Mice

[dclewis]

I seem to be sticken this year by a plague of mice. No problem in the hives as they all have their guards fitted, but in the bee shed and the house they are a real nightmare. They seem to be set on doing the most damage for least food reward possible. They have attacked the bellows of the smoker now full of holes and useless, any plastic box or container is not safe from attack and now they are gamely attacking poly mini nucs and poly nucs that are stored in the shed, all of which have had any remnats of feed/honey washed out of them. Are others suffering in the same way this year from large numbers of mice and are they doing likewise where you are, ie going for non-food elements, particularly plastics and poly? Other than trapping (have caught over 2 dozen so far and going strong) and poison (which I do not want to use for obvious reasons where other animals may be affected) anyone got any bright ideas to put a stop to these attacks?

 

[george]

Sounds grim , and no real suggestions other than trapping and baiting .
As long as the bait is in an approved bait box it shouldnt affect non target species .
I would steer you away from any of the non lethal / humane deterrants, high pitched squealers etc. They dont work .
G

 

[alanf]

Have used bait boxes in the past, and carefully placed plant saucers (under shelves etc) without visible problems. A garden centre owner I was talking to said he had continual problems with rats and mice - they have pet foods as well as lots of damage sensitive plants. He said the best strategy he found was to rotate several different baits, giving each a couple of months until they got used to it.

 

[TOBY-3652]

A garden centre owner I was talking to said he had continual problems with rats and mice - they have pet foods as well as lots of damage sensitive plants. He said the best strategy he found was to rotate several different baits, giving each a couple of months until they got used to it. //// they wont get use to it if you give them plenty.. they die

 

[enrico]

We have been plagued with them ths year too. I bought 16 good old fashioned traps for £4. Loaded them with a sultana each squished tightly onto the business end and caught seven or eight every night in and around sheds, bees, outhouses, greenhouses. Also put owl box's out and heard tawny owls hooting last night. Now down to catching maybe two a week so perserverence is the key! Bit gruesome but the only way.

 

[alanf]

they wont get use to it if you give them plenty.. they die

Even if you could wipe out the local population, it doesn't last long. Areas on the edge of farmland, industrial and canal side soon get re-infested. And they won't all take a lethal dose of bait, rats are pretty intelligent when it comes to survival. They won't all gorge on a new food source, some will die but others will get sick, then leave the bait alone. That's why he says he changes baits periodically, a changed brand will be taken more readily than any amount of the same type which they will learn to ignore.

 

[Fahey]

Years ago I kept racing pigeons on an allotment in Manchester and when I took it over it was running with mice. I tried everything, traps, bait, sonic. Then one day I asked my corn merchant what she could recommend.....neosorexa she gave me. Never say a mouse after that.

 

[Chris Luck]

Prevention is the best course of action so the answer is to keep things that matter in mouse / rat proof areas or containers. Providing you have space this isn't too difficult - old freezers can be useful.

If you are in rural France you will always have loads of house mice, wood mice and rats in very close proximity and they will be indoors given the chance. Plastics, paper, cardboard, rock wool and the like are all readily taken for making a cosy nest.

Chris

 

[peteinwilts]

not in the hives, but I live in a bungalow and have started catching mice in the loft.

'normal' years we catch house mice at this time of year. This year we have been catching quite a number of harvest mice.
This is the first time we have caught them.... a sign of the state of the year maybe?

 

[NickB]

Agree strongly with Chris Luck.
Keep everything wrapped up in (preferably tin) boxes or glass jars with air-tight lids.
I recently had to deal with a rat infestation of a Georgian premises where I volunteer.
I made patches from old galvanised roof-flashing and nailed a patch over every hole bigger than 1/2" diameter in floorboards,skirting boards etc.Unsightly perhaps but effective. 25 patches later,and some poison bait in the roof-space and we have finally beaten them.
We still see them running about in front of the windows at first-floor level,though...

 

[peteinwilts]

Prevention is the best course of action so the answer is to keep things that matter in mouse / rat proof areas or containers. Providing you have space this isn't too difficult - old freezers can be useful.

If you are in rural France you will always have loads of house mice, wood mice and rats in very close proximity and they will be indoors given the chance. Plastics, paper, cardboard, rock wool and the like are all readily taken for making a cosy nest.

Chris

we use old chest freezers for everything edible around the farm. Ask nicely at the tip, and they will give them for free. (I have also had a small number from Freecycle)

with a hope of not hijacking the thread, I plan to keep unused wax in the freezer. does anyone put a bag of rice, or another absorbant substance in the a freezer to prevent mold? (necessary?)

 

[Nic Rhodes]

Battled with mice last year in a shed (they won). I have replaced the shed with a (bee) garage now . The problem is the bees hate mice urine on stuff, so I had to chuck some stuff out. What about a cat? I actively encouraged my neighbours cat into the shed and that gave me my best results!

 

[oliver90owner]

does anyone put a bag of rice, or another absorbant substance in the a freezer to prevent mold?

Some form of ventilation/drainage would be better. If it is damp in there it cannot easily get out of a freezer and may cause mould. Ventilation is the long term solution to the problem and has no on-going running costs! My bulk store of foundation (is that what you are referring to?) is kept in 'really useful' boxes or laid on a shelf in the original plastic bags. Mould has never been a problem. MY unused recovered wax is kept in 1 5 or 20 litre plastic buckets and left outside - covered in water or with lids prevents any nasty wax eating bugs.

 

[Cazza]

21 mice caught in the garage since October. Have never caught more than 4-5 in Autumn before. They are after my pears and apples. It's war.

Cazza

 

[hedgehog66]

earlier in Nov i plugged in an ultrasonic mouse deterent in the garage where i keep dog food, foundation, fruit veg, the works basically.

last year i had a few visitors and duely saw them off with good old fashioned little nipper traps and chocolate as bait.
so far this year no sign of any visitors.
i was very sceptical about the plug in deterrants but a neighbour swears by them so i thought i would give it a try ( 3 for about £10 )

i will keep an eye on the situation, but very pleased so far

 

[astabada]

Get a cat! This summer our Cocco caught 3 mice in a week. That's as far as we know, it could easily be ten times more!

 

[stephenpug]

I use to have a problem with rats BUT now i have a fox living under my shed where the rats were they had their first cubs this year but we have not seen any rats or mice since their arrival so i feed them a little left overs every now and again to keep them there as i would rather have a fox than a rat

 

[Chris Luck]

I use to have a problem with rats BUT now i have a fox living under my shed where the rats were they had their first cubs this year but we have not seen any rats or mice since their arrival so i feed them a little left overs every now and again to keep them there as i would rather have a fox than a rat

Yeah, rock on.



Chris

 

[Luminos]

earlier in Nov i plugged in an ultrasonic mouse deterent in the garage where i keep dog food, foundation, fruit veg, the works basically.

last year i had a few visitors and duely saw them off with good old fashioned little nipper traps and chocolate as bait.
so far this year no sign of any visitors.
i was very sceptical about the plug in deterrants but a neighbour swears by them so i thought i would give it a try ( 3 for about £10 )

i will keep an eye on the situation, but very pleased so far

Shocking waste of chocolate, HH66

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

i feed them a little left overs every now and again to keep them there as i would rather have a fox than a rat

And here we see a classic case of fluffy bunny syndrome in full infuriating operation
They're both vermin !!.