Rodent Abatement: What's Your Preferred Method?

[Sweet Home Alabama]

If you want fun, get a 410.

 

[tbradsim1]

This works, tried it all, in the fall cutting cane I’m my 81 acre farm we were flooded with mice, this was the fail safe.

 

[kschatey]

Owl houses on the property. They jeep voles, mice and squirrels to an acceptable level. It's fascinating to watch them zero in on a rodent under the snow with those oddly placed ears, dive and arise with dinner.

I like this a lot. There are definitely two owls in the area around my house as I can hear them calling back and forth sometimes. I think they need a place on my property and any bonus of them eating my rodents would be great. I'm definitely going to look up plans for an owl house or two and make them!

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

If you want fun, get a 410.

I live in town, I have a very powerful air rifle!

 

[Bengel]

Owl houses on the property. They jeep voles, mice and squirrels to an acceptable level. It's fascinating to watch them zero in on a rodent under the snow with those oddly placed ears, dive and arise with dinner.

Just watch any small dogs?

 

[agnosticpipe]

I made a better mouse trap. Got two at one time!

 

[trouttimes]

Put out a few tins of Haunted Bookshop. That shit will kill anything!

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

It's virtually impossible to seal a house 100% against rodent intrusion. Sounds like you've done about as good as you can. If they want in bad enough, they'll chew through caulk and foam. They'll come in between the fascia and the roof decking, a favorite entry point for squirrels.

 

[Servant King]

Put out a few tins of Haunted Bookshop. That shit will kill anything!

I hope C&D's marketing department has someone watching this thread!

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Put out a few tins of Haunted Bookshop. That shit will kill anything!

Or at least chase them away.

 

[dino]

I hired a guy in a multi-colored suit who plays the oboe.
And, I made sure to pay him up-front.

 

[condorlover1]

Just put up a sign that says 'Collective Farm'. Half of the mice will starve and the rest will run away!

 

[Servant King]

I hired a guy in a multi-colored suit who plays the oboe.
And, I made sure to pay him up-front.

Already tried that, sadly didn't work. Kenny G showed up to my house with his soprano sax painted black. That was a one-star Yelp review if there ever was one!

 

[Laurent]

Do you have vinyl siding?

 

[pepesdad1]

A bit of singed bacon works wonders...much better than p-nut butter. If you have owls or hawks, be careful of your small dogs (6 pounds and under) they look like lunch to the predators.

 

[swampgrizzly]

Although my wife and I have done a bang-up job plugging up all the little holes/cracks/spaces on our mountain cabin where mice can get in, one still occasionally slips past the defenses. The weak point is the poorly constructed base of the attached laundry room; I'm fairly certain that the roll of thick mesh screening we plan to pick up at Home Depot next week will put the kibosh on that. All the aforementioned entry points have been sealed. We use caulk for small openings, and that "Great Stuff" expanding foam spray for larger ones. These both work extremely well.

Last week, one got into the wall between the bathroom and the outside laundry room, almost certainly through the laundry room floor. I could hear it move around intermittently, and figured it would likely follow the path of its predecessors--in other words, it would climb up into the attic, and get caught in either of the two mousetraps placed up there. But this did not happen; it just hung out in the walls for no good reason. After about five or six days of this, I decided I'd had enough. We use the Victor brand snap traps with the plastic pedal. They've served us well in the year and a half we've lived at this particular location. A pea-sized blob of peanut butter does the trick. I placed it in the laundry room last night, and in the morning, sure enough, our guest had checked out. Fortunately, without leaving a tip (blood).

What do you use for rodent control? Interested to hear some other stories about this very relatable problem for rural dwelling folk.

I use pieces of steel wool to seal small cracks like you are dealing with. I had a few small cracks where plumbing enters my home and mice would squeeze their way in. I took steel wool and shoved it in all around the plumbing pipes using an old butter knife to shove it in. It seals that entry way and if they do try to eat the steel wool, it will tear up their innards and they die outside your home. I haven't had a mouse issue in over 15 years now.

 

[Derby]

Had a mouse problem. Got Bogey. No mouse problem.

 

[kschatey]

Owl houses on the property. They jeep voles, mice and squirrels to an acceptable level. It's fascinating to watch them zero in on a rodent under the snow with those oddly placed ears, dive and arise with dinner.

Found some really good info on this. Checking on my scrap wood options and then getting this project underway soon!

 

[warren]

Steel wool is a great solution, especially for squirrels. It's the same effect as you or I chewing on a piece of tin foil. Lot of tooth pain. Mice and voles can flatten out and are able to enter through as small an opening as where your gas line enters the house. Best to put the traps out in early fall, kill 'em before they may mate in the house.

As an aside, a .22 with snake rounds (shot) is effective but, you need to live rural or the cops will soon tire of "gunshots reported" calls.

Critters in the walls, under the sink or similar are pretty much protected from cats. Look for spoor and set traps on their trails, in the pantry, under sinks, along the baseboard behind furniture, etc. The more traps the better. Don't forget to check them daily or you'll have a mess to clean up. Always try to kill 'em before they set up house. Then you have the problem throughout the winter.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]