EnviroLink Forum

I love animals but there comes a point when pest species need to be stopped. You can prevent the pest from reaching it's goal (food, shelter, etc) but often that is a slower death sentence by starvation, thirst, or exposure. In my current situation, it seems impossible to stop the mice from entering my houses due to the extensive cracking of all basements in this high-clay soil and the recent drastic changes in rainfall from year to year (this year was one of the driest on record... last year was one of the wettest on record). I used to live-catch the mice and make them into pets. Between 100 and 200 mice separated by gender and aggressiveness still only cost me about a dollar per month on grains (bought in bulk and mixed by myself for my other rodent pets). Currently though, these mice are not going into the live traps I set for them and I have less resources to care for them (none of my current pets are seed-eating species). There is a new poison made for ground squirrels but formulations for mice are available too. This poison is merely Vitamin D. Vitamin D is needed for your body to absorb calcium but too much Vitamin D causes too much calcium to be absorbed. Grass and other leaves are generally very high in calcium. Calcium forms crystals in the blood and causes heart attacks and strokes. This form of death is relatively low pain and very quick... most die above ground and look very healthy because they have heart attacks when running. The dead ground squirrels are not toxic so there is no harm for other animals to eat them. Kill traps are often fast but not always. I have seen ones that choke the mice with a light spring pushing the bar under the chin. I had one of these in the past and never caught a single mouse with it but I suspect it is not effective for deermice who have adaptations for living in holes in farmed land where farm activities will bury them alive and they need to dig themselves out with limited oxygen... they have lots of time to figure out how to escape before passing out from lack of oxygen (and deermice were the prime pest at that point in my life... and note that deermice make fine pets too).

Try getting a 16 oz bottle of peppermint oil from amazon.com. Put it on cotton balls and throw them where the pests are located. They will leave rather than smell what to them, is a very unpleasant odor.
I had some mice that somehow got in to my attic, and it got rid of them and continues to do so. I find and re-soak, or throw new soaked cotton balls up there every 4 months.

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"With every decision, think seven generations ahead of the consequences of your actions" Ute rule of life.
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children”
― Chief Seattle

yes, I have also used Irish Spring soap and pop lids with mouthwash in them... those do work to keep them out of specific areas but not out of the whole house. Same goes with the ultrasonic devices. I have pet rodents so those are also not applicable where I need control the most... were wild rodents give diseases/parasites to my pet rodents and damage their food.

Great post, Johnny.

Respect to you for offering a 'no kill' solution.

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It is our deeds, the accumulated acts of goodness and kindness, that define us and ultimately are the true measure of our worth. Service is the coin of the spirit.

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