticky strip :faint2: ). 

I'm just really upset that I didn't think things through to begin with and now I have rodents IN MY HOUSE!!! They are infinitely more icky inside my living area than outside. I mean really, what next? Rats across my bed?! No wait, I have 5 cats and a squirrel chasing dog, one of them aught to get the nasty rodent if it dares shows its whiskers in the main living area. :axe: 

Sorry for the vent, but I've talked myself out of panic at least. :neutral:


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Oh yeah, living out in the sticks we used to go through that all of the time when we lived in our mobile home. On various occasions, we had weasels, chipmunks, mice, voles, moles, squirrels and bats enter our house. Luckily when we built this house, it's tight enough that we don't get them, unless they happen to slip in the basement door from the garage, but that's rare.
We do still get them in our garages, barn, etc. though. 

I'm not at all fond of glue traps and won't use them, but I also don't think the poison method is the way to go either. Rodents have a way of dragging the bait all over the house, then your other pets, children or anyone else is possibly going to be exposed to the toxins. It's also not a nice death for whatever it kills.

My preferred method is either a live trap, or a snap trap loaded with peanut butter that kills them humanely and instantly in most cases.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Snap trap is the best IMO. Rather quick and does the job. May not get them the first or second time...but rest assured it will eventually get them.

Poison wouldn't be my preferred method. I had enough trouble trying to get myself to buy roach poison traps (those things are impossible to get rid of, even after extermination). Stupid dirty people in our apartment complex...


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

JanS said:


> Oh yeah, living out in the sticks we used to go through that all of the time when we lived in our mobile home. On various occasions, we had weasels, chipmunks, mice, voles, moles, squirrels and bats enter our house.


I forgot to put the trim back on my cat door after painting my mobile home and woke up to the sound of a young racoon having dinner at my cats bowl of food.

I also had mice that didn't get killed with a snap trap drag the trap about 10' to the hole they came in through and died hanging through the hole, also found a pile of dead mice under the mobile, after investigating I found the wire to the stove top going through the floor and the mice had been trying to open up the hole for access and bared one of the hot wires and the neutral wire. this is a little dangerous for a mouse trap but it killed more mice than any other trap I've had.

My vote is for snap traps loaded with peanut butter.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

The ancient Greeks used to keep snakes as pets, same as wee keep cats. Seems they are much better at mousing than cats


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I'll try snap traps with peanut butter, I haven't been too comfortable with the thought of the poison around my house. 

Dennis, while I like snakes, they are just not as snuggly and loveable as cats to me. Anyway, the cats are already ensconced in my home and one at least has managed to kill a mouse.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

> The ancient Greeks used to keep snakes as pets, same as wee keep cats.


 Umm.. Dennis, are you really being serious? (I have got to tell my Dad that one!) When my father brought home a Boa constrictor during a school vacation from the High School he taught in; my mother had a fit!! He would really get a chuckle out of this one.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Yeah, I'm serious. If you look at some of their really old paintings and murals, you can see snakes in the house or under the bed.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Under the bed?! I like snakes but honestly do not want them that close to where I'm sleeping. 

Can snakes be housetrained? I wouldn't want to find snake droppings around the house, especially knowing what they'd been eating.


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## wiste (Feb 10, 2006)

> Can snakes be housetrained? I wouldn't want to find snake droppings around the house, especially knowing what they'd been eating.


Snake droppings are low in moisture content so they are easier to clean up after than a dog or a cat.
However, that noise you will hear in the night is the snake clearing the contents of a shelf onto the floor.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Okay, now that I have chills running up and down my spine..... Snakes are my only phobia (even Garter snakes), so I'll take a plethora of mice, rats or bats sleeping in bed with me rather than a snake under my bed.... :shock:

Boy, when the snakes poop out in our shed, it looks like chicken droppings.... Maybe it depends what they eat?


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