Who is a Mouse/Vole expert?

[mattspinniken]

I can't decide what I think is best I have my slighly less hardy trees inside of a deep window well. I keep having mice problems in there around snow melt girdling etc. This year I have the trees super protected but I am still nervous. Anyway my big question is.... should I have the poison bait in the window well or no? My thought is that the bait may attract them and bring them to the area. Basically should I have bait near what I am trying to protect?

 

[coh]

My recommendation is to never use poison baits outside. There is too much risk of collateral damage. Mice/voles eat the stuff, then stumble around outside (they don't die quickly) where they are eaten by other predators. Birds of prey like hawks and owls are commonly poisoned this way. The risk is especially great with the new "super poisons" like dcon, though there was talk about banning those...so I don't know if you can even get them anymore.

The other thing about bait - the critters sometimes carry it off and store it as opposed to eating it (at least immediately). I did use the stuff in my barn the first year or two, before I read about the effects on predators. I found that the mice and voles dug into a bunch of my pots and buried the stuff, doing quite a bit of damage to the roots in the process.

Best bet is to keep the varmints out with screening. I also use standard snap mouse traps, baited with peanut butter. I don't know if that attracts more into the area (doesn't seem to), but at least it increases the chances that any that wander into my storage areas get caught before they chew on trees. Any trees that I leave on the floor or outside, I'll wrap the trunks with that plastic trunk guard. That saves the trunks but does leave the branches vulnerable.

Good luck!

 

[mattspinniken]

Thanks Coh, I have a few boxes that are double wrapped mesh, I was looking for a some additional protection. No such thing as overkill...right? . I think your right though about the enviromental impact, this is definitely something to think about. Just another reason why I should build a shelter for the winter storage.

 

[eferguson1974]

I will give you the advice I have given others with the same problem. A mix of dry cement and peanut butter killed a bunch of mice for my aunt in north Ga. Her basement was truly overrun by mice. The peanut butter is a perfect bait, they love it. But the cement makes them thirsty. When they drink, it hardens and they die. They had dogs and a cat that were not harmed if they did eat any. And its not toxic so it is safe for wildlife too. I used the mix and a bb gun to get did of a bunch of big rats in Fl with great results. At night I smeared the mix into the privacy fence and left a window open and a light outside. Every TV comercial I'd quietly have a look. When I saw one I shot it but the mix helped too. We went from a plague to rarely seeing a rat in a week or two. They even quit eating the citrus from the trees. Maybe others who have tried it will chime in too. I hope that helps, and wont hurt anything to try.

 

[Gene Deci]

One thing I did once Matt was put some bird seed in the bottom of a five gallon pail and put a stick from the ground to the top so the critters could climb up. Once they are inside they can't get out. I was surprised at how many I caught, both voles and mice, which made me think I was attracting them. So I didn't do it again. But there was no damage to my trees.

 

[JudyB]

I will give you the advice I have given others with the same problem. A mix of dry cement and peanut butter killed a bunch of mice for my aunt in north Ga. Her basement was truly overrun by mice. The peanut butter is a perfect bait, they love it. But the cement makes them thirsty. When they drink, it hardens and they die. They had dogs and a cat that were not harmed if they did eat any. And its not toxic so it is safe for wildlife too. I used the mix and a bb gun to get did of a bunch of big rats in Fl with great results. At night I smeared the mix into the privacy fence and left a window open and a light outside. Every TV comercial I'd quietly have a look. When I saw one I shot it but the mix helped too. We went from a plague to rarely seeing a rat in a week or two. They even quit eating the citrus from the trees. Maybe others who have tried it will chime in too. I hope that helps, and wont hurt anything to try.

How do you keep the cement from hardening with the wet peanut butter mixed in?

 

[_#1_]

If you're the Macgyver type and know what you're doing, electrify them mesh! That is if the mesh is conductible, I don't know. Battery powered zap of course.

Nice trees in the bg btw!

 

[Smoke]

I'm no expert but these are pretty good...

Stewed Cane Rat
Skin and eviscerate the rat and split it lengthwise. Fry until brown in a mixture of butter and peanut oil. Cover with water, add tomatoes or tomato purée, hot red peppers, and salt. Simmer the rat until tender and serve with rice.

Stuffed Dormice / Ancient Rome
Prepare a stuffing of dormouse meat or pork, pepper, pine nuts, broth, asafoetida, and some garum (substitute anchovy paste.) Stuff the mice and sew them up. Bake them in an oven on a tile.

Roasted Field Mice (Raton de campo asado) / Mexico
Skin and eviscerate field mice. Skewer them and roast over an open fire or coals. These are probably great as hors d'oeuvres with margaritas or "salty dogs."

Farley Mowat also gives this innovative arctic explorer's recipe for souris à la crème.

Mice in Cream (Souris à la crème)
Skin, gut and wash some fat mice without removing their heads. Cover them in a pot with ethyl alcohol and marinate 2 hours. Cut a piece of salt pork or sowbelly into small dice and cook it slowly to extract the fat. Drain the mice, dredge them thoroughly in a mixture of flour, pepper, and salt, and fry slowly in the rendered fat for about 5 minutes. Add a cup of alcohol and 6 to 8 cloves, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Prepare a cream sauce, transfer the sautéed mice to it, and warm them in it for about 10 minutes before serving.

