# slightly food related... MICE in pantry!?!



## thatchairlady (Feb 15, 2012)

My "pantry" consists of 2 metal shelving units in attached garage... for stuff in cans, jars, and bottles ONLY.  Things like flour, sugar, or things in bags/boxes... ALL in large, tight T-ware or other plastic container.  Went out in garage to see what I had on-hand for upcoming holiday cookies... flour, white/brown sugar, chocolate chips.  Garage is a collecting place for lots of stuff.  Had (HAD) a few cute hand-painted, wooden cigar box purses sitting on workbench.  They HAD nice braid handles with tassels... they were chewed to BITS!!

I'm frugal, but NOT about to deal with cheap-o snap traps... don't wanna SEE the results!  Had a pack of 2, ONE use traps... baited with peanut butter.  Set first on Monday afternoon... after finding "evidence" of unwanted critters.  On Tuesday, that trap was on the garage floor... with dead mouse inside.  Set 2nd trap and yesterday it was tipped over... another dead mouse.  Went to find more at W-mart, where I got them before and NONE!?!  Bought a different type at Tractor Supply Company... nothing caught last night.

TSC had electronic thingies that plug into outlets.  Asked sales person if they WORKED??  She was honest and told me NOT in her BARN.  Anyone ever used a sonic device to scare off critters??  Did they work?  If so... WHAT did ya use?


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## bughut (Aug 18, 2007)

If you place humane traps and bait with peanut butter, you can catch them and relocate them. Just drive 3 miles and let them go and they wont find their way back.   i had the same problem and they were gone in a week


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## missyd (Nov 26, 2012)

I had a infestation in one of the old townhouses I used to rent.  At first we used the live traps (so we could relocate them), however, we had so many mice the traps filled up in less than 24 hours.  There were so many crammed into a trap we found at least one or 2 dead ones inside.  We ended up having to call pest control to get our rodent problem dealt with.  They advised for us not to use anything like that or any type of poison (had 2 young kids and 2 small dogs in the house).

The only thing that seemed to show results were the sticky glue traps they set out.  I would put a glob of peanut butter in the middle of the trap to entice them.  After a couple weeks the mice figured out the peanut butter trick so a had to put cereal & dog kibbles on it instead.  We caught about 50 mice that way.  Unfortunately they ruined the house &  a lot of the contents so we ended up moving out of there.


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## thatchairlady (Feb 15, 2012)

Though I do NOT want mice... those glue things just seem like torture??  Have a cat that has caught/killer 2 in the 3+ years I've had her.  She'd be in cat HEAVEN out in garage... but can't think HOW I could get her to come back IN the house??  Also don't wanna think about dead mouse bodies left at the door.


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## missyd (Nov 26, 2012)

Honestly I wasn't a fan of the idea either.  At that point the mice had chewed a hole through the wall in the garage to my laundry room & were now making themselves comfortable on my counter tops, behind the fridge, in the cupboards, in my piano, in my children's rooms, in my dresser and had even chewed through our new leather sofa & were living inside that.  The amount of urine and feces dropped overnight was incredible.  I remember one night I had gone to get a drink from the kitchen and as I was going back up the stairs to my room a pair of mice were racing down the stairs at me.  Never did have a cat that enjoyed mousing.  Now that I think about it we did have a cat in the house at that time as well - wasn't doing it's job I guess.  

~MissyD


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

I live in a big old farm house and naturally there are mice. It is what it is.

I use the sticky traps as I have pets and worry about the poisons in D-Con.

In the kitchen and upstairs I use those electronic devices you plug in that create a high frequency sound that drives those critters crazy.

It works. Period!!!


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## brad jenkins (Dec 7, 2012)

I really hope you people frequently check these glue traps and humanely kill the animals. I find them absurdly cruel because the animal panics so much to get off eventually it'll either break its little legs or gnaw them off. People have been known simply to throw them into the bin while still alive, to die slowly and painfully. As mentioned, yes, they are torture devices. Snap traps can be used instead, at least death is swift. I'd like to see glue traps banned, the stuff I've seen and heard about them could make another Saw movie.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Brad Jenkins said:


> I really hope you people frequently check these glue traps and humanely kill the animals. I find them absurdly cruel because the animal panics so much to get off eventually it'll either break its little legs or gnaw them off. People have been known simply to throw them into the bin while still alive, to die slowly and painfully. As mentioned, yes, they are torture devices. Snap traps can be used instead, at least death is swift. I'd like to see glue traps banned, the stuff I've seen and heard about them could make another Saw movie.


Yeah and I used to cook flies with my magnifying glass when I was a kid.......

They're mice.....as in rodents.........disease............bacteria...... fleas........sorry, but I can't feel sorry for them.


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## brad jenkins (Dec 7, 2012)

Chefross said:


> Yeah and I used to cook flies with my magnifying glass when I was a kid.......
> 
> They're mice.....as in rodents.........disease............bacteria...... fleas........sorry, but I can't feel sorry for them.


So?

That's not an excuse to torture them.


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## brad jenkins (Dec 7, 2012)

Just because an animal carries disease (or might carry it) doesn't make it right to cause it excruciating pain, or torturing it when you have to kill it.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

GET A CAT IN THERE AT NIGHT.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

1) Find out where the mice are coming in from.  No use catching them if there's a way for new ones to get in.

2) Do not use posion.  Anything you buy without a license is useless--it will just turn you into a "pet owner"--you are just feeding them , and they will reward you with pink droppings.  Electronic jobbies only make noise for the animals. With time they get used to this, again, useless.

3)Catch and release traps are the best and most effective.  I flush them live down the terlet (the "final" swirly), but if you have the time and means, drive them out into the country 3 miles away, they'll make good meals for thier natural enemies.    

4) Mice are rodents. All rodents (including beavers) have constantly growing front teeth.  They MUST chew to wear down their teeth or they will eventually not be able to close their jaws and they will starve to death.  They very rarely travel more than 50 ft away from their nest. 

Good luck and pay particular attention to #1.  You can stuff holes with steel wool or s/s pot scrubbers, but foam them in place with that foam-in -a-can stuff.  If you don't they'll just pull the steel wool out, but they can't chew throught the steel wool if it's foamed in place. 

They are clever, devious creatures.  The gestation period is small, and they are sexually mature in weeks--and they don't believe in incest neither........


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

I used to have a similar problem and after trying a lot of different things, we went for the easy solution and got a cat.

All problems sorted within 10 days!


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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

You're dealing with lots of rats. I fought just one but the story may be amusing.

This rat was clever as Satan. I bought poisoned pills and he/she began to eat pill by pill until was used to the poison, like Rasputin. Glue didn't worked either. Traps with cheese or food never worked. And the weeks passed and I couldn't kill the rat. Smart creature! So I went to the drawing board and named this rat MY ENEMY IN LIFE. I made some intelligence work and found he/she was living in a space on top of a window. I checked the place and found a very narrow path, so the rat had to go through it to rest.  My Thermopiles! Next day I put a trap WITHOUT ANY FOOD on his/her path. The trap was big enough to fill the pathway. Eureka! That very night the rat was caught and killed without compassion. Rats are clever, but have habits. And when you're in a deadly fight, habits mean weakness and defeat. Why? Because they are predictable.


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