More mice than you can count

I recently talked to a friend that had the same problem, but with rather large rats. This idea could work just as well if you scale it down to a mouse sized contraption.

Take a five gallon pail and drill two small holes about 3-4 inches from the top and directly opposite each other. take a straightened coat hanger and thread it through an empty soda can and then through the holes so that the can is suspended in the center of the pail opening. Secure the wires by bending them so that they won’t pull through. Put peanut butter on the top and bottom of the can and top it with your horse grain. Fill the bottom half of the bucket with water, or if it is cold use RV winterizing fluid (non toxic to the house/barn cat). The rodents will try hard to reach for the snack on the can and may actually touch it, but soon find them selves in a trap that they can’t get out of. When my friend first emptied the trap she thought there were 3 or 4 in it, there were actually twenty. She loves it and can’t thank the guy who told her about it enough.

Good Luck,

Erika

Personally, I like the natural predator-prey relationships like that between a semi-feral cat and mice. I run across a half eaten mouse from time to time, but generally my mouse population is nil. We got 2 feral kittens from a neighbor, handled them enough to catch them for shots and neutering and let them do their thing. I simply make sure they have fresh water and I feed them lightly in the winter. We had another feral cat move in last winter….I hav-a-hearted her, fixed her and set her back out to work. She is still with us but not approachable at all.

This method has worked for me and I don’t have to dispose of little bodies (except on occasion). The cats seem fine all winter long in the barn…I even see them out in the woods hunting in the snow.

I tried to make my house cat a barn cat once….it didn’t work. She got pissed and ran away from home…haven’t seen her since. I think they have to be one or the other and start out that way to be happy.

Jennifer.

Cats & rodents…My cat is indoor/outdoor and he does a good job on mice/rats/squirrels/rabbits, etc. The only problem I find, other than the carcus’ is worms. I have to worm him every 4 months for tapeworms. Last year he had other varieties. If you can’t handle your cat for shots, vet appts. how will you be able to get a pill down?
I did have more cats previously, but they have passed away. Right now, I have the indoor/outdoor guy plus one indoor sissy cat. She is afraid of her own shadow, but I haven’t seen any mice in the house in a few years. She must be doing her job.

I went out and got a six year old human who is absolutely nuts about any and all types of traps. Does a wicked good job. He’ll “Have-a-Heart”, or “Have-no-Heart”, either way you want!!!!!

You should have seen the #4 he set up over my grain bin, complete with 8 penny nails driven through a board, and horse shoes for weights. Never caught the monster rodent that was chewing 3″ holes in the bin, but it went away sore, and never came back!!!

It may not be the best solution for some of you, and it is really pretty expensive, but it certainly adds excitement and humor to solving a rodent problem.

Carl

Carl