Grow Your Own Magazine

At home when a kid, I had a downstairs bedroom, off the front porch. Every summer I had a trail of ants from under my bed, out my door and out the front door. I soon realised they didn't divert from their trail, so didn't bother me. Mum used to Nippon them though. Now, I hate ants. I hate anything that swarms...my very worst nightmare is flying ants

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

I haven't seen a mouse for a week, none have run up my sleeve when I get the bird seed (mind you I have a darn good luck first before I put my arm in there!) is this good news?

How does the poison actually work? The three trays of stuff that were "outside" so to speak are now empty, but the ones on top of the bird food are still full.

Does anyone think the mice have eaten it and then....well, you know what?

Bernie aka Dexterdog

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

Hi LJ - I dont know!
Bernie aka Dexterdog

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

Hi - hope you don't mind me joining in but we have recently had a problem with a) rats in compost and b) mice under our lock-up so have had enviromental health chap round a few times. He explained to us that rats and mice are 'storers'. They take the food ie: poison bate, and take it back to the nest where they give it to their young. The poison takes a little while to work (certainly in the case of rats) and this is a safety precaution in case a child ever got hold of some, it would allow time for them to be taken care of. He said he would keep putting the bate down until they stopped taking it (the rodents). He also explained that the rats/mice are not aware that they are eating poison and will not die a painful death. He said that bird food really attracts rats and mice and advised me not to feed the birds in the summer. He also advised putting chicken wire under the compost heap as they can't chew through it, but I'm going a step further and getting a tumbling composter with a lockable lid. From what he says - keep putting the bate down until it's not touched for a few days, then you know that you've been successful. Hope this helps.

Weavie thanks for that, I didnt know whether Id been successful or not - more mice bait it is then.

Bernie aka Dexterdog

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

Good luck! BTW here in Guildford the council don't charge for someone to come out and lay bait for mice or rats but they do charge to get rid of wasps. As bait is quite pricey would it be worth giving your local council a call. They keep coming back on a weekly basis and checking for you on whether or not the jobs done. Also, they put the bait in a piece of piping to keep it dry as when it gets wet it's useless apparently.

This sounds awful but I wouldnt trust my local council as far as I could throw them!!! Trying to get them to answer an email......what? Sorry, I'll stop there! Thanks for the advice - but I'll stick to DIY!

Bernie aka Dexterdog

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

Fair enough DDL. Must be v. lucky here. The man was so lovely from the council that I gave him some chitted earlies. It was ironic that when he came to see me the following week, he said that mice had dug a hole in the bucket he had planted them in!
Interestly enough he also said that he's never been so busy and he gets a call out at least once a week to get rid of rats.

Found some of the long and big black ants a few days ago living in an old railway sleeper at chum's garden and red ants in a pile of soil here.

Still a blank on the mice, just the one in a humane trap but one of the sacs of bait in a cold frame was munched and found a little mouse body near it earlier in the week.

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TonyF, Dordogne 24220

You should have captured a few mice & put them through his letter box.

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I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.
W. C. Fields

Can I add my twopennorth? Please DO feed the birds all year round, but don't put the food on the ground (rat shelf!); hang it up in feeders.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

I'm still not convinced i've solved my rat/mouse problem in the garden but want to put my birdfeeders back up - i always use feeders on a pole but the birds always drop some seeds on the floor, and this is what the rodents were eating - is there any way to solve this?

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There's vegetable growing in the family, but I must be adopted
Happy Gardening!

We had great success bating the mousrtraps with dried pasta! We decided to try it aftwr noticing that The bags of pasta in the larder had been voraciously munched at. It did the job when chocolate failed. They say also, to put on latex (or some such) gloves when bating the traps as the cute little devils can be put off going near by the human smell. Dont know how true that is though as obviously the pasta bags must have had some human smell on them.
Anney

Wel I caught one mouse (white bread and trap) in our greenhouse over the weekend... nothing there yet to eat foodwise so it chewed two marigolds:-(

We put bird food down for all our bireds and can watch a field mouse hiding around the bird waterer which is a very large ceramic pot base and mounted on the patio cobbles - so an ideal hiding place. (I prefer to watch the pheasant feeding :-)

Sam the Cat lives here now and three morning from four this week I've had little mousy gifts outside the front door.

The mouses were warned ....................

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TonyF, Dordogne 24220

Hi, definately put any food/seed in a sealed METAL tin/tub. Plastic has a good chance of being chewed through. Proofing against mice is a fairly simple procedure of looking for access holes(and remember mice can climb very well incase there are any climbing plants or cables around the shed leading to ground level) and sealing them. People often overlook the really small holes suspecting mice will never fit through them so really go to town and search thoroughly. A small mouse can pass through 10mm wire mesh so any gap from about 6mm and above should be looked for and sealed to be on the safe side. Proofing should always be the first step and if that fails, trapping next with a good mouse trap(set perpendicular to a wall with a good bait such as mars bar or milky way[good self setting plastic ones are best]), with a finger nail size piece of bait well moulded onto the treddle or into the bait holder(so they cant just lift it off/out), making sure there is no other food about for them to eat. Failing that, and as a last resort, poison is available and if you do use it for the control of mice make sure it is a poison recommended for the control of MICE, not MICE AND RATS as this seems to be less effective. If the bait dissappears, replenish it and keep replenishing it until it isnt being touched anymore. Some people just put a small amount down and when it goes they think thats it, only to find in most cases it causes more problems. I would always go for the traps on finding mice. A quick, humane kill and you cant go wrong. Also bear in mind that even though we are just talking mouse traps, setting these traps outside is generally considered bad practice, I see too many birds being caught and traps disappearing too often(its surprising what some people will do with a complete lack of common sense just to try to get rid of mice and other pests).

Guess what I found in my storage container again last week? Well, I could smell them, rather than see them. OH put down a couple of humane traps - checked the following day, to find they had eaten the cheese and cleared off!
On OHs day off, he rang me to tell me he had caught them, and did I want them BBQd? (We were having a BBQ for tea) How awful! I said kebab style! Only JOKING!
When I came home, the metal bin I keep my bird food in was by the gate and there was a scrabbling noise - I lifted the lid - the OH had caught the mice (two of them) and put them in there.
We then put them in containers (could only catch one at once!) and walked a short distance to the local park where we let them loose. (Away from anyone else's homes of course).
Hopefully they'll live happily ever after!
Bernie aka DDL

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

So far this year our mouse traps have caught 16 mice. Time soon to put them into the strawberry bed as we are pestered there. They pick and pile up unripe strawberries.

As we have fields beside us, catching mice is never ending.... I leave the carcases in the field for the foxes.