 

[sorce]

I'm with baitless.

Poison free.

Besides....

Judging by that box....

You...my friend....ARE an expert!

Good skill!

Sorce

 

[mattspinniken]

Skin, gut and wash some fat mice without removing their heads. Cover them in a pot with ethyl alcohol and marinate 2 hours. Cut a piece of salt pork or sowbelly into small dice and cook it slowly to extract the fat. Drain the mice, dredge them thoroughly in a mixture of flour, pepper, and salt, and fry slowly in the rendered fat for about 5 minutes. Add a cup of alcohol and 6 to 8 cloves, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Prepare a cream sauce, transfer the sautéed mice to it, and warm them in it for about 10 minutes before serving.

This actually sounds really good... ill keep you posted how they taste .

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I love my rat rapper - especially if all you have is mice. Mice are dumb. Rats are crafty. But all are equal in the eyes of my rat zapper.

As soon as I got it, I took it out to my koi pond where the rats were hanging out eating leftover koi pellets. First night, I got six of the suckers.

I set it the first time and came indoors. My wife asked me "how do you know it's working?" I said "if it catches anything a little red LED will start flashing." She says "it's flashing now." I went out and there was already a dead rat in the trap. I have a new-found respect for the D battery.

 

[Smoke]

I love my rat rapper - especially if all you have is mice. Mice are dumb. Rats are crafty. But all are equal in the eyes of my rat zapper.

First night I got it, I took it out to my koi pond where the rats were hanging out eating leftover koi pellets. First night, I got six of the suckers.

I set it the first time and came indoors. My wife asked me "how do you know it's working?" I said "if it catches anything a little red LED will start flashing." She says "it's flashing now." I went out and there was already a dead rat in the trap. I have a new-found respect for the D battery.

hmmm...I would probably bypass the batteries and just adapt a plug to it for the wall....see if you can get the house lights to dim.

 

[M. Frary]

How do you keep the cement from hardening with the wet peanut butter mixed in?

The oil in the peanut butter keeps the concrete from setting up. When the V.C. drink water afterwards,the concrete sets inside the gut.
I've had buckets out for months. 5 gallons with the mix in them in a bowl. The lid is on but I put a 1" hole in the side for voles and mice to go in and out of.
I havent seen any since.

 

[JudyB]

The oil in the peanut butter keeps the concrete from setting up. When the V.C. drink water afterwards,the concrete sets inside the gut.
I've had buckets out for months. 5 gallons with the mix in them in a bowl. The lid is on but I put a 1" hole in the side for voles and mice to go in and out of.
I havent seen any since.

So what are the proportions, and how do you mix it? And does it need to be portland or can it be quickcrete? Work on moles?

 

[M. Frary]

I used a quickcrete. Half and half P.B. and concrete.
Thinking of waging a little war Judy?
Got some varmints?
I'm fast becoming a rodent killing expert.
We also had a couple feral cats move into the area.
I live in the deep woods and between the cats,me and the dog it's like a ghost town around here. No deer. No rabbits. And hopefully no voles or mice or moles.
I also used molemax inside my enclosure. For the voles.
But mole activity has stopped too. Don't know if it's the concrete and peanut butter,the molemax,the poison or the cats but nothing moves out there.
Birds fly over sometimes though.

 

[JudyB]

I used a quickcrete. Half and half P.B. and concrete.
Thinking of waging a little war Judy?
Got some varmints?
I'm fast becoming a rodent killing expert.
We also had a couple feral cats move into the area.
I live in the deep woods and between the cats,me and the dog it's like a ghost town around here. No deer. No rabbits. And hopefully no voles or mice or moles.
I also used molemax inside my enclosure. For the voles.
But mole activity has stopped too. Don't know if it's the concrete and peanut butter,the molemax,the poison or the cats but nothing moves out there.
Birds fly over sometimes though.

I have a huge mole problem going on here, they've exploded this past summer. I got some oil, that I'll spray in the spring, but they cover a good amount of acreage right now. I could stick those peanut balls in the holes...

 

[Smoke]

I have a huge mole problem going on here, they've exploded this past summer.

They worked for Marilyn?

 

[GrimLore]

I got some oil, that I'll spray in the spring, but they cover a good amount of acreage right now. I could stick those peanut balls in the holes...

Mole max is a bit cost prohibitive for large areas but you could easily mix your own, dry it, crush it, and spread it with a seeder. Reason I stated that you could is the main ingredient is Fuller's Earth commonly used in stage productions and similar settings. Mix it with water and 10 percent mineral oil, dry crush and spread. Not a voodoo mix just what they do and that product works.
Here the neighbors have asked me this past year if I am having a problem and I have not - they are because our Moles and Voles have moved out They really dislike that stuff.

Grimmy

 

[JudyB]

I've used the castor oil spray in smaller areas before with good results, so will start with that area by area. Maybe that with putting the peanut balls out, to help curb the population I'll get some relief.
Thanks @GrimLore sounds like a lot of work, but I'll keep it in mind.