Mouse infestation

[spindrift]

50 minutes ago, rickeieio said:

Tom, (aka spindrift),

turn on a radio inside the coach.  Mice have great hearing to hear predators, like cats and snakes slithering.  They hate noise that masks that sound.  The mice will leave.  Unless you play country western.. These are Texas mice.

Credit to Randy Agee, RandyA on the HDT side for this tip.

With my luck, I'd play country and they'd invite me to a square dance so you make an excellent point!

[bruce t]

They carry diseases. Why would you catch and release? 

[lappir]

6 hours ago, bruce t said:

They carry diseases. Why would you catch and release? 

All living creatures have the ability to carry diseases and sometimes spread them.   Is your logic to kill all? What about their ability to fight them off? It may someday assist you. 

If a creature is large enough to cause you harm and is stalking you for food, I agree it's a you verses them and hopefully you will survive. If you are encroaching on their domain and are killing them for pleasure or just because you don't like them then I must disagree with who is the actual bad one. 

 

Rod

[spindrift]

I really, really wish we could stay on topic and not muck up the thread.  😉🙂

[bigjim]

4 hours ago, spindrift said:

I really, really wish we could stay on topic and not muck up the thread.  😉🙂

You do know you are tilting at windmills?  Ooops there it goes again.😁

[bruce t]

Simple answer. Mice carry diseases. Mice get into your RV. Name me another animal that can enter your RV and leave it's dropping.

FWIW I love all animals and avoid stepping on ants. Just yesterday I fished a large lizard from our pool. Dried if off and sat it in the sun to warm up. But if I see a mouse in our house it has to go. 

[lappir]

So to drag it more off topic, but in my mind still on topic, I found some "Pine Cone's" today on top of my truck batteries. They cannot fall there from the tree, so some thing carried them up. I put a Drier sheet in that spot in hopes it will discourage the "Squirrels" from coming back. Next step will be to turn my feline loose. She spent many hours under my truck before I decided to bring her inside instead of potentially causing her damage or an early end of life before I left my last location. She might also discourage any mice, (back on topic). 

 

Rod

[spindrift]

Haha...we're seriously debating whether or not we should add a mouser or two to our family.

[Kirk W]

3 hours ago, lappir said:

They cannot fall there from the tree, so some thing carried them up.

The other possible critter is a pack rat(also known as wood rat). In my experience they are the worst and can often do serious damage. We had one nest over the fuel tank of our class A and eat through the wire harness for the fuel pump.  A method that I have used in battery wells and generator spaces is:

Quote

• Ammonia – Another odor that rats can’t tolerate is the pungent smell of ammonia. By mixing two cups of ammonia, one-quarter of water, and two teaspoons of detergent in a bowl, you can keep rats away from the home.

6 Ways to Scare Rats Away

[spindrift]

Kirk, does that work for mice as well?

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, spindrift said:

.we're seriously debating whether or not we should add a mouser or two to our family.

Will it be taught to catch & release?   🤣

[rickeieio]

Tom, you met Miss Kitty, our shop cat.  I've watched her bring live mice in from outside to present as a present.  I also watched her let one get away in said shop.  If a cat's not hungry, they can be detrimental to the problem.  That said, we don't have the mouse issue we had pre-cat.

Better than a cat is a snake.  They don't play with their food, nor hunt/kill for sport.

[spindrift]

Rick...please, no snakes.  I'll buy a new RV before that happens. 

[RV_]

We kept boas at one time and can tell you they can eat some mice. Because they are cold blooded, the only disease they can transmit in normal circumstances is Salmonella, and that only if you handle wild snakes. Ratshack (the boa) got bitten once by a buck hamster and we switched to Gerbils after that. The kids got to keep the Mother and father Gerbils and understood the babies at a certain age went to Ratshack. THat was when they were 5-13 years old. We also hunted, fished and cleaned our own animals and Ice locker hung the deer in quarters for three days at ~ 37 degrees F. The kids helped butcher the deer and learned to humanely knock them out, behead and clean them themselves. Again the Buck and Doe were their pets. They also helped clean /butcher frogs, gators, and squirrel.

Some very active snakes in warm climates can eat a hundred or more rodents a year. But not on demand. Thus the walk the plank 5 gallon water trap.

When trapping wild rodents be aware they can transmit plague when they die. The fleas jump off and find a warm blooded host to live. The fleas get the Plague from the rodent's blood and if they bite you you may get plague. PLague is prevalent in Colorado and other states. When visiting a new area ask about plague and stay away from dead animals.

Plague in the United States

Plague was first introduced into the United States in 1900, by rat–infested steamships that had sailed from affected areas, mostly from Asia. Epidemics occurred in port cities. The last urban plague epidemic in the United States occurred in Los Angeles from 1924 through 1925. Plague then spread from urban rats to rural rodent species, and became entrenched in many areas of the western United States. Since that time, plague has occurred as scattered cases in rural areas. Most human cases in the United States occur in two regions:

• Northern New Mexico, northern Arizona, and southern Colorado
• California, southern Oregon, and far western Nevada

https://www.cdc.gov/plague/maps/index.html

Safe travels!

[chiefneon]

Howdy!

We had rodent (mice/rats) problems before. Tried most traps catch and release, water bucket, sticky, spring etc… What I do know that works are the ones linked below. I purchased them from Tractor Supply. Loaded them with peanut butter and cough any and all every time we encounter problems with them.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tomcat-rat-snap-trap-pack-of-1?cm_vc=-10005

“Happy Trails”

 Chiefneon 

[bigjim]

Since my memory sucks a lot I do not remember why I got a couple of large packages of Bay leaves  and scattered them at the back of my cabinetts and closets and have never had a problem with mice, rats, or roaches since I bought this 1997 TT in late 1999 or early 2000 in Florida.  I did have a few of the ? palmetto bugs that sure look like giant roaches to me.  I know that is when I did the Bay leaves so I assume that was part or most of the reason I did it.   I have had an issue with ants a few times. Also have had almost yearly in one location a minor issue with stink bugs.  And once I had an issue with either a chipmonk or ground squirrel starting to store acorns where my power line stores but I discovered it pretty early and reblocked better where the power cord comes in.   I have had some spiders and a few either ladybugs or japanese beatles.   I don't guarantee the bay leaves work but it sure seems like it.  I got them pretty cheap back then in the hispanic spice section and I used a good  amount but have yet to replenish them.  To tell the truth I am pretty amazed I never have had a problem as I a prone to spillage and it has been just over 20 years.

[bruce t]

FWIW our daughter has mice and rats in her freezer along side the ice cream. She has a pet snake. 

If you like mice them I suggest you Google the mouse plague in Australia. See how they chew through netting over babies. Leave dropping in your pantry. Chew holes in your cereal box. They have devoured whole hay stacks. Catch and release? Your joking.

 

[lappir]

Tossed some cat litter urine balls under the truck this morning. Maybe as good as "Ammonia". 

Hope I don't regret. 

 

Rod

[noteven]

My grand dotters market excess barn cat kittens over in our university cities with ads stating "good mousing genetics". 50 bucks each. 

 

[bigjim]

Bruce until I reread a couple of times I thought you meant they were getting into a closed freezer.  I have seen film or video of problems Down Under th has had with them in the past and also with rabbits.  Isn't that why they built the "rabbit proof fence ??"   I did my little part to help in Oct 68 at Yarraman Station by taking out 5 ore 6. The were used for food so no waste. The guy I was with was a little  nervous letting me shoot because the cost of ammo even back then until I made my first  shot then never missed and all were one shot clean kills. I grew up a squirrel hunter for subsistance with a single shot or a "sling" shot

[spindrift]

14 minutes ago, noteven said:

My grand dotters market excess barn cat kittens over in our university cities with ads stating "good mousing genetics". 50 bucks each. 

 

I'm warming up to the idea.

[bruce t]

I have no issues with mice as a living thing. But when it comes to health you have to decide between mice and human welfare, then I choose human welfare every time.

bigjim the rabbit proof fence is still there and still maintained. There are in fact more dog fences than there are rabbit fences. Just as an aside, getting off topic, The state of Queensland is more than twice the size of Texas. Rabbits are illegal. $50000.00 fine if you have a pet rabbit. There are no rabbit proof fences along the 1000+ k of the southern border. The big issue is with the illiterate rabbits that ignore the signs on the border!!

Back to the OP. As far as I'm concerned there is no tolerance for mice when it comes to human health.

 

[Ray,IN]

On 9/12/2021 at 5:08 PM, rickeieio said:

Tom, you met Miss Kitty, our shop cat.  I've watched her bring live mice in from outside to present as a present.  I also watched her let one get away in said shop.  If a cat's not hungry, they can be detrimental to the problem.  That said, we don't have the mouse issue we had pre-cat.

Better than a cat is a snake.  They don't play with their food, nor hunt/kill for sport.

A black snake resides in my RV garage, and is longer each time it's spotted (which usually spikes my heat rate). I also keep TomCat mouse bait in the sub-floor of my MH. I occasionally find a dead mouse in the garage with blood in its mouth, so evidently the black snake doesn't eat dead mice or is immune to Warfarin.

RV/Derek spoke of the Plague, which is only one disease transmitted by rodents, and perhaps the most serious.

Diseases directly and indirectly transmitted by rodents. https://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html

Edited September 14, 2021 by Ray,IN

[lappir]

On 9/12/2021 at 11:51 AM, lappir said:

So to drag it more off topic, but in my mind still on topic, I found some "Pine Cone's" today on top of my truck batteries. They cannot fall there from the tree, so some thing carried them up. I put a Drier sheet in that spot in hopes it will discourage the "Squirrels" from coming back. Next step will be to turn my feline loose. She spent many hours under my truck before I decided to bring her inside instead of potentially causing her damage or an early end of life before I left my last location. She might also discourage any mice, (back on topic). 

 

Rod

The above story got worse yesterday. I started a new topic post in the HDT section if you are interested in it. 

Rod

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, lappir said:

I started a new topic post in the HDT section if you are interested in it. 

May I ask why over in HDT? Is there something unique to the mouse problem in an HDT?