Three storage steps back...

[jansman]

Surely if it's an old wive's tale that should be a 1/4 inch hole?

Mice can get through a 1/4" wide gap. My Father in Law was a pest controller, and the " thickness of a pencil" was his favourite adage. Every now and again I make a post about vermin control. Mice and indeed rats, can infest your storage in no time flat. Forget cats( we have two, and they ain't efficient )and even traps. Poison 'em. Get proper enclosed bait stations and place them along the edges of the walls of your storage area. Check the poison everyday , top up, and keep doing so until the bait stops disappearing. After that keep the stations down permanently. Prevention is better than cure.
Also, make sure all your foodstuffs are in sealed containers, and have a good tidy/sweep up. At all times, do not forget to wash your hands as not only is the poison harmful, but so are mice droppings and urine. They can cause Weils Disease; and it ain't nice. I caught it when I was 17 and I damn near died.
You can get bait and stations at Wilko, DIY chains or good old fashioned hardware shop if you are still lucky enough to have one.

[ukpreppergrrl]

The egg noodles were in the thin, crinkly plastic wrapping that Sharwood's package them in. Unopened. Lying on the shelf. Tempting and taunting all the little rodents within sniffing distance. Because of the cats I was presuming, naively, that there'd be no little rodents within sniffing distance! Very, very silly of me

[Decaff]

Here's an interesting old wive's tale: Apparently a mouse can squeeze through an 8mm hole to get to food. From my practical experiments I can categorically say that is not correct. They can't. Not even when assisted with a wooden mallet.

[Briggs 2.0]

Surely if it's an old wive's tale that should be a 1/4 inch hole?

At all times, do not forget to wash your hands as not only is the poison harmful, but so are mice droppings and urine.

Two more mouse facts for my prepper chums:

1) I have been in the workshop and it's quite possible to get a mouse's head through a 1/4 inch hole but the back end became a bit stuck and to be honest it's a bit of a mess, and I've alternated between a rubber and wooden mallet. Myth busted, as they say.

2) Did you know a kestrel's eyesight is close to seeing ultraviolet so in sunlight it can hunt by following the urine trails of mice and other rodents. Mice piss all the time so it's bad luck for them, easy pickings for the kestrel.

It's not advisable to keep a kestrel loose indoors so do what Jansman suggested.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Here's an interesting old wive's tale: Apparently a mouse can squeeze through an 8mm hole to get to food. From my practical experiments I can categorically say that is not correct. They can't. Not even when assisted with a wooden mallet.

Well what do you expect, you are supposed to use a rubber mallet

I was under the impression you needed to use a Dead Blow mallet ideally...


We have had occasions at work where rats have eaten through plastic tubs of rat poison to get to the good stuff inside

if you have cats i'd beware of using poisons if the cats do like some do and catch the dopey poisoned mouse and eat it.....

the plastic mouse traps are great easy to set and much more finger and other animal safe unlike the old nipper type traps Chocolate spread is a good bait

Glue boards are another good type of trap but must be checked a couple of times daily and any mice bonded to the glue dispatched humanly ( a lump hammer and a polly bag is least messy option)

http://www.pestcontroldirect.co.uk/acat ... _x_15.html


legal side here

http://www.ufaw.org.uk/documents/Guidan ... 509V19.pdf

Humane methods for killing live-trapped rats and mice
The Wild Mammals Protection Act 1996 requires that in the context of pest control,
animals should be killed in a ‘reasonably swift and humane manner’.
As outlined in the text, many people may find that humane killing is not an easy
procedure.
The following methods are considered to be humane:
• Destruction of the brain by a strong and accurate blow to the head with a
suitable implement
• Lethal overdose of appropriate gaseous or injectable anaesthetic (this
technology is not available for general use)
• Destruction of the brain by shooting
The latter two methods are unlikely to be available or applicable in most cases. The
efficacy and humaneness of the first, depends on a strong and accurate blow with a
suitable implement such as to destroy the brain. In the case of a mouse caught on a glue
board, some achieve this by turning the board over and powerfully and instantly,
crushing the mouse beneath it. Removing live animals, especially rats, from traps and
restraining them to deliver such a blow is very difficult and potentially dangerous – it is
important to avoid bites. Some operators advocate allowing the rat to run into a sac, held
over the end of the trap before it is opened, and then gripping the animal through the
sack to hold it still to deliver a heavy blow to the head. If the blow is delivered with
sufficient force and accuracy this is a humane and reliable method but the humaneness
is obviously dependent on these two factors - force and accuracy. The method requires
skill and a firm resolve. Not everyone is suited temperamentally to these procedures for
killing live-caught rodents.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Here's an interesting old wive's tale: Apparently a mouse can squeeze through an 8mm hole to get to food. From my practical experiments I can categorically say that is not correct. They can't. Not even when assisted with a wooden mallet.

Well what do you expect, you are supposed to use a rubber mallet

I was under the impression you needed to use a Dead Blow mallet ideally...


We have had occasions at work where rats have eaten through plastic tubs of rat poison to get to the good stuff inside

if you have cats i'd beware of using poisons if the cats do catch the dopey poisoned mouse and eat it you could have a problem .....

the plastic mouse traps are great easy to set and much more finger and other animal safe unlike the old nipper type traps Chocolate spread is a good bait

Glue boards are another good type of trap but must be checked a couple of times daily and any mice bonded to the glue dispatched humanly ( a lump hammer and a polly bag is the least messy option)

http://www.pestcontroldirect.co.uk/acat ... _x_15.html


legal side here

http://www.ufaw.org.uk/documents/Guidan ... 509V19.pdf

Humane methods for killing live-trapped rats and mice
The Wild Mammals Protection Act 1996 requires that in the context of pest control,
animals should be killed in a ‘reasonably swift and humane manner’.
As outlined in the text, many people may find that humane killing is not an easy
procedure.
The following methods are considered to be humane:
• Destruction of the brain by a strong and accurate blow to the head with a
suitable implement
• Lethal overdose of appropriate gaseous or injectable anaesthetic (this
technology is not available for general use)
• Destruction of the brain by shooting
The latter two methods are unlikely to be available or applicable in most cases. The
efficacy and humaneness of the first, depends on a strong and accurate blow with a
suitable implement such as to destroy the brain. In the case of a mouse caught on a glue
board, some achieve this by turning the board over and powerfully and instantly,
crushing the mouse beneath it. Removing live animals, especially rats, from traps and
restraining them to deliver such a blow is very difficult and potentially dangerous – it is
important to avoid bites. Some operators advocate allowing the rat to run into a sac, held
over the end of the trap before it is opened, and then gripping the animal through the
sack to hold it still to deliver a heavy blow to the head. If the blow is delivered with
sufficient force and accuracy this is a humane and reliable method but the humaneness
is obviously dependent on these two factors - force and accuracy. The method requires
skill and a firm resolve. Not everyone is suited temperamentally to these procedures for
killing live-caught rodents.

[junmist]

I got mine in thick plastic tubs.....

I was going to ask why you had mice in thick plastic tubs ??? Then I read it properly

[ukpreppergrrl]

Well the good news is that my little furry visitor clearly hit on his favourite food first time and gorged himself then and there! There's no evidence of nibblings or droppings below the top shelf where the egg noodles were. No sign of forced entry into the muesli, porridge oats or, most thankfully, the mini stollen bites! All vulnerable food stuffs are now in sturdy plastic boxes, every surface having been liberally sprayed with Dettol.

Whilst I was having stern words with the cats they indignantly reminded me that one of them did actually catch a mouse a few weeks ago: I awoke to the sound of one of the cats playing with something on the bedroom floor, then heard the rapid patter of tiny rodent feet closely followed the thud, thud of a cat chasing it under the bed. I leapt out of the aforementioned bed, squealing like the girl I am, and left the cats to it. Never did find out what happened to that mouse (no little cadaver has turned up on my cleaning rounds), nor where it came from. I presumed at the time it had been caught outside and brought in as I'd seen no evidence of mice anywhere in the house. In all the years I've had the cats this was only the second time there's been a rodent related incident inside the house. I can't now remember if I last visited the noodle area on that shelf before or after that particular incident...so the cats are trying to convince me that they have, in fact, done their duty and should be rewarded with lots of fishy treats.

I may still leave a couple of plastic bulldog-clip style mouse traps underneath the shelves where the cats can't get them just to check the mouse is no longer around...

[Stasher]

Yeah, I have cats

They lie

A lot

Personally I would stop spending money on fishy treats and start leaving mousey things out in the garden for the kestrel who is clearly doing all the work............

[grenfell]

A customer of mine recently complained she had seen a mouse in her house and was wanting to get rid of it but would rather not use poison or the spring traps as she didn't want to have to handle the dead ones. I leant her a humane trap , the box type with a trap door triggered by the mouse once he has entered.
That was ten days ago and since then she has caught one mouse every day. I did wonder if it was the same mouse coming back but she has assured me that she has been emptying the trap a good couple of hundred yards away across the road in the opposite field so it really shouldn't be the same mouse. Still proves the point that it's rarely just one mouse you have