mice!

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steveselvage

House Bee
Joined
May 8, 2009
Messages
112
Reaction score
28
Location
Southampton Hampshire
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
14
I noticed a small hole in the plastic sheeting that i used to wrap a stack of supers.
On investigation i found that b****y mice have been living in the bottom two and have eaten big holes in the drawn comb that i was hoping to use next year.
Lucky i found them before they had worked their way further up the stack,
not all bad news though,i found a nest of them complete with nice warm snacks for the ferrets.
 
Been there, done that and i've got the T shirt:)

It is amazing how much damage a couple of the little furry critters can do isn't it
 
If you can save the nest material it is good for bumble bee nesting boxes, something about the smell of mouse urine!!

Mike.
 
I find letting my Jack Russell into the garage a couple of times a week keeps the mice out..
 
We are dealing with a persistent mouse problem in our motor home.

The very cheap traps with a smooth bait plate are now working that I have changed from smoked sausage to peanut butter.

The more expensive traps are working nicely with the smoked sausage.

Little horrors have cost us a new mattress but luckily I found them early enough to avoid serious damage.

I loathe mice.

PH
 
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I am at war with the mice. They have eaten the wiring for the burglar alarm (£lots), they've eaten a bunch of decent tarpaulins, and the little critters have also eaten my ghillie suit that I use for rabbit control.

I have found two traps that work well. The "little nipper" is very effective, but needs very steady hands to set it to a hair trigger. The ""rentokil" traps are very easy to set and seem to kill loads - but cost a bit more. Favourite bait: kit kat.

I've also put down loads of Sorexa in bait boxes for a more long term solution. They're taking it well, so I think it is all over for the local mice....
 
Two moggies=no mice problems.
Although the Tom did well, In one week caught and ate 1 grey squirrel (with the exception of the last three inches of its tail), I wish he had not eaten it in the kitchen though and he could not get through the cat flap for two days.
1 neighbours Koi Carp (16"),
1 neighbours racing pigeon.

I think this moggie is on the hit list

Still, no mice (or squirrels, koi, racing pigeons.........)
 
I have huge rats my barns. I haven't seen them and I don't want to, their droppings are bigger than my dogs!
 
With my barn owl nest monitoring hat on!
The usual rat and mice poisons rely on anticoagulants and are known to inadvertently kill other pets and wildlife even though this is illegal.

If you really need to kill rats and mice please try and use:
Eradibait its a relatively new product which is specifically for mice and rats it is also sold as -Growing Success, Mouse & Rat Kill.
:cheers2:Cheers
 
With my barn owl nest monitoring hat on!
The usual rat and mice poisons rely on anticoagulants and are known to inadvertently kill other pets and wildlife even though this is illegal.

If you really need to kill rats and mice please try and use:
Eradibait its a relatively new product which is specifically for mice and rats it is also sold as -Growing Success, Mouse & Rat Kill.
:cheers2:Cheers

ABSOLUTELY. A freinds dog was killed by rat poison 4 yrs ago. Last year our own fox terrier was killed too. The blood test confirmed poisoning. We asked around all the neighbours, who was putting poison down? No one owned up. The worst thing is we have other dogs and in the back of your mind is will it happen again.

For rats I use the nipper traps they are effective, also an air rifle in the chicken/duck run at dusk. I can get all of them in a 2 week campaign then we get a new infestation after several months rat free. Little nippers good for mice though they tend to learn to keep away from them. Best to try to blitz as many as you can in one go. Then wait a few weeks and do it again.
 
Traps

We bought some cheap traps from bookers that had a smooth trigger plate for the bait and discovered to my horror the mice could get my favorite bait off them WITHOUT triggering the trap.

Changing to peanut butter resulted in a kill count of three. This is not good in the motorhome....

PH
 
ABSOLUTELY. A freinds dog was killed by rat poison 4 yrs ago. Last year our own fox terrier was killed too. The blood test confirmed poisoning. We asked around all the neighbours, who was putting poison down? No one owned up. The worst thing is we have other dogs and in the back of your mind is will it happen again.

For rats I use the nipper traps they are effective, also an air rifle in the chicken/duck run at dusk. I can get all of them in a 2 week campaign then we get a new infestation after several months rat free. Little nippers good for mice though they tend to learn to keep away from them. Best to try to blitz as many as you can in one go. Then wait a few weeks and do it again.

I have used the 'nipper' type on rats in my workshop but to my horror found a half caught rat the following morning. I did manage to put it out of its misery but even a rat deserves a reasonable death.
Luckily we haven't had a problem with vermin around our chickens but guess as we move them each month to a 'clean' area the rats don't have a chance to take hold.
Sorry this reply should maybe have gone under a different heading, so admin please move if you wish?

On a bee note, not much activity from bee hives at present, occasional loo break by a few.
Cheers
 
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