Mouse in the House

[Hinotori]

I have to keep all food in secure containers. Lots of 5 gallon tubs with Gamma lids. Plus side is they are airtight as well so stuff stores better. Dog and cat food is in Vittle Vaults which have Gamma lids. Stuff I use a lot is usually in half gallon and quart mason jars, or nice big Snap Lock containers as the local asian grocery sells huge ones for a good price.

We had an issue with a big rat population boom for about two weeks after it warmed up. Not much food outside as all chickens have treadle feeders now. We have an old house and they got in. Not much food to find inside either, but they found my stash of plastic grocery bags and shredded them. It was a lot of bags so a right mess.

The Tom Cat black rat traps work very well. I have old fashion Victor snap traps as well but they arent as effective. Caught 7 field mouse sized young rats in 12 hours. I know there is an adult that is here somewhere but that sucker avoids the traps.

Cats have been no use as they only hunt outside usually. The dog is too old to get them, though she has sniffed for me. I need a younger dog to help with that. Dogs are very good at killing rats.

 

[Alaskan]

In the previous life, had a Jack Russell terrier. She was easily trained to leave the chickens alone. The two alpha hens went vole/mouse hunting with her all the time. The dog would find the nest, dig out the adult, and the hens would clean up any babies. I miss watching the antics. 😀

Wow.... I never would have guessed

 

[Trying2keepitReal]

My chickens will devour any baby mice if a nest found out in their travels.

I love that your mice ate the peppermints @Hinotori. Bought the oils after reading of a dislike. My house smelled yummy😁. HOWEVER -- I gotta say the 10-12 cats here sure did make a difference. I never know how many friends they'll invite to dinner. but here they're welcome. I see them hunting!! Haven't seen a mouse in ages. Even in the barn!

we as well have 2-3 outdoor/barn cats that claim residence throughout our barn and one shelter. They have made a difference. We also use mothballs in the shelter where we store the boat and such over the winter. We used to also use Coast to Coast bar soap and dryer sheets when we had a camper, they helped but sometimes we still found a few "presents" from mice in the lower storage compartments.

 

[tortoise]

Controlling food mess is a big part of the problem here. One of my dogs has a swallowing problem so food falls out of her mouth while she eats and she regurgitates frequently. When my other dog eats he stops chewing and food falls out of his mouth when the first dog or my husband walk by (anywhere, not even close). Both dogs flip the bowl over so it's easier to eat out of. Uggh. Sweeping daily is not good enough to manage this mess.

I need to check my baking ingredients. Anything in that cabinet that's not in a sturdy plastic container (or glass) tends to get chewed on. I'm usually good about keeping it mouse proof, but it was over-ful lately so it's probably not all stored correctly now. TY for the reminder!

 

[Mini Horses]

or up where they can't reach.

😁 . No such place.

They dislike peppermint. It can help, not a 100% result. Does help them not want to stay around. Put drops of peppermint oil in drawers, along baseboards, etc.

 

[Hinotori]

Moth balls are a so/so deterrent. The smell works on many animals.

 

[flowerbug]

nothing worked to keep them out of the car and i tried everything. wish i could have found how they were getting in to begin with.

 

[Trying2keepitReal]

What are your best tips for mouse-proofing a farm house?

Ugh we have this problem too. Are they in the basement, main floor, etc?

We have done the bottle on a dowl on a 5 gallon bucket over water-put a ramp and some peanut butter on the bottle and they spin and fall.

We got a kitten this summer and haven't seen any upstairs this year.

DH also made a mixture of dry peanut butter and plaster of paris. They eat it and when they drink their inside hardens up and they die. We have never seen any of these as we don't have water in the basement (that I know of anyway)

 

[CrealCritter]

Jesus is Lord and Christ 🙏❤️🇺🇸

 

[tortoise]

I really lucked out with dogs. My german shepherd absolutely hates rats and has always loved killing them. She bent a chainlink fence sticking her nose and jaw through different holes to catch a rat and biting down. She did kill it.

She loves the chickens. Gets really protective of them and they know it. We've had a hawk go over and the hens ran for cover. Some ran for her because she was close.

The problem comes when I'm moving silkie houses to make sure there are no rats in the daytime. She waits to get them. The silkies also will attack so I try to do it where they can't see as she'll let it go rather than hurt a silkie when they come at her face where she's got it.

My silkies are fairly good at killing rats in their pens if they see them. The large fowl run away but silkies mob. Mom still laughs over the half a rat I found that was still holding tightly to the chainlink in death.

Wow! Good dog!! 🥰