Mice invasion

[tis]

Up, I know. They are awful. I hate setting them!!!!

[upthesaukee]

I'm just over a week, we have eliminated over 20 mice (23 I think) and 5 chipmunks. 2 buckets with the bottle on a coat hanger wire, one in our crawl space and one in the garage. Garage has 2 chipmunks and a few mice, all the rest from the crawl space.

Far better than the traps.

Dave

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by upthesaukee

I'm just over a week, we have eliminated over 20 mice (23 I think) and 5 chipmunks. 2 buckets with the bottle on a coat hanger wire, one in our crawl space and one in the garage. Garage has 2 chipmunks and a few mice, all the rest from the crawl space.

Far better than the traps.

Dave

I thought I had a big mouse problem but I see it's not as bad as others on here. I've only caught about 6 in the bucket trap. I caught 3 the first time but now it's only one a week. Maybe I need to change the peanut butter.

[SAMIAM]

Caught over 30 mice in my bucket trap....what is it with rodents and turkeys this year? They are everywhere

[8gv]

It's clear to me that the bucket and other traps can collect plenty of mice.

What I question is from how far away do the mice travel.

Is it possible that the bait smell draws some mice to the trap that would never have ventured into the house or outbuilding?

[tummyman]

I am concerned to leave my bucket out at night due to potential for bear attraction. Do others have this issue?

[8gv]

Bears?


That’s going to require a bigger bucket!

[gravy boat]

No bears have been attracted to the bucket yet. We did realize that we have to reapply the peanut butter after dark as a plump gray squirrel has been consuming the peanut butter during the day.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by 8gv

It's clear to me that the bucket and other traps can collect plenty of mice. What I question is from how far away do the mice travel. Is it possible that the bait smell draws some mice to the trap that would never have ventured into the house or outbuilding?

A very astute observation.

They're like mosquitoes: you keep swatting at them without considering that your neighbor has a bucket half-filled with stagnant water.

Like the bucket, natural predators of mice can only take a few mice out of the picture at a time. (And also take out non-targeted critters).

Owls are good predators of mice, so if you hear them at night, they're "at work".

To most people, snakes are generally "unsightly", but they're probably the best predator of nests of mice.

Maybe pay a neighbor's kid $5-each to capture garter snakes, then release them under the most-likely structures?

BTW: A large garter snake can latch onto a finger, but are not poisonous, and seldom cause blood.

[SAMIAM]

Originally Posted by 8gv

It's clear to me that the bucket and other traps can collect plenty of mice.

What I question is from how far away do the mice travel.

Is it possible that the bait smell draws some mice to the trap that would never have ventured into the house or outbuilding?

Very good question and I have an answer.
I just had my monthly visit from J.P. Chemical. They are excellent at controlling pests and I've used them for over 30 years with great results.
The tech told me that bucket traps are the most effective right now because they get rid of numerous mice at one time although they use many other methods
He said that mice are nearly blind and have a sense of smell of only about 2 feet.....that is why they scurry and wander to find food. Not to worry that bait will draw them from a distance.
He also said that to be most effective, place the traps next to a wall because they follow walls as rather than traveling in the open.