in: PG; PG > 2007-08-20;
| # Posted 2007-08-21 06:04:21 | |
| Rosstopher: | as a professional in this field I can tell give you two more straight-forward ways of rodent dispatch. a) keep some dry ice ( available at ice cream places) and a tupperware around. add mouse plus dry ice to the tupperware. CO2 asphyxiation is apparently the most humane way to kill a mouse because it is "painless".
The second method ( possible only for the brave) is a cervical dislocation which involves touching the mouse and getting close enough to the head so as getting bitten is a real possibility and actually quite likely if done without confidence. But I'd be happy to demonstrate proper technique if the problem is recurring. |
| # Posted 2007-08-21 06:15:13 | |
| vmeyer: | I go for the drowning them in a five gallon bucket of water method.
I was just commenting to Roger this evening that I am more bothered that we haven't seen evidence of the rat in the last three weeks, and that disturbs me more than seeing evidence. Because that means it is coming in and out, and more can come in, and I don't know where. Ugh!! I did pick up the sticky traps after stepping in them myself twice on Sunday. |
| # Posted 2007-08-21 08:41:01 | |
| jjcote: | I can attest that leaving a mouse in a metal cookie tin outdoors overnight in subzero weather is not fatal.
My father has a large monkeywrench that, when dropped on the head of a mouse, is. |
| # Posted 2007-08-21 08:53:37 | |
| Kat: | That was pretty entertaining. PG - you should write more about your daily life. I never knew there were so many ways to kill a mouse!
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| # Posted 2007-08-21 10:04:44 | |
| bill_l: | Parallel problem...
My wife left a bag of birdseed on the basement stairs over the winter. I put it into a plastic cat litter container with a lid to avoid mousie temptation, but somehow the lid kept 'popping' off. This spring I opened a storage closet door in the basement and had a bunch of empty seed shells rain down on my head. The curious thing is that there was no mouse shit anywhere to be seen. Well, the empty shells were good enough for me. Return from the hardware store with some traps that supposedly don't need bait.... Yeah right, a yellow piece of plastic that doesn't even look like cheese is going to attract a mouse. Test time: put one trap out as directed (without adding any more bait) and another with natural, organic PB. 6 weeks go by with no results. I've practically forgotten about the traps. Then one morning I'm half asleep, on the way to the laundry room to get some clothes and practically step on a dead mouse still stuck in the trap with the PB. I'd put it up on the door frame where the seed shells were and when the trap sprang, the whole thing fell to the floor. 6 more weeks and several more traps with PB in strategic locations... Then one night during dinner: SNAP! Oooh, another mouse! So I ran downstairs. Sprung trap, on the floor, PB gone, no mouse. I'm certain the b#&*d sprang the trap and then sat back and watched me run down the stairs. Reload. 2 weeks later (this past Friday), wife reported another kill. Still no mouse shit to be found. It's gotta be there somewhere... but at least it's not on the counters. Anyway, I was just starting to think about the sticky traps but it seems likely that the dog will get into them. Then there's the disposal problem. |
| # Posted 2007-08-21 18:24:36 | |
| Suzanne: | Best method I've used (I learned it living in Maine)
Get the following: a 5 gallon bucket. a large old plastic jar (old peanut butter containers work well). some sort of stick or pipe or something. Peanut Butter. Fill the bucket partially with water, put the stick through the plastic jar rotisserie style, balance the stick over the bucket so that the plastic jar can roll (for example, if a mouse jumped on it), put peanut butter on the outside of the plastic jar. Finally, put the contraption somewhere near where the mice are... if need be use a plank on the side to make sure that the mice can get to the jar. The mice leap onto the jar to eat the peanut butter, the jar rolls, they fall into the water and die. sad for the mice... good for your house. In the morning, go outside and dump out the water +dead mice. |
| # Posted 2007-08-21 18:47:44 | |
| Charlie: | Ross is a professional in the field? The professionals I know in the field are Moe and Leggy (our two black kitties). Unfortunately they prefer the al fresco mousies to the indoor variety, and will only whack an indoor mouse if they are really bored. So I use the little wooden traps with peanut butter if I've got a mouse in a drawer or some place cats don't usually go. It works great. I take the trouble to balance the trigger so it will snap easily. These things have enough tolerance that if you just hook it on, sometimes it is too well hooked to release when a tiny tongue is licking up all your peanut butter, and instead waits to release until you pick it up to see why it didn't work. |
| # Posted 2007-08-21 19:48:06 | |
| bill_l: | Best method...
Ahh, a better mouse trap! So the jar is suspended over the water by the rotisserie style stick, with the stick resting on the sides of the bucket. I've been wondering, with the lack of mouse poop, if the mice are full-time indoor residents, or if they're making exploratory forays into the house. Maybe a trap or two outside the house? Mouse inconsistency: we have 4 or 5 shelves of food in the back room. A mix of canned stuff, pasta, trailmix, cereal, etc. So far none of it has been touched. I thought the trailmix would have been a high priority target on the mousie menu. |
| # Posted 2007-08-21 22:01:39 | |
| Joe: | try putting the peanut butter on the underside of the metal trip thingy. always works for me and I still have the peanut butter to use again. I also find that the sticky traps do not work in winter as the mice stride right across without leaving any trace. and I try to avoid live traps, because I like killing them and leaving them lie around for a few days so that there relatives can see their eventual fate. another reason is you never know what you will catch in there. ask me about the baby skunk I had to remove from a live trap while mom and dad attempted to do the same. |
| # Posted 2007-08-22 20:38:43 | |
| Wyatt: | I'm with Kat. Thanks for the entertaining read :) |
| # Posted 2007-08-22 22:03:36 | |
| Charlie: | Here are some interesting alternatives for you. I think the "rat zapper" sounds like the kind of thing you might find handy. Or maybe the "tin cat" which seems to combine some of the techniques already discussed. |
